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accepted a cup of coffee from his wife with an absent, "Thank you, darlin'," before he spoke to the gambler's woman. Comfort Quince did not look defeated, merely resting for the next battle.
    Grady maintained his stance behind the Rossiter woman, blocking her from leaving, although he had no intentions of tackling her if she fled.
    "Mrs. Rossiter," Quince began. "The U.S. government and a number of Texas expansionists are engaged in passing new legislation that would open Indian lands for white settlement. The land that Hawks Nest is built on contains two 4,500-acre parcels, given to Henry and Gregory Hawks in 1836…"
    Jewel Rossiter swayed on her feet, obviously exhausted from the day's events. She didn't protest or notice when his coat found its way around her shoulders again.
    "…The brothers built a cabin on the land, and immediately negotiated with the neighboring Kiowa chief for Indian wives." Hamilton Quince, once again the picture of a dilettante, paused to sip his coffee, nodding at the spot where Grady stood, before he continued.
    Grady half wished the gambler's woman would speak up and tell Quince to shut up too. He was as tired of the story as she appeared to be disinterested.
    "Grady's mother disappeared not long after his birth. His father, Henry Hawks, never married again and had no more children. Grady's uncle, Gregory Hawks, and his Kiowa wife perished crossing the Brazos River during a cattle drive. Their son, Grady's cousin, Dan Two-Horse, lives most of the time with his mother's people and spends little time in the ranch house that his parents once occupied."
    "I don't need to know Mr. Hawks' business, because it has nothing to do with mine."
    Her flat words to Hamilton Quince pleased Grady. The woman had fire in her belly.
    Hamilton Quince's eyes were cold when he paused in his telling and took a sip of coffee, speaking directly to Grady Hawks. "There's not much about his circumstances that hasn't been discussed recently, since it affects all of us in Eclipse. Grady's dad was shot down on his way home from Eclipse, eighteen months ago, upsetting the balance of power in the valley."
    Then Quince turned back to Jewel and continued his explanation as though she'd not spoken at all.
    "Although Hawks Nest has been in the Hawks family for almost fifty years, the representative of the Eastern Land Developers Consortium, Alan Michaels, suggests that Hawks Nest is not a ranch."
    His face took on a reflective quality as though he'd considered the merits of the proposal but found it did not benefit the Quince brothers.
    "He wants the land to be considered tribal property that, under this pending legislation, would give each cousin a 160-acre allotment and open the rest up for whites."
    Judge Conklin broke in excitedly. "Ambrose and Hamilton Quince have blocked that scheme so far, and with their continued support and the backing of the local ranchers, we're attempting to head off a range war that could end up with a lot of people hurt and no one but an Eastern Consortium of businessmen winning."
    Comfort Quince spoke in a soothing voice as she carried a silver coffee server around to refill the cups of the men. "Ambrose Quince and his wife, Lucy, are at the state capital, and have been since the end of fall branding. Ambrose will do his own share of arm-bending while he is there."
    "The state has too many residents who carry varying amounts of Indian blood to push this through," Hamilton assured the gambler's widow, who had begun to wilt under the assault of three voices. "But there are Eastern businessmen spreading lies and promising eastern settlers that land in Texas will soon be opening."
    "Any resident with a drop of Indian blood is threatened by the Allotment Proposal.
    Right, Judge?" Grady Hawks finally spoke, turning the conversation from her to him .
    He had been watching the performers in the room—as a dispassionate audience. As such, he had to admire the grit the woman exhibited. She was dead on her