Chapter 98

“Yeah, and it would have been worse if the recoil hadn’t blown her out the door.”

“With her bloomers down around her ankles.”

They rolled on the floor laughing and hiccupping while I struggled to keep a straight face. “I hope she wasn’t injured.”

“Bruised shoulder,” her brother said when he could draw a breath.

Little Bear sobered. “Anyway, that was what did it. Cuthan made us tear down the necessary and build a new one. The stage came before we finished, and the ladies had to use the gent’s toilet. So Cuthan sent us over here for you to work us to death. Oh yes, and you’re supposed to teach us some reading and arithmetic in between the working and the sleeping.”

To honor Cuthan’s request, I set them to work after they tended John’s pony. The boy had named him Arrow Wind, which had been the name of one of Billy’s horses. The original Arrow Wind had been the mount Cut Hand brought down out of the Little Island Mountains when he led Billy into our lives.