the scout had reached for his gun, that would have been real trouble.
“You’ve got it all wrong, Harwood,” The Kid said as he tried to talk some sense into the furious man. “There’s nothing between Mrs. Ritter and me.”
Harwood had reached his feet, too, his chest heaving and his eyes blazing. His fists were clenched at his sides. “You’re a damned liar! I saw the two of you together. You either attacked her, or you’re trying to steal her away from me!”
“Scott, stop it,” Jessica said again from the rear of the wagon. “Mr. Morgan didn’t do anything. It was me, all me!”
Harwood lifted his head, and an even bleaker look settled over his face. “What are you saying, Jess?”
She swallowed hard. “You heard me. I’m sorry, Scott, but I ... I can’t marry you.”
Silence fell over the people who had crowded around Jessica’s wagon as Harwood stared at her uncomprehendingly. Finally, a grim realization settled over his face. “I was right,” he said quietly. He turned his head to look at The Kid. “You did this.”
And with that, he twisted his body and grabbed for the gun on his hip.
Chapter 10
Instinct sent The Kid’s hand flashing toward his own Colt. Harwood might be a fine scout, but he was no fast gun. The Kid could have drawn and fired a couple of times before Harwood cleared leather.
But that didn’t happen. Horace Dunlap moved up fast behind Harwood, swiftly thudding a revolver against the back of his head. Harwood’s hand opened, releasing his gun as he toppled forward.
The Kid’s gun was leveled, but his finger wasn’t on the trigger. Dunlap said, “You can pouch that iron now, Kid. I’m much obliged to you for not killin’ him.”
“I wasn’t going to kill him, but I might’ve had to break his arm with a bullet,” The Kid said. “I’m glad I didn’t.” He slid his Colt back into leather as he looked down at Harwood. The scout was out cold.
Milo Farnum came up and scooped Harwood’s gun from the ground. “I’ll hang on to this for a while. Just to make sure everybody’s cooled off.”
“That’s a good idea, Milo.” Dunlap turned to face the crowd and raised his voice as he went on. “You folks go on about your business. All the excitement’s over.”
A grim-faced Jessica climbed down from the wagon and went over to kneel beside the unconscious Harwood. She put a hand on his head where Dunlap had hit him.
“He’ll be all right,” the wagonmaster said. “I didn’t wallop him that hard. Reckon he’ll have a headache when he wakes up, but that’s all.”
She shook her head and murmured, “No, that’s not all. He’ll have a broken heart, too.”
“Ain’t nothin’ I can do about that, ma’am.”
“No, it’s too late. There’s nothing anybody can do.”
The Kid turned away and walked toward his horse, leaving Jessica kneeling beside Harwood. Dunlap and Farnum followed him.
When they reached the dun, the wagonmaster said, “Maybe it ain’t none of my business, but if you want to tell me what just happened, Kid, I’m listenin’.”
“And if I don’t want to tell you?” The Kid asked.
“Then I’d be obliged if you did anyway,” Dunlap said, his voice hardening. “I signed on to bring these folks out here. They’re my responsibility.”
The Kid shook his head. “Not anymore they’re not. They’re here. This is Raincrow Valley. You did your job.”
Dunlap rubbed his jaw for a second and shrugged. “Reckon you’re right about that ... but I still feel like I got a duty to look after ’em. There’s been some talk about, well, about makin’ me the mayor of these parts, if you want to call it that. There’s no town yet, but maybe there will be, one of these days.”
“And Scott’s our friend,” Farnum added. “We want to know what happened to start this.”
“Fine,” The Kid said. “Mrs. Ritter decided she doesn’t want to marry him anymore. He blamed me for that.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because he saw her kissing me.”
Dunlap and Farnum glanced at each other, then both gave him hard looks.
“You say
“That’s the way it was,” The Kid replied curtly.
Dunlap sighed and nodded. “I suppose I can believe that. I ain’t known Mrs. Ritter all that long, but she strikes me as a gal who usually does just about whatever she wants to.”
Farnum regarded The Kid suspiciously. “You didn’t do anything to put the idea in her head?”
“No, I didn’t,” The Kid said. “And you can believe me or not. I really don’t give a damn.”
“I reckon I believe you,” Dunlap said with another sigh. “But no matter who’s to blame for it, this here’s a mess, and we got to do somethin’ about it.”
“I intend to.” The Kid picked up his saddle blanket and threw it over the dun’s back, smoothing the coarse fabric.
“Hold on there,” Dunlap exclaimed. “What’re you doin’?”
“Getting ready to ride out.” The Kid thought it was obvious what he was doing. He shouldn’t have to explain it.
“Tonight?”
“I think that would be a good idea.”
Dunlap snatched his hat off and pawed at his thinning hair in his habitual gesture when he was upset about something. “There ain’t no need to do that. Just steer clear of Scott and Mrs. Ritter. Maybe they’ll work things out between ’em and maybe they won’t, but we’ll give ’em a chance to.”
“This isn’t that big a camp,” The Kid said as he lifted his saddle and placed it on the dun’s back. “There’s too much of a chance I’d run into one or the other of them, and if that happens, Harwood’s liable to try gunning me again. I told you, I don’t want to hurt him.”
“But you can’t travel at night,” Dunlap protested.
“I don’t see why not.” The Kid fastened the saddle cinches. “This is a big valley. I can make camp on my own a few miles away, where there’s no chance of more trouble with Harwood. I was going to be riding on in a day or two, anyway. I’ll find somewhere else, maybe lay up for a week or two to let my horse rest. What’s north of this valley, anyway?”
“More mountains,” Dunlap replied. “Get over them and there’s a basin with some ranches and a little settlement called San Blanco.”
The Kid nodded.
“That’s where I’ll head, then.”
“Dadgum it!” Dunlap slapped his hat back on his head. “At least let me round up some supplies for you. We got plenty of food. We can spare enough to get you to that town. Shoot, that’s the least we can do for you.”
The Kid wasn’t sure why everybody felt so grateful to him when he hadn’t really done anything to help these pilgrims. But some extra provisions would make his journey easier, so he nodded. “All right. Thanks.”
“Come on, Milo. We’ll get those supplies.”
Farnum shook his head. “You can handle that,” he told Dunlap. “I’m gonna stay here, just to make sure there’s no more trouble.”
“There won’t be,” The Kid said.
“You can’t be sure about that. Depends on how soon Scott wakes up.”
The Kid supposed Farnum had a point. “Suit yourself.”
After Dunlap had hurried off, Farnum went on, “Scott ain’t a bad hombre, you know.”
“I never said he was.”
“He’s a pretty close-mouthed cuss most of the time, and he ain’t what you’d call friendly to most folks. But he
