Little Deer saw Alvaro was circling to cut off any escape to open desert. She looked at his swarthy face, his long legs, and at the rippling muscles exposed by his short sleeved shirt. She turned and ran the necessary steps before he could trap her in the cove of rocks. When she stopped and turned, the men saw the fear on her face. It disappointed them. They were hoping she wanted to be caught. She listened to their grunts, as they whispered plans, without understanding. Then she watched them spread out to stalk her.

The fear the men saw was not for herself. Little Deer was afraid the men with the evil eyes would further wreck her husband’s sand buggy. She was even more frightened that Merle would discover the men were now after her and would come running to help her.

She knew he would not have a chance with such large men, and was thankful Merle was a mile away and on the other side of the ridge.

The younger Alvaro was the faster of the two and he chased her with vengeance. He nearly caught her once when she doubled back, passing close to the other man to encourage him not to lag behind. Alvaro dived at her, skimming her leg with his fingernails when she ran between them. Joe was. furious, for he thought he had turned her towards Alvaro.

“Well, why didn’t ya grab her?” Alvaro stopped running to remove his hat. He was hot, and he wished he had taken a drink from the canteen when he’d had the chance. “Gimme a chance, I will,” he spit back as he wiped running sweat from his forehead. “It’s these damn boots.” He puffed for breath as he looked at Little Deer. She was standing ten yards away watching them.

“She’s run us half a mile,” he growled. “Joe, we’ll just keep trottin’ after’ her. She’ll slip somewhere in this sand, or get a cactus through her slipper. C’mon, now. Don’t run. Just keep moving after ‘er.”

Little Deer trotted ahead of them, glancing often over her shoulder. Joe quit first; Puffing hard, he stopped and fanned his face with his hat. Alvaro returned and violently cursed to urge him on. Joe nodded, but waited until he regained his breath.

They ‘trotted after her for another quarter of a mile. Near a forked Joshua tree Joe dropped to the sand, shaking his head. Alvaro came up beside him and stood breathing through his mouth. Joe looked up and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“This is stupid!” he snarled. “The little witch! We’ve run…over a mile.”

“S’all right. She’s winded too.” Joe shaded his eyes from the sun to look at her. “So, great! Go-catch ‘er! I’ll wait here.”

Alvaro squinted with anger. “The devil you say! Listen. There’s a dry lake ahead: Help me run her over there.”

“Could ya…catch her?”

“You better believe it! Without these boots I’m second to nobody!”

They walked after her. Little Deer walked, too, carefully watching over her shoulder. As though she understood, she led them directly to the caked silt of the smooth dry lake. They followed her a long ways out on the glaring white surface before Alvaro sat down and removed his boots.

Alvaro chased her with surprising speed. Little Deer barely stayed ahead of him by a matter of feet. Alvaro had no way of knowing she purposely allowed him to stay close. At each bound of his legs he thought he would catch her with the next jump. He extended himself until the blood was pounding in his head and his own sweat blinded him.

Exhaustion caught him on a last desperate effort arid his legs collapsed. He fell heavily and rolled to his back, too tired to shade his eyes from the sun. Little Deer sat down for the first time, facing him from ten yards away. Alvaro rolled to a sitting position with his head hung and his eyes closed. He gulped deep breaths of hot air with an open mouth as he waited for Joe.

Joe dropped beside him, wiping at his dry mouth.

“Gimme a drink,” he said.

Alvaro’s flushed face deepened with a murderous scowl as he glared at Joe. He nearly struck him. “You…stupid ass,” he puffed. “You think…I run…with a canteen?”

Joe shrugged, remembering he had left the canteen. He also remembered the trouble they’d had in Arizona for messing with an Indian. “Alvaro,” he cautioned, “We can’t let ‘er get away.”

“Hah” Alvaro ‘hissed. “Yes! I serve…five years for leaving…a savage alive. This time…she I kill.”

Joe looked over at Little Deer. “Look at ‘er. Sittin’ right there in reach. I’ll never leave my rifle again. Ain’t there some way to get her in the leg…with a rock?”

Alvaro sneered. “What rock? Nothin’ but sand. Ya should’a pegged one…back at the car.” He glared at her. “Look. You’re rested. You chase ‘er. We’ll take turns. Wear ‘er out.”

Joe shook his head in disgust. “How’m I gonna steer her? She keeps runnin’ farther out in this hot sun.” He turned accusing eyes on Alvaro. “I thought you could catch a jackrabbit?” he snarled.

Alvaro glared back. “Si! But her mother was an antelope.”

Joe nodded “I believe it. Man, I’m thirsty. I gotta get out of the sun. Let’s get back to the jeep and get a rifle. Then hunt ‘er down.”

Alvaro thought a moment as he studied Little Deer hungrily. “Yeah,” he agreed, nodding while feeling the scar across his high cheekbone. “We’ll do it. An’ I mean…we’ll do it. I lust wing ‘er. Then, Fm gonna take a hot iron and work her over.”

When they laboriously struggled to their feet, Little Deer quickly got to hers. She was rested and ready for them to chase her again. But when they turned their backs on her and plodded doggedly away, her heart began to race with a faster beat. Merle could be following their footprints by now.