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The conviction in his voice gave Tara a sense of victory All her confidence in ulti out over her competition had been justified Flushed with success, she bent her head to kiss hilimpse of the black hearth of the fireplace before her dark beauty blocked out any iered for hiing the fever—the hot hunger that was not nearly as consu as it once had been

A gate had been installed in the fenceline that separated the Sha easy access from one to the other With practiced skill, Catso she could open, then close the gate behind her without dis pace up the slope to the crest of the rimrock, spotted with clumps of pine A faint trail led into the broken country, and Cat followed it

She was still sument with Repp, and dejected by it, too At times like these, it seemed she had no one to who to her parents, but herenough and powerful enough to solve any proble unpleasant Ty was too busy, and Tara, as soarded Cat’s feelings as childish and never took them seriously More and more, when the loneliness and insecurities crept in, Cat found herself seeking out her uncle so she could have the company of someone who cared

Always in the past, Culley had intercepted her so the trail and they had ridden to his sether This tin of hih she had never understood how he’d known she was co the other times, it bothered her that he hadn’t shown up yet She dis the e the roof of the front stoop She walked to the screen door and tried to peer through the wire mesh to see inside

“Uncle Culley?” she called out hesitantly There was so eerie about the silence “Uncle Culley!” Her voice lifted imperatively

A suely alarh it hadn’t crossed her mind before, it suddenly worried Cat that her uncle lived alone, completely isolated and far from help If he were hurt or sick, ould know it?

“Uncle Culley?” She yelled loudly in case he was in the barn “Are you here?” Somehow she didn’t think he was outside, so she entered the house, closing the screen door quietly behind her and listening for any sound “Uncle Culley?” Her voice sounded hollow in the silent house The bedroom door was shut She had barely taken a step toward it when it opened and her uncle ca pale and disheveled, his shirt unbuttoned and half tucked inside his pants His gray hair was springing in tousled disorder and gray wool socks covered his feet

“I didn’t expect you today, Cathleen” His voice didn’t sound right, and he seemed stiff and aard as he approached her “I’”

He did appear to have just gotten out of bed, and so to worry,” she adht have happened to you” Then she caught a gli white wrapped around his aped open “You are hurt,” she said in sharp accusation

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“Nothing for you to worry about” The waving gesture of his hand dised up some ribs when a horse kicked me”

“You’d better let me have a look at it” There was a brisk insistence in her voice as she reached for his shirt to see if he’d bound the injured ribs properly

“No!” There was a sudden blaze of rejection in his eyes “I told you I just bruised myself some Now leave me alone”

“Look here, Culley O’Rourke I can be just as stubborn as you,” Cat warned

“If you come over here to visit, we’ll visit But if you’re just here to pry your nose into things that ain’t your affair, you can just leave”