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us here to let him know when he got home an’ possibly to put a bullet in him and his friends.”
    â€œBut Mac,” Jacoby said, shoving his plate to the side and leaning forward, “what if his fight with Johnny was fair an’ it was like they said, that Johnny fired off shots at them first? Hell, we all know what an asshole Johnny could be when he was all liquored up.”
    â€œDon’t make no never mind to me what happened back in Pueblo,” Macklin answered, his eyes burning. “All I know is Johnny and the others that died with him were friends of mine, an’ I aim to see Jensen in his grave for what he done to them!” He paused for a moment, staring at Jacoby as if he were an enemy instead of one of his oldest friends. “An’ I aim to do it with you or without you, Carl, so don’t be getting in my way or you’re liable to catch some lead too.”
    Jacoby snarled back, “Don’t go playin’ the big man with me, Mac. Remember, I seen you draw before an’ I ain’t all that certain you could take me, even if you was crazy enough to try.”
    â€œWell, then, how ‘bout I put it like this. Old Man MacDougal been pretty good to both of us, it seems, so if’n he wants Jensen dead, for whatever reason, it’s plenty good enough for me.”
    Jacoby started to reply, but Macklin added, “And what do you think Sarah is gonna say when she hears you’ve gone all soft and sweet on Jensen, the man what killed her baby brother?”
    Jacoby let his eyes drop to what remained of his meal, his appetite squashed by the question. “Maybe if I explain to her that—”
    â€œExplain what?” Macklin burst out. “That the man who put six slugs in her little brother after bashing out his front teeth is really a nice feller and we should just forget about the whole thing?”
    Jacoby leaned his head back and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, trying to ease the sudden pain there that Macklin was causing. “You’re right, Mac, she’ll never understand,” he said wearily. “She’s like her father. She don’t never forget a slight, and she sure as hell won’t care what I think about Jensen’s character, that’s for sure.”
    â€œIf you’re finished with that steak, maybe we’d better get on over to the telegraph office and wire Angus and see what he wants us to do,” Macklin said, stuffing the last piece of his meat into his mouth, thinking Jacoby was a fool for caring so much about a lady that would never ever give him the time of day.
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    Sally Jensen eased out of her seat on the train when it pulled into the station at Pueblo, Colorado. The next stop would be Big Rock, and she wanted to freshen up a little before arriving home. She hadn’t seen Smoke for more than half a year, and she wanted to look her best when he met her at the station. She could already imagine him throwing his arms around her and squeezing her tight against his hard body.
    When she looked into the mirror in the women’s parlor compartment as she applied a light dusting of powder and just a hint of lip rouge, she noticed that the thought of seeing her man again after so long was making her cheeks flush and burn as if they were on fire.
    She grinned, speaking at her image in the looking glass. “Why, Sally Jensen, you’re acting like a hussy instead of an old married woman!”
    â€œPardon me?” a young woman who was just entering the compartment asked, raising her eyebrows at the sight of Sally talking to herself in the mirror.
    Sally laughed, her cheeks flushing even more at being seen acting so strangely. “Oh, don’t mind me, miss,” she said, waving a hand at the young girl. “I’m just returning home after a long absence, and the excitement of seeing my husband and home again after so long has me behaving a bit silly.”
    The young