prediction, the Colorado River had dwindled in late fall to a mere stream and their driver had no trouble crossing the vast, sandy riverbed lined by willows and cottonwood trees.
'There's Yuma,' Longarm said, trying to sound enthusiastic.
'And there's the prison,' Lucy said in a grim voice. 'I hope to God that I never have to enter its gates.'
The prison was imposing, to say the least. it stood poised on a high cliff overlooking the river, and Longarm knew that its eighteen-foot-high adobe walls were eight feet thick at the base, tapering to five feet thick at the top. Walkways had been made on top of the walls so that prison guards could patrol around the perimeter twenty-four hours a day.
Standing defiantly overlooking the entire prison compound was the main guard tower, which bristled with a Lowell Battery Gun, which was an improvement over the old Gatling Gun. On a previous visit, Longarm had been told that the Lowell Gun was capable of firing more than a hundred rounds a minute into any section of the prison yard. In addition, at each of the towers there were armed guards with.44-40 Winchester rifles. To get in and out of the prison, you had to pass through massive, strap-iron grilled gates that swung beneath a thick archway that was heavily guarded.
'I think,' Lucy whispered, 'I'd just die if I had to become an inmate there.'
'No, you wouldn't,' Longarm said. 'You'd find you had enough inner strength to survive.'
'I don't know,' Lucy said, shaking her head as they rolled up the western slope of the Yuma Crossing and into Yuma itself.
Longarm wasted no time getting Maria to the first doctor whose shingle he saw hanging from the front porch of his office, according to the sign a Dr. Clement Edwards. When the doctor had a chance to examine Maria's bullet wound, he was very upset.
'This girl shouldn't have been moved' Edwards said with disapproval as he rebandaged Maria's wound. 'I can't believe that you would put her on that damned bumpy stagecoach. The poor girl must have been in severe pain, possibly even shock.'
'We had her examined and cared for before we left,' Longarm said, feeling guilty as hell. 'Her life was in danger so we had to get here without delay.'
'How are you feeling?' the doctor asked Maria.
'I will be good,' Maria said.
'Well,' Edwards groused, 'they had no business putting you on that stage.'
'How much do I owe you, Doc?' Longarm asked. 'We've got to go find Judge Benton.'
'He'll be at the courthouse,' Edwards said. 'And You Owe me two dollars. I want to see this girl again tomorrow.'
'Right,' Longarm said.
He took Maria and Lucy's arm and they left to go see the judge.
'The doctor wasn't too pleased,' Lucy said as they hobbled down the street.
'Well,' Longarm said, 'Dr. Edwards just didn't understand the way of things for us, and I sure never thought that I owed him an explanation.'
The courthouse where Judge Harvey Benton presided was just a simple adobe that had once belonged to a wealthy Spaniard. It had a courtyard and eight bedrooms, the largest of which the judge had converted into his private study. The rancho's living room was now a courtroom, and while waiting to testify, visitors could enjoy a fountain and the courtyard's many flourishing plants.
'This way, Deputy Long,' the bailiff said, leading Longarm, Maria, and Lucy down the cool corridor to the judge's study.
'Come in!' Benton barked.
When Longarm appeared, Benton stared, then removed his reading glasses and stared some more. He had once been a very large man, well over six feet tall and weighing three hundred pounds. Age, however, had put a stoop to his shoulders and he was beginning to lose weight. Longarm knew that the judge was in his mid-eighties and that he had been experiencing some health problems. It was sad to see that he was physically declining, although he still was able to perform his duties and then some.
Recognizing him at last, Benton said, 'Deputy Long! What brings you to this tropical paradise again after such a long absence?'
Longarm ushered Maria and Lucy inside. 'I have a matter of utmost importance,' he said. 'But first, I'd like to introduce these ladies.'
After the introductions, the judge frowned as he looked at Maria. 'You do not look well, senorita. Have a seat on my couch. Are you hurt?'
'Si,' she whispered. 'I have been shot.'
Benton's eyes widened with alarm and they flicked to Longarm. 'Has she seen a doctor?'
'Yes,' he answered, 'and she is going to be just fine.'
'Who shot her?'
'I don't know,' Longarm admitted. 'The man got away.'
'I see.' Benton returned to his desk. He leaned back and said, 'I assume this matter is of some urgency or you would not be here.'
'That's right,' Longarm said. 'Let me explain.'
When Longarm was finished relating all the details of Lucy Ortega's escape, arrest, and now her attempt to clear herself in the matter of her husband's murder, the judge leaned forward in his desk chair.
