'Who are you? ' she demanded.
'Cole Clayborne, ' he answered. 'Marshal Clayborne.'
'Are you the man in charge? ' Cole shook his head. 'No, ma'am.
Marshal Ryan's in charge.'
'Is he aware that the sheriff in this town is a complete imbecile? '
The question made Cole smile. 'He's beginning to get that idea,
ma'am.' His honesty deflected some of their hostility. 'Then neither
you nor Marshal Ryan gave the order that we be locked up like common
criminals? ' 'No, neither one of us gave that order.'
'Sheriff Sloan is power hungry and ignorant. It's a dangerous
combination, ' she muttered. She glanced at the other two women, and
then nodded. 'Very well. We shall save our wrath for the sheriff.
Allow me to introduce myself, Marshal Clayborne. My name's Rebecca
James, and I was rudely ordered out of my sickbed by the sheriff. He
made quite a scene in the lobby, and I was horribly embarrassed and
feeling quite ill at the time. The dear lady on my left is Grace
Winthrop. She came here all the way from England because she heard all
about our wonderful country.
And how does this town show their hospitality? They lock her in
jail.
' She was getting all worked up again. 'Miss James, if you would
calmt' She cut him off with a wave of her hand. 'And last but
certainly not least, I would like to introduce you to Jessica Summers
and her son, Caleb. She was just about to feed her baby supper when
she was ripped out of her home and dragged here.'
'I'm sure she was neither ripped nor dragged, ' he argued, though a
part of him wouldn't have put it past Sloan to do such a stupid
thing.
'As I said before, I'm real sorry about the inconvenience.'
'Inconvenience? It's an atrocity, ' Rebecca cried out.
Both Grace Winthrop and Jessica Summers nodded their agreement.
It was apparent to Cole that while they had been locked up together,
Rebecca had taken on the role of speaker for all of them Grace and
Jessica both seemed content to let her do their talking. It was also
evident that the three of them were united in their outrage.
