don't know my way around - or how anything works down there?
'But I do." roz caught hold of his hand as he strode past and pulled
him round to face her. 'And you can drop the pretence. If you can get
inside Steve's head, you know enough to get by."
Cadillac went to turn away but she didn't let go of his hand. 'It
won't be just the two of us. Steve and Clearwater will help too. It's
an unbeatable combination."
'Hah! Yes!" said Cadillac bitterly. 'You, me, an invalid, and a -'
He was going to say 'a blood-brother I dare not turn my back on' but he
caught himself in time. He knew he had to take his share of the blame
for the injuries Clearwater had suffered; knew also that Steve, in
putting her aboard Red River, had saved her life. But the old wounds
ran deep, and even though Roz's loving presence was a healing balm it
could not make them disappear overnight.
Looking at her, Cadillac saw that she knew exactly what had been going
through his mind. But her sympathetic expression had a firm edge to
it. The message in her eyes read: 'I know what's bugging you, I
understand totally, but from here on in, neither of us have time to
waste on this self-indulgent, recriminatory shit."
Had she put it into words, Roz might have used a less abrasive form of
language but Cadillac had seized the essence exactly. And it brought
him back on a even keel.
'You're right,' he said. 'But we can't make a move until she's back on
her feet and has given birth to her child."
Roz used her grip on his hand to pull herself upright and stepped in
close so that their thighs touched. 'Good."
She gave him a placatory kiss. 'That means you'll have plenty of time
to work out exactly how we're going to do it."
There was another reason why Cadillac was unable to put the rescue of
Clearwater at the top of his list of things to do. The first Council
of all the Plainfolk was due to be held at Big White Running Water
(Sioux Falls, South Dakota) in less than eight weeks. As the successor
to Mr Snow and as one of The Chosen, he had to attend.
And Roz would have to come with him.
They could make no plans to enter the Federation until the Council had
completed its deliberations. He had no inkling as to what might be on
the agenda, bu he was sure that the present and future state of
relations between the Plainfolk and the Iron Masters would be one of
the major talking points.
