All I Need Is You Read Free Page A

to find that out either. He had been covered in blood himself from the wound on the side of his head. The rain washed some of it away while he gathered up his belongings, which were strewn about the area, and stuffed them back into his traveling bag.
    He spent the rest of that miserable night inside the coach, where it was at least dry. Unfortunately, it was midday by the time he awoke again, so the sun was no help in determining which direction to take, not that he knew which way he wanted to go. Even the track marks of the stage had been washed away during the night.
    His watch had been stolen, along with the money he’d had in his pockets and his bag. The money he’d tucked inside the lining of his jacket was still there, though, small compensation for the predicament he now found himself in. He discovered a canteen of water strapped to the side of the coach which he took with him, and an old, musty lap robe under one of the seats that was much appreciated when he still hadn’t come upon anyone or anything by nightfall.
    He had traveled south, in the direction of the next town he’d been headed to, but that wasonly a general direction, since the road they had been on had been a winding one. He could be too far east or west, could pass the town by without even knowing it. He had hoped to run into the road again, but no such luck.
    By the end of that first day he was seriously worried about ever eating again. He had no weapon to catch his own food if he came upon anything to catch. Having lived in a city his entire life, he had never imagined he would need one. He stumbled across a small watering hole where he was able to wash off the rest of the blood matted in his hair and change into some clean, if still rain-dampened, clothes. And he went to sleep that night with a belly full of water at least, small consolation, as hungry as he was.
    The throbbing headache from the lump on his head that had been with him all that first day began to lessen the second day. But the blisters he’d developed on his hands from carrying his bag, and on his feet from so much walking in his town shoes, were so painful his headache was barely noticeable. And he’d run out of water. So he was more than just a little miserable by the end of that second day.
    It was sheer luck that he happened to notice the campfire just before he was about to roll up into his musty lap robe for the night. It was a long ways off, though, so far that he was beginning to think it was an illusion, since he was taking so long to reach it. But then it did start to enlarge from the wavering dot it had been, to define itself, a definite campfire, and finally he could smell the coffee, smell the meat roasting, and his stomach rumbled in anticipation.
    He’d almost reached the fire, was only twenty feet away, when he felt cold metal against his neck and heard the click of a trigger being primed for firing. He hadn’t seen or heard any other movement, but the sound from that weapon kept him from taking another step.
    “Don’t you know better than to enter someone’s camp without warning first?”
    “I’ve been lost for two days,” Damian replied tiredly. “And no, I wasn’t aware that it was customary to give a warning before seeking help.”
    Silence, of the nerve-racking sort. Damian finally thought to add, “I’m unarmed.”
    Another click sounded the release of the trigger, then metal sliding into leather. “Sorry, mister, but you can’t be too careful out here.”
    Damian swung around to face his savior—at least he hoped he’d found a guide back to civilization. But he was amazed to find a mere boy staring back at him. The kid wasn’t very tall and was on the skinny side, with baby-smooth cheeks above a bright red bandana tied loosely around his neck. A boy, probably no older than fifteen or sixteen, wearing denim jeans with knee-high moccasins, and a brown-and-black woven wool poncho over a dark blue shirt.
    There was a gun holster there