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Rose
forgave him a trifle for making her feel small and insignificant
earlier in the day. “Thank you.”
    She’d learned long ago not to trust
strangers. She’d had men try all sorts of unkind, not to mention
occasionally downright improper, maneuvers on her in the six years
she’d been with the Wild West. Colonel Cody, bless him, tried in
all ways to protect the female members of his cast and generally
sent pushy fellows off with fleas in their ears. Unfortunately,
Cody wasn’t here now. He was in the arena, fighting off Indians and
could not, therefore, fight off H.L. Whoever.
    Before she could turn and continue to the
stable with Fairy, H.L. grabbed her arm. Again she whirled around,
this time snapping out, “Stop that!”
    Fairy whickered, unnerved by Rose’s sharp
command.
    H.L. released her instantly. “Sorry.” Despite
the word, he appeared unrepentant. “But I’ve got to talk to you,
Miss Gilhooley.”
    If Fairy was unnerved, Rose was completely
upset. She was routinely accosted by press people, but not when she
was alone, right after an act, with her horse; and certainly not by
one who appeared all but deranged with agitation. Members of the
press usually approached her in the daytime, by appointment, and
behaved in a respectful and respectable manner.
    Right now she needed to attend to Fairy. She
needed to calm down, too. Her concentration during her act was so
complete as to involve her entire self, inside and out. It upset
her routine to have people approach her before she’d had time to
collect herself.
    She also felt uncomfortable talking to people
unconnected with the show while she was still in costume. Rose
might have been born on the frontier and grown up in unusual
circumstances, but she knew propriety from impropriety—and this
costume was a decidedly improper one in which to conduct a polite
conversation.
    “ I don’t have time to talk to you right
now, Mr.—” Drat, she could only remember his initials. “Whatever
your name is,” she concluded grumpily, irked that he, of all
people, should have caught her unprepared.
    “ I’ll walk with you,” he said blithely.
“Maybe I can help you.”
    “ I don’t need your help, thank you.
Besides, I’m sure you wouldn’t know what to do for a tired
horse.”
    She’d meant it as sort of an insult, although
Rose was too polite to be rude to strangers unless severely tried,
which she was at the moment. H.L. only laughed. “Hell, you can
teach me!”
    Rose felt her eyes open wide. She might be
unsophisticated, and she might have grown up on the American
frontier and have little formal education, but she wasn’t
accustomed to men swearing in front of her. She barked, “I most
certainly can not! I have work to do. Will you please excuse me,
Mr.—” Blast. She’d done it again.
    “ May,” he supplied nonchalantly, as if
she hadn’t just told him to get lost. “H.L. May. And I’m going to
write about you, Miss Gilhooley. Your act was the most amazing
thing I’ve ever seen.”
    This time, she wasn’t so willing to forgive
him. He was beginning to worry her, in fact, with his leech-like
adherence to his purpose and his feverish intensity of manner.
Since his avowed purpose was in direct opposition to her own, which
was to enjoy a little quiet time with Fairy after a difficult act
so that they could both relax, she didn’t appreciate him one
bit.
    She stopped walking, causing Fairy to whicker
again. Fairy didn’t like disruptions to her schedule any more than
Rose did. She decided to be blunt. “Mr. May, you’re annoying me. I
have to take care of my horse, and I don’t need help.”
    “ Aw, hell, Miss Gilhooley, all you need
to do is answer a couple of questions tonight. We can talk more
later. I won’t be in the way. I promise.”
    “ You’re already in the way,” Rose said
through clenched teeth.
    He laughed again. He was, without a doubt,
the most impervious, not to mention aggravating, person Rose had
ever met. Well,