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Show "Stella tied a rag around the bleeding stump. That's when Priscilla told them you had gone downstream towards the Green River after Nellie." "Where's George?" Ben asked. "They took him with them to jail." "Why did they leave you?" "When they were getting ready to leave, I just walked off in the brush and laid down." "Little George didn't cry?" "I let him nurse. He was hungry." "Why didn't you go with them? They wouldn't have harmed you or the baby." "They cut his hand off," she cried. "I had to find you, tell you what happend. We must help George." Ben had the urge to get on the horse and go after the posse. Not burdened with the woman and baby, he could probably catch up with them before they reached the river. But he couldn't leave Madge and her baby, and Nellie and the Indian boy were waiting for him a short distance up the canyon. He figured the rest of the horses he had stolen were still in the side canyon. He could use them to get the women and children to a safe haven somewhere, then he would go after George. "What should we do with this?" Ben asked, removing the hand from his belt. Madge, cradling her sleeping infant in one arm, reached out with the other to take the hand. She kissed it gently, then held it tightly against her tear-stained cheek. "I suppose we ought to bury it," she said, fighting to keep control of her voice. "No," Ben said after a brief pause. "I want to keep it as an ugly reminder. Don't want to forget what they did to Flat Nose George, or what they have done to all of us." "Won't it rot and begin to smell?" she asked. "Not if we salt it good and hang it in the sun to dry." "I think George would approve," she said, lifting her chin and throwing back her shoulders. Madge handed the hand back to Ben, who once again placed it in his belt. After helping Madge onto the horse and handing her the infant, Ben headed upstream to where he had left Nellie and the Indian boy. (To be continued) |