as a pair of bullets stitched into the street where he'd been standing only an instant before.
Rolling under the wagon and out the other side, Longarm came to his feet in time to see Lester flying off the rooftop of a saddle shop and vanishing into shadow. Longarm went after the man.
Lester was on the run. Longarm could hear the pounding of his boots as he shot down a back alley, probably running for a horse that was hidden somewhere. Longarm sprinted into the dark shadows between the buildings and when he emerged in a back alley, he saw Lester tearing the reins free and struggling to vault onto the back of his horse. But he was in such a panic that he had spooked the animal and it was spinning crazily.
'Lester!'
The man fell off his horse, popped back to his feet, and threw himself headlong behind a rain barrel. 'Come and get me, Marshal! Come and get me!'
'Throw out your gun or I'll kill you like I killed your brothers!'
Lester fired rapidly, but missed Longarm by ten feet. The man was badly rattled. Longarm moved forward, hammer cocked back and ready. 'Lester, this is your last chance! Throw out that gun!'
'And go back to prison for trying to kill you? Fat damn chance, Marshal! If you want me, then you're going to have to come and get me!'
Longarm stopped and fired into the water barrel. If it was full, then his bullet might not penetrate both sides. But if it was empty, he was sure that his slug would find Lester.
The water barrel was empty. Longarm heard Lester cry out in pain even as he fired two more bullets into the barrel and sent splinters flying. A moment later, Lester rolled out from behind the barrel and went to his knees. He tried to raise his six-gun, but it seemed much too heavy.
Longarm stopped and watched as the man struggled with two bullets in his chest. Lester gagged and then he pitched forward, knocking the empty water barrel over. It had contained about two inches of rainwater, and now it leaked into the dirt, just like Lester was leaking.
Longarm reloaded his weapon, and he kept it clenched in his fist as he moved over to the dead man. He stared at Lester a moment, and then he walked over to the man's spooked horse and calmed it with a soothing voice.
'Easy now,' he said, taking up the animal's reins and climbing into the saddle. 'Easy.'
Longarm rode back up the alley, avoiding the main street until he was behind the Buckboard Hotel. He dismounted, tied Lester's horse to the stairs, and hiked up to the second floor. He walked quietly down the hallway and knocked on the door.
'Lucy?'
There was no answer.
'Lucy!'
Still no answer. Longarm fumbled in his pocket for a key, and when he got the lock turned, he shoved in the door.
'Lucy!'
She yawned and raised her head. 'No need to shout, darling. What do you want?'
Longarm closed the door with a deep sigh of relief. 'I was thinking that I'd enjoy another bath.'
Lucy pushed herself up on her elbows and brushed a tendril of hair from her eyes. 'This morning?'
'Sure,' he said. 'Right now.'
She smiled sleepily. 'All right, Marshal. Call for the water, and I'll join you just as soon as I am fully awake.'
'All right,' he said, feeling the tension drain away as he locked their door and unbuckled his six-gun.
CHAPTER 6
Longarm and Lucy kept steadily moving westward for the next week. The country was littered with lava rocks for about seventy miles, and Longarm was very glad that he had had the shoes replaced on their horses. This was wild country, with a few isolated ranches and rancherias, most of which had, at one time or another, been pillaged by the Apache Indians who still ran free between here and the sanctuary of Northern Mexico.
'You were pretty lucky to have survived while crossing this country alone,' Longarm said to Lucy one afternoon as they passed through a red rock canyon and struck out across an open, sage-choked plateau. 'If the Indians had spotted you, it would have been all over.'
'Just as it will be now if they spot us,' Lucy reminded him. 'But yes, I was fortunate. I saw very few men, and when I did, they were always at a distance. I'm sure they thought that I was another man.'
'If they were far enough away, that could happen,' Longarm said.
A few days later they rode through a petrified forest and admired the fascinating stone shapes made from ancient trees.
'Do you have any idea how this could have happened?' Longarm asked.
'As a matter of fact, I do,' she told him. 'I once read that this country was very heavily forested and then suddenly flooded with water. I guess the minerals in the water caused the wood to harden and fossilize. Anyway, that's the prevailing theory.'
'My gosh,' Longarm exclaimed with mock surprise, 'they really did teach you something in that Eastern college.'
She laughed. 'I learned a great deal, including how to snare a rich Eastern husband.'
'Then why didn't you?'
