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say,” Clint chimed in.
    â€œWho are you?”
    â€œMy name’s Clint Adams.”
    She frowned.
    â€œThe Gunsmith?”
    â€œThat’s right.”
    She looked pale, her brown hair was dirty, but when she smiled at the sound of his name, she looked pretty.
    â€œI got the Gunsmith as my protector?”
    â€œFor a while.”
    â€œHow long?”
    â€œUntil we can get you out of this town,” Clint said.
    â€œAnd when will that be?” she asked.
    â€œWhen you’re ready to travel,” Doc Mathis said.
    â€œAnd when will
that
be?”
    â€œWhen I say so,” Doc said.
    â€œWell,” she asked, “do I have to wait ’til you say so to get something to eat? I’m starving.”
    â€œNo,” Doc said, “we’ll get you something to eat.”
    â€œYou get it, Doc,” Clint suggested. “You haven’t been out since we got here.”
    â€œGood idea,” Doc said. “You can answer the rest of her questions.”
    As the doctor left, Clint asked, “Would you like some coffee?”
    â€œGod, yes.”
    â€œI’ll get you some while you get yourself into a seated position,” Clint said.
    Clint went in the other room, poured the coffee, and came back. She was sitting up, holding her head.
    â€œStill hurt?”
    â€œOh, yeah,” she said. “Bad.”
    He handed her the coffee.
    â€œYou fell off your horse, and hit your head,” he said. “Your cinch had been cut.”
    She drank some coffee, said, “That doesn’t surprise me.”
    â€œWas anybody chasing you?”
    â€œNot exactly.”
    â€œWhat’s that mean?”
    â€œWell,” she said, “when the whole town chased me out, some of them mounted up and followed me. I was afraid they were gonna kill me, so I started riding hard.”
    â€œThat put extra pressure on that cinch, and it broke,” he said.
    â€œSo one way or another, somebody tried to kill me.”
    â€œOr hurt you,” Clint said. “Looks like they did that.”
    She drank some more coffee, regarded him over the rim.
    â€œWhy did you help me?”
    â€œWell, actually, I was helping your horse.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œI saw your horse running free,” Clint said. “I chased it down, wanted to make sure it was all right. I was bringing it to town when I came upon your body. I thought you were dead. When I saw that you weren’t, I couldn’t very well leave you there, so I brought you both here.”
    She smiled at him.
    â€œYou’re a liar.”
    â€œOkay, try this,” Clint said. “You were so damn pretty I couldn’t leave you out there.”
    â€œI could believe that one,” she said, “but I don’t. You know what I think?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYou’re just too damn nice to leave anybody lying on the ground,” she said. “Even if I was a man, big and fat, you would’ve got me up on that horse and brought me here.”
    â€œWell,” he said, “you got me.”
    She drained her cup and asked, “Can I have some more?”
    â€œSure.”

THIRTEEN
    â€œHow much trouble have I caused you, so far?” Mary asked.
    â€œWhat makes you think you’ve caused me trouble?”
    She stared at him over her second cup of coffee. Her eyes were extremely blue.
    â€œCome on, the doc must have told you how I came to be ridden out of town.”
    â€œOh, that,” Clint said. “Well, yeah, I did have to talk to the sheriff, and some guy named Locksley.”
    Her eyes widened.
    â€œWhat did Locksley say?”
    â€œBefore or after I threatened him?”
    â€œYou threatened Eric Locksley?”
    â€œWell, I just told him that if he sent anyone here to harm you, or the doc, he’d have to deal with me.”
    â€œHow did he react to that?”
    â€œNot well.”
    â€œI’ll bet.”
    â€œTell me about Mrs.