Matthew hugged his mother and sister, then looked at Hawk and went to hug him. Hawk was shocked, and glanced at Eve. She nodded.
As things got quite again, something startled Hawk.
"What is it?" She whispered coming up behind him.
"Someone is coming."
Forgetting everything else, she grabbed his arm. He shielded her.
Three men and a woman came to the campsite on foot, with their horses behind them. One of the men was very young, barely older than the girl. The young man had bright red hair.
"Hello in the camp?" One of the men called.
"Welcome." Eve responded moving quickly away from Hawk.
The men stared at Hawk, then her. "What's going on here?"
Eve took the first step to explain. "This man just saved me from the Comanche; their camp isn't far from here."
"Comanche? Lord, just what we need. How far ahead are they?"
"About ten miles." Hawk told them.
"How'd you get her out?" One of the men asked.
"I fought the one that captured her, and managed to trade a few things for her."
"You kill him?"
"Yes."
"One Injun killin' another. All over a white woman? If that don't beat all."
"And her children." Hawk answered.
"Well, we smelled coffee…" The thin young man said.
"Yes, come on in and have some. Please, not too loud, my children are sleeping and they are worn out. They need to rest."
"Where you headed," the young woman asked coming to help herself to the coffee, and handing a cup to the men. Luckily, Hawk carried cups in his bag. They were small, and two of them would have to share a cup, but they didn't seem to mind.
"I'm going back to my home…"
"Back. You probably ain't got a home, if they came and took you from it." The older lean man said.
"It was burned, but she has buried children there, and wanted to go back to say goodbye." Hawk explained.
"I'm sorry for your loss." The girl said, and then looked at Hawk. The way she looked at him it was obvious she was more than a little interested herself.
Eve tried not to notice.
"Mind if we camp with you tonight." She glanced up at Hawk with a big smile.
"I guess not." Hawk offered. "Where you headed?"
"Well, since you told us about the Comanche we'll head to Fort Concho. That's a safe enough place." The older man said.
"Got kin there or something?" Eve asked.