Tempestuous Eden Read Online Free PDF Page A

didn’t necessarily win, nor even the most powerful.
    It was the most eloquent speaker who usually took the prize.
    Not that there weren’t good men in that arena. Her father, personal bias aside, was one of the finest men alive. He had served with and under many fine statesmen.
    But character and principle weren’t always enough to keep the wheels of political machinery running smoothly. Those in power, even when possessed of high principles, had to look at the whole, and they often had to turn their backs on suffering.
    They couldn’t allow themselves to take a good look at the things she had seen.
    Blair gave herself a little shake. Philosophizing was getting nothing done. She lined her charges up and spoke soothingly to the children as she prepared inoculations, making a game of the shots. After a quick swipe with a cottonball soaked in alcohol on each little arm she drew a happy face, swabbing in eyes and a mouth with sunny yellow marks, which were actually a disinfectant.
    The nose, she explained, was the lightning quick and expert injection she gave. Each child left the tent not quite sure of what had happened, but much closer to laughter than tears.
    She was unaware as she worked that a pair of leonine eyes peered into the tent at one point, observing.
    Dr. Hardy, however, did come upon Craig. “Quite an amazing woman, our Blair, don’t you think?” he inquired of the newcomer. He smiled with what he thought was sound perception. “But watch out for her, Taylor. I think God made redheads with fire in their hair to warn of the fire within.”
    Craig laughed at the dire warning. “I’ll watch out, Doc.” His expression sobered and he continued with a tone of apology the doctor couldn’t understand. “She is amazing. Really good at what she does. Not one of those kids has let out a squeal.”
    “I taught her everything she knows,” the doctor said proudly, his furred lips then twisting in a sheepish grin. “Not that teaching was much effort. She picked it all up within two weeks—including the language. Which isn’t surprising—” The doctor clamped his jaw shut. It wasn’t surprising that this woman had such a high intelligence quotient and a facility with languages—not when you knew who her father was. But that was confidential information, and he had almost baldly handed it over to this stranger.
    He sighed with relief when it appeared that Craig Taylor wasn’t going to press him. He stroked his beard and reached for the tent flap. “Guess I’d better get back to work,” he said absently. “How’s the unloading going?”
    “Done.”
    “Done?” Tom shook his head as if a magician had just waved a wand. “Damn, Taylor, I’m sure going to like having you around.”
    “Yeah, thanks.”
    It appeared that the sandy-haired giant winced, and Tom frowned in a moment of perplexity. Then he shrugged. This was not the type of man who needed to be patted on the back. Actually, few who stuck it out in the corps did.
    The man with the piercing yellow eyes slipped a serene smile back into his features. “Looks like they’re struggling with that fire over there.” He pointed to the clearing where Kate, his wife, Dolly, and young Harry Canton were indeed having problems starting the dinner fire beneath the huge black kettle which would furnish a nourishing stew that night. “I guess I’d better run over and lend a hand.” With a rueful wave he strode toward the gathering.
    Dr. Hardy went on into the tent, still shaking his grizzled head. Blair was drawing her last happy face on a little brown arm. “Annnnnnnd … pop! There goes his nose!” she said in barely accented Spanish, grinning cheerfully. The youngster looked from Blair to his arm, confused as to whether he had been hurt or not. It had been so quick. He laughed at the smiling señora.
    “All done,” Blair told him. “Go on now, there will be dinner at the big pot soon.” As the child scampered out of the tent with a broad smile,