Shifting Calder Wind Read Free Page A

his feet and kept a steadying hand on him when he stood to pull them the rest of the way up. “And you didn’t take it too kindly when I called you an old man.”
    He saw the mischievous glint in the cowboy’s blue eyes and took no offense. “No man likes to be called old. You’ll find that out . . .” He paused and swept an assessing glance over Laredo. It was difficult to pinpoint the cowboy’s age, but he thought he was on the long side of thirty. “And it won’t be too many more years before you do.”
    “I’m afraid you’re right about that,” Laredo conceded with a rueful grin.
    The movement had started his head pounding in earnest again. Gritting his teeth against it, he looked around. “Is there a bathroom close by?”
    “Just down the hall. I’d better walk with you, though. The house is old and the floor is uneven,” Laredo warned.
    Unsteady on his legs, he had to rely on Laredo’s support more than he liked as they crossed the bedroom and entered the short, narrow hall. When Laredo pushed open a door on the left, he waved off any further assistance and entered the bathroom alone.
    After relieving himself, he shifted to the sink and inspected the face in the tall mirror above it. It was rugged and rawboned with age lines carved deep around the mouth and eyes. Layers of gauze were wrapped around his head like a turban. The dark brown hair below it showed a heavy salting of gray. He studied every detail, but the brown eyes looking back at him belonged to a stranger.
    “Old man,” Laredo had called him. The gray hair and age lines seemed to bear that out, but there was plenty of muscle tone in his broad chest and shoulders, indicating he still had ample strength and vitality. He examined the variety of scars on his torso. Most of them were old and faded, with a straightness to them that suggested surgical incisions. But one, along the side of his ribs, had a fresh look to it that suggested it wasn’t much more than a year old.
    But he had no memory of how he had gotten any of them.
    His own mind bombarded him with questions that had no answers. Who was he? Where did he live? What did he do? Did he have a wife? A family? Was anyone looking for him?
    There was a light rap on the door. “Are you all right, Duke?”
    He turned away from the mirror and kept a steadying hand on the wall as he moved to the door. “I’m fine.”
    Laredo ran a sharp eye over him when he opened the door. “What took you so long?”
    “I was trying to get used to that face in the mirror.”
    “It must be hell not being able to remember who you are,” Laredo said, more as a statement of fact than an expression of sympathy. “I’ll give you a hand back to bed.”
    “I’m going to sit up for a while.”
    “Are you sure?” There was skepticism in the side glance Laredo sent him. “You’re still pretty weak.”
    “I won’t get any stronger lying in that bed.”
    “That’s true enough.”
    “If Hattie has any coffee made, I could use a cup.”
    “I’ll check.” Once Laredo had him settled in the corner rocking chair, he went to see about the coffee. He returned with two mugs, handed one to the man he called Duke and lifted the other. “I thought I’d join you, if that’s okay.”
    “Have a seat.” He motioned toward the bed. Laredo sat sideways on the mattress, his body angled toward the corner.
    “So what are your plans?” Laredo raised the mug and took a cautious sip of the steaming coffee.
    “Does it matter? You’ll be leaving soon.”
    “You are definitely good at dodging questions. Maybe you are a politician,” Laredo said with a grin.
    “Why be one when you can buy one?” The words were barely out of his mouth when he knew he was echoing a sentiment he had heard before. He could almost hear the man’s voice.
    “That has the ring of experience talking,” Laredo observed. “And judging from that suit you were wearing, you probably have the bucks to buy a half dozen politicians.”
    “If