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her hat. “Sometimes I think that sort of language is the only thing those horses understand!” She tried to change the subject by looking at Ace again and asking, “What about your father? What’s he like?”
    â€œI couldn’t tell you,” Ace answered honestly. “We never met him. Or our mother, either.”
    â€œThat’s terrible! I’m sorry. Were you raised by relatives?”
    Chance said, “We were raised by a gambler named Doc Monday. He’s as close to a pa as we’ve ever had. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if he was our pa.”
    â€œI don’t think so.” Ace didn’t want to have the old argument again, so he did some subject changing of his own by asking the young women, “What’s this Shoshone Gap you mentioned?”
    â€œIt’s the pass through the mountains on this side of the valley,” Bess explained. She pointed. “You can see it up there, a couple miles ahead. It got the name because the old Shoshone Trail goes through it. It’s a lot easier than Timberline Pass back the other way, between here and Palisade. It’s lower and the slopes aren’t nearly as steep, but there are a lot of rocks and trees on the sides of the gap.”
    â€œA perfect spot for an ambush, in other words,” Emily put in.
    â€œMaybe Ace and I should ride ahead and do a little scouting,” Chance suggested. “You know, make sure it’s safe to take the coach through there.”
    â€œOr to set up an ambush yourself, if you’ve been lying to us all along and planning a double cross,” Emily said caustically.
    â€œWe haven’t lied to you.” Ace was getting a mite tired of the blonde’s suspicions, but he kept his voice calm and level as he went on. “We just want to help, but if you don’t want us to scout ahead—”
    â€œNo, I think it’s a good idea,” Bess said. “Go ahead. We’ll follow along behind you.”
    â€œKeep an eye on your back trail,” Ace warned as he heeled his horse to a faster pace and pulled ahead of the stagecoach.
    Chance’s mount matched his. “Eagleton’s men might have doubled back after we chased them off.”
    As the coach fell behind them, Chance glanced back over his shoulder. “Maybe one of us should have stayed with them.”
    â€œOne of us meaning you, of course.”
    â€œThey’re just a couple gals. Wouldn’t want anything to happen to them.”
    â€œDid you see the way Emily handled that scattergun? And Bess put that team through its paces like she’d been driving a stagecoach for forty years. I don’t think they’re exactly what you’d call helpless or defenseless.” Ace chuckled. “Anyway, Emily doesn’t seem to have much use for either of us, and Bess strikes me as too levelheaded to fall for any line of bull that you might try to put over on her.”
    â€œI think I’m offended.”
    â€œFine. Just keep your eyes on the sides of that gap up ahead.”
    As they neared Shoshone Gap, Ace saw that Bess’s description had been accurate. The mountains loomed on either side, but the trail between them wasn’t too steep or rugged. The slopes were covered with boulders and clumps of pine trees. Plenty of places where bushwhackers could hide, he thought.
    However, nothing happened as he and his brother entered the gap. No shots rang out, and there was no sign of trouble. Ace waved a hand toward the slope on the right and told Chance, “Take a closer look over there. I’ll check out this side.”
    They split up. Ace rode up the incline, his big, sturdily built chestnut picking its way across the slope. He drew his rifle from its sheath and rode with it resting across the saddle in front of him. His keen eyes searched every hiding place he came to.
    Looked like they had gotten skittish for nothing, he decided. Shoshone Gap was