territorial prison at Yuma. Now, Sergeant, you don't have any orders that would countermand my orders, do you?'
'No, but...'
'Then I tell you what,' Longarm interrupted. 'Why don't we just enjoy a cup of coffee and then part friends.'
'Marshal, I can't let you go,' the sergeant repeated, sticking his chin out. 'I got to hold you until the captain and his patrol returns.'
'And how long might that be?'
'Probably a couple of days.'
Longarm made a decision. 'Could we step inside your tent and have a little private talk?'
'Sure, but it ain't going to change anything. You see, Marshal, it'd be my ass if I let you and that woman go and you ran into another Apache raiding party.'
'I'll take the risk.'
'I won't.'
Longarm smiled and said, 'Let's step inside for a moment and really consider this.'
'Okay, but I ain't going to change my mind. You'll just have to wait here for the captain.'
Longarm followed the man into his tent, pulled the flap, and then fisted his left hand and held it out to the side. 'Do you know what I have in my hand, Sergeant Wilder?'
The sergeant stared at the closed fist. 'No.'
'Nothing,' Longarm whispered as he measured his punch and sent his right hand crashing into the sergeant's jaw.
Wilder's knees buckled and his eyes rolled up in his head. Longarm caught him before he toppled over a table. He dragged Wilder over to a cot and stretched him out and covered him with an army-issue blanket. The sergeant looked as if he were sleeping like a baby.
'Give your captain my best,' Longarm said as he rubbed his bruised knuckles and stepped outside.
Longarm moved casually over to their horses, which were unsaddled and tied to the picket line. He got them both saddled and bridled, then led them over to Lucy and prodded her into wakefulness with the toe of his boot.
'What, what?' she mumbled, groggy with sleep.
'Get up and make your bedroll quick. Tie it down and let's get out of here,' Longarm said under his breath, aware that all the soldiers were staring curiously at them.
To her credit, Lucy did as she was told without explanation. Moments later, she was up and Longarm was helping her into the saddle.
'So long, boys!' Longarm called, waving at the staring soldiers. 'Keep up the good work!'
They waved back and smiled, but they weren't watching him. They were staring at Lucy.
'Let's go,' Longarm said, touching spurs to his horse's flanks.
They galloped out of what had once been Rimrock and headed due west toward Prescott, a town that Longarm had often visited and enjoyed. A town where Lucy Ortega had told him she hoped to find some answers that would keep her out of the Yuma prison.
They crossed the Painted Desert and climbed up into the Mogollon Mesa country, where the air was crisp and the nights were cold.
'In another few weeks,' Longarm said as they camped one night high up near a stand of gnarled cedar, 'there could well be snow up here.'
'Brrr!' Lucy shivered. 'I know that if I have to go to Yuma I'll wish it were cold, but for now, I'm freezing!'
Longarm made love to her every night, and they fell asleep wrapped together under the brilliant canopy of stars. During the day, they were cautious and always on the lookout for Apache, but they didn't see any. Near Clear Creek, Longarm shot a four-point buck. He dressed the animal out and they feasted on venison for the next few days as they moved down off the Mogolion Rim country.
When they sighted Fort Verde, Longarm knew that they were almost to Prescott. 'Are we stopping?' Lucy asked.
'I'd prefer not to,' Longarm said. 'The army likes to try and run the show and I have my orders.'
'Then let's just skirt the fort and keep going,' Lucy said. 'The sooner we get to Prescott, the sooner I'm hoping that you can help clear my name.'
'I'll try, Lucy. But you have to understand that it might not happen. If you were framed, those people will have their stories down pat. They're not going to just fess up because I'm a federal officer.'
'I know that,' Lucy said. 'But the marshal at Prescott was no help at all. At least you'll ask some hard questions and be trying to help me.'
'Yeah,' Longarm said, 'I will do that much.'
Lucy's eyes filled with tears. 'I don't think I'm strong enough to survive a long prison term at Yuma. I've heard that it is a hellhole. That it's fiendishly hot in the summer and that the inmates live in dirt pits, like animals in caves.'
'It's not all that bad,' Longarm said, trying to reassure her.
