Rawnie looked up from her book and at her uncle standing by the railing to the porch. She looked at him, half expecting him to withdraw the question at any minute. When he remained where he was, she glanced around as if to see if there was something lurking around the corner. But all she could see was the sun-baked ground between the bunkhouse and the barn, Lou and Ike doing their best to fix a break in the fence around the corral, the sound of Jimmy chopping wood behind the barn, basically there was nothing threatening at all. She hesitated for a second, but when she couldn’t come up with an excuse, she nodded. Teaspoon smiled at her and offered her his arm.

“I thought we could walk down to the stream,” he suggested with a smile.

Rawnie shrugged and nodded again. Teaspoon had never asked her to go for a walk before and she suspected he had a reason for it this time. She wondered how long it would take before he brought it up.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, and then Teaspoon began pointing out different types of grass and plants to her as well as those few animals they encountered. Finally he managed to work up the courage to reach what had been on his mind.

“Well, Rawnie, do you like it here?” he asked.

“It’s fine,” Rawnie said non-committingly.

Teaspoon smiled weakly. “I know it’s not what you might have expected, but I’ve got some good news for you.”

Rawnie braced herself. She already knew what the news where – he was sending her away. Well, she wouldn’t break down and cry over it, that much was clear.

“There’s a family in Boulder,” Teaspoon continued with a hint of nervousness. “Pete Mason is an old friend of mine, and he and his wife have made a good life up there. I believe he’s running a small business of some sort. Anyway, they said you were more than welcome to come and stay. There are a few things for them to arrange first, so I’m waiting for them to write me, but I don’t see there will be any problems. There’s some sort of lady’s school there as well, and I will pay for your education. I’m sure you’ll find everything you need there, seeing as there are several shops and these small coffee houses…”

Rawnie had stopped listening. She didn’t care about all those fancy things she could find or do in Boulder. Why didn’t he just tell her the truth? That he couldn’t wait until she was gone from his life. That was the story of her life, so she had been foolish to think it would change.

For a second she wondered if he knew, if he knew that her mother had been nothing more than a prostitute and that Rawnie herself had spent part of her childhood as a petty thief, sneaking into the rooms at the brothel and stealing customer’s money. If he knew, then it could be the reason for him sending her away.

Maybe he was lying to her – maybe when she got to Boulder, there wouldn’t be anyone there for her. She would not be able to return to Sweetwater on her own, at least not for some time. Unconsciously she straightened her back. It didn’t really matter, she tried to convince herself, she could take care of herself. She would survive. She suddenly realized Teaspoon had stopped talking.

“I’m sorry?” she said at the realization that he had asked her something.

“I asked you what you thought?” Teaspoon repeated with a slight frown.

There was something about the girl that made him suspect she wasn’t too thrilled with the idea of leaving. Teaspoon couldn’t understand it. She had made it perfectly clear she wasn’t too happy at the station and he could only see one reason for her hesitation. She either was or was on her way to becoming involved with somebody and the most likely one was Buck. He couldn’t let that happen.

“Is there something I should know about?” he asked quickly.

“What do you mean?” Rawnie was surprised at the question.

Teaspoon looked embarrassed.

“I know we don’t know each other that well yet, but…” Teaspoon cleared his throat. “Well, you’re a beautiful girl, Rawnie, and I know boys can be a bit…well, just say that they don’t always think with their heads, especially when there’s one girl staying with them and the town is a ride away. Do I make any sense?” he concluded with a hesitant smile.

“You mean courting,” Rawnie said shortly.

“Yes, that’s what I mean,” Teaspoon said with relief. “Courting. Well, what I was saying is that I don’t want you to get hurt. My boys are nice boys, but they are just that; boys. And with you leaving and all, I figured it was best I talk to you before anything got serious, that’s all.”

Rawnie looked desperately at her uncle. What was he talking about? She wasn’t seeing anybody, so why did he act as if she was? She didn’t know what to say. Part of her felt hurt, she certainly wasn’t beautiful and the only one ever paying her any attention was Cody. For a second she pondered if it was the blond rider’s attention that had lead to Teaspoon’s little sermon, but that thought ended when Teaspoon continued.

“I happen to see you and Buck last night,” he said softly. “Now, there’s nothing wrong with the boy, but I still think it wouldn’t be the best idea for you to start seein’ each other, romantically that is.”

Buck? Rawnie thought and then it dawned on her. It wasn’t so much what Teaspoon was saying it was what he didn’t say. He didn’t want her to see Buck. That was it – all the other stuff about not seeing any of the boys was just smoke, or he would have talked to her earlier about Cody. There was something about Buck that had created this heart-to-heart talk to his niece.

A cynical smile passed over her lips as malevolent thoughts began to invade her mind. She didn’t care about why he didn’t want her to see Buck – she was sure he had his reason. What was more important was that he had given her a way to get back at him for sending her away, for hurting her. She had really no reason to listen to him; after all he was just like everybody else. Nobody wanted her and now she really longed for a chance to hurt him as he had hurt her. Lowering her head to keep it hidden from her uncle’s scrutinizing eyes, she nodded.

“I see what you mean,” she said sweetly.

Teaspoon sighed with relief. “I’m happy you do,” he said and gave her a quick hug. “Now, shall we start back towards the station? I’ll tell you about how I got lost not twenty feet from my shed once in the worst blizzard this country had seen in ages…”