"I can't break them.
Loan me your knife," she ordered Freckles.
As she reached for the knife, her back was for one second toward the men.

She looked into his eyes and deliberately winked.
She severed the stems, tossed the knife to Freckles, and walking to Jack, laid the flowers over his heart.
Freckles broke into a sweat of agony.

He had said she would be safe in a herd of howling savages.

Would she?
If Black Jack even made a motion toward touching her, Freckles knew that from somewhere he would muster the strength to kill him.

He mentally measured the distance to where his club lay and set his muscles for a spring.