'We hope they don't know,' Lucy said.
Longarm fussed with his horse's mane, trying to hide his own mounting nervousness. 'Look!' he said, pointing. 'There's Brodie and a Mexican maid.'
'Yes, that is poor Maria. She must be scared out of her wits. And look at how upset Juan, Manuel, and Renaldo appear to be!'
Longarm could see for himself how upset the three Mexicans were at losing their maid. And although he could not overhear the heated conversation, he could see how Hal Brodie was practically throwing the Mexican girl on the spare horse that he had brought to carry her away.
'So far, so good,' Longarm said. 'It looks as if he is going to pull it off.'
'He's acting very brave, isn't he,' Lucy said.
'Yes,' Longarm had to agree, 'he is. Did you know that the man has been in love with you for a long time?'
'Sort of.'
'Here they come,' Longarm said. 'We'll just ease back and keep these trees between us and your late husband's ranch house. Then we're on our way to Yuma.'
'Poor Maria. I doubt she had any idea how much risk she would be taking.'
'I disagree,' Longarm said. 'And besides, she has demanded a hundred dollars to come forth as a witness to murder. Don't worry about poor Maria. She appears to know exactly what she is doing.'
Fifteen minutes later, Longarm and Lucy were galloping up to Hal Brodie, Maria, and his cowboys.
'I'm so proud of you, Hal!' Lucy said, eyes shining with gratitude.
Longarm studied Maria, who looked very frightened. 'Do you speak English?'
'Yes,' the small, pretty young woman said. 'Not good, but okay.'
'It's fine,' Longarm said. 'Do you know what this is all about?'
'Si. I saw Miguel shoot Don Luis. And now, you wish me to tell this to a judge.'
'Exactly,' Longarm said. 'But the judge is in Yuma.'
Maria's face clouded with worry. 'Why we have to go so far away, senor?'
'It's a long story, Maria. But the judge here might not be trustworthy. I can't take that chance. I do know the judge who presides at Yuma, and he's honest. You'll also be safer there.'
'Okay. But first, the money.'
Longarm started to tell Maria that he would have to wire for the money, but Hal must have seen his hesitation because he said, 'I brought it in cash, Marshal.'
'Fair enough,' Longarm said, greatly relieved because he would have been flat broke if he'd paid Maria a hundred dollars. 'Thanks. I'll make sure that you are repaid.'
'Just getting Lucy's name cleared and seeing her husband's killers brought to justice is all the pay I need.'
Longarm nodded and let Brodie pay the young Mexican house servant. She lowered her eyes as if ashamed to take the money, prompting Longarm to say, 'Don't be ashamed about that money, senorita. I'm sure that you have a very good use for it.'
'Si' she whispered, large, luminous eyes cast downward.
Longarm lifted his reins and gazed back at the ranch. 'We could see that those relatives were pretty upset,' he told Brodie.
'You damn right they were! Especially Don Luis's brother, Juan. For a few minutes inside, I thought he was going to go hunt up a gun and try to stop me.'
Lucy's hand flew to her mouth. 'I'd never forgive myself if you'd been killed, Hal.'
'It's all right,' he said. 'Everything worked just fine. But I was thinking that I ought to come along with you to Yuma. You know, to make sure that they don't follow or anything.'
'That won't be necessary,' Longarm said. 'In fact, it would be a dead give-away to them that something was seriously wrong. We want those three to believe that you and Maria are back at your ranch and that everything, as far as you're concerned, is hunky-dory.'
'All right,' Brodie said, looking as if he had some misgivings, 'but I sure don't like the idea of the three of you going on to Yuma alone.'
'We'll be just fine,' Longarm said. 'Yuma is less than two hundred miles. We can ride down to Wickenburg, board our horses, and buy stage tickets. The line runs through Gila Bend and on into Yuma. We can be there three days from now. Probably take a day for Maria to give testimony, and then it's another three days back if everything goes without a hitch.'
'A week,' Brodie said, 'and you can clean this mess up and it will all seem like just a nightmare come and gone.'
Brodie turned to Lucy. 'My dear woman, I don't know how you've stood up under all this. Losing your husband, escaping, and then being brought all the way back to Arizona expecting to be thrown in a hellhole of a prison.'
'It will all pass,' Lucy said. 'Hal, it's going to be over soon.
Brodie reached out and covered Lucy's hand with his own. 'Adios,' he whispered softly.
Longarm had seen and heard enough. 'Let's go,' he said. 'We've got a long, hard road ahead. Maria, are you comfortable on a horse?'
