Phoebe had no horse, and probably couldn’t shoot a gun. Eighty was a fair price. But she might say no to that much money. And she was powerful pretty.

“Twenty dollars, gold,” I said.

“Mr. Pickett will pay the fee.”

“And if he don’t?”

She fell silent. Probably worrying Mr. Pickett might not be all she hoped.

“Ma’am…”

“Please. Call me Phoebe.”

“Phoebe, if he don’t pay the fee, I won’t worry about it. I’d be honored to take you to Newton to meet your mail-order husband. And if he ain’t the man you want, I’ll take you to Wichita.”

“And if things don’t work out for me there?”

“Well, me and Shrug’ll be comin’ back through Wichita two weeks later, and we’ll take you to Rolla and get you on a train back to Philadelphia.

Phoebe’s mouth curled into a warm smile. Her cornflower blue eyes sparkled and danced and the look she gave me was as welcome as a dry log on a winter fire. I bit the inside of my lip while thinkin’ Mr. Pickett a lucky man.

“Mr. Love,” she said.

“Call me Emmett.”

“Emmett, I’m going to say yes to your generous offer.”

I nodded. “Okay, then.”

We gathered up our gear and I leaned over and interlocked my fingers to give her a leg up onto Major’s back. She placed her tiny foot in my hands, and said, “Four hundred miles is a long journey.”

“Yes ma’am, it is. And a dangerous one, too.”

“It will probably be very difficult for you to refrain from using profanity,” she said.

I chuckled. “S’pect you’re right about that.”

She hauled off and slapped the shit out of me, five times.

 


 

 

 

5.

 

With its tree-lined streets and mountain views, Rolla, Missouri, was one of the prettier towns I’d seen east of the Colorado territory. Compared to Newton, Kansas, where Phoebe was headed, it was like the Garden of Eden. When I walked into town leadin’ Major behind me, Phoebe in the saddle, the first building we came upon that I hadn’t seen before was the new court house.

“Well, I guess that ends the battle,” I said.

“What battle?” Phoebe asked.

“They’ve been fightin’ with Dillon to see which town would be named the County Seat. This new court house ought to wrap things up.”

We stopped long enough for me to strap on my gun belt. Then we started movin’ again, toward Miss Patty’s Boardin’ House.

“Where’s Wayne?”

“Shrug don’t enter towns much.”

“Why not?”

“People laugh and point at him.”

“That’s abominable. He saved my life.”

“He saved lots of lives, but folks don’t know it to look at him.”

We passed the train station.

Phoebe said, “How did such a small town manage to get train service?”

“A railroad contractor name of Bishop moved here. Had he moved to Cherryville, they’d a’ got the rails. Rolla’s little, but it’s pretty, don’t you think?”

“I haven’t got eyes for it. My experience here was quite unpleasant.”

“Well, maybe it’ll grow on you this time.”

“I doubt it.”

“You know much about the place?”

“No. And don’t care to.”

“Rolla’s only been a town for two years,” I said. “It’s named for Raleigh, North Carolina.