Corvin looked down.
At first, he thought the shape lying near a mesquite bush was a dead coyote.
Then it moved.
A woman lifted her head from the dirt.
Her black hair was tangled with sand, her clothing torn at the shoulder, and one side of her face was streaked with dried blood. She wore a buckskin dress beneath a faded blanket, and her bare feet were so badly cut that Corvin could see blood darkening the dust beneath them.
She stared at him with eyes that seemed to contain both terror and defiance.
"Water," she whispered.
Corvin dismounted.
He had heard stories about Apache raiders since childhood. Some ranchers in the territory spoke of them as though every member of the Apache people were born with a knife in one hand and a torch in the other. Others claimed that any white man who helped an Apache would soon find his house burning.
Corvin had never been particularly interested in the opinions of men who spent their evenings drinking whiskey and boasting about things they had never witnessed.
He reached for the canteen attached to his saddle.
The woman flinched.
"Easy," he said. "I'm not going to hurt you."
She did not answer.
Corvin knelt beside her and held out the canteen. She seized it with both hands, but he stopped her before she could drink.
"Slowly. You'll make yourself sick."
Her eyes flashed with anger.
For a moment, he thought she might strike him.
Then she lowered the canteen and took a careful sip.
Another.
And another.
When she finally lowered it, tears had begun to gather in her eyes.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Corvin studied the ground around her. There were tracks everywhere, though the wind had already begun to soften their edges. At least four horses had passed through the area. One had been moving at considerable speed.
"Someone following you?"
The woman turned toward the mountains.
"Yes."
"How many?"
She hesitated.
"Enough."
Corvin glanced at the distant ridge.
He should have taken her to the nearest settlement. That would have been the sensible thing. He could have left her with the sheriff and returned to his cattle before noon.