Harrison gritted his teeth. Getting information out of the brothers was an arduous undertaking, but he was tenacious enough to persevere. The Claybornes liked to confuse him with spurious facts, none of which were the least bit relevant. They did it on purpose, of course. They were united in their goal to make him stop 'hounding' them, as Cole would say, which meant they didn't want him to question either their motives or their ethics. Three of the brothers still believed they could 'out stubborn' him. Adam was the only one who knew better. No one was as stubborn as a Scotsman, and since Harrison had been born and raised in the Highlands, he qualified.
'What's the favor?' he asked Travis again.
'Mama Rose had supper with the Cohens last week, and they happened to tell her about a woman who was stuck in Pritchard. Her escort up and died on her, and she's been trying to get someone to take her on to Golden Crest, but hasn't had any success.'
'Why doesn't the man she's going to marry ride down to Pritchard and get her?'
'I asked Mama Rose that very question, and she told me it wouldn't be proper. The preacher's waiting in Golden Crest, and it's up to Miss Emily Finnegan to get there on her own. Mama Rose offered my services.'
'She must have thought Hammond was right next door to Golden Crest,' Douglas said.
'Why can't someone from Pritchard escort her?' Harrison asked. 'It's a good-sized town. Surely she can find some willing couple there.'
'People are mighty superstitious in Pritchard,' Cole said.
'What does that mean?' Harrison asked.
'It means Miss Emily spooks them,' he explained.
'It seems poor Miss Emily has gone through quite a few escorts,' Douglas said.
'How many?' Harrison wanted to know.
'Too many to keep track of,' Cole answered, deliberately exaggerating. 'Rumor has it a couple of them died. Travis, you'd better take something with you for luck,' he added with a nod in his brother's direction. 'I'd give you my lucky compass, but then I don't have it, now do I, and all because that sneaking, no good son of a-'
Harrison cut him off before he could get riled up again. 'You can't know if the compass will bring you luck or not, Cole. You've never seen the thing.'
'Mama Rose chose it for me, didn't she? That makes it lucky.'
'You're as superstitious as the folks in Pritchard,' he muttered. 'Travis, do you think you'll have trouble with this Miss Emily?'
'No,' he answered. 'I'm not superstitious, and I don't believe half of what they're saying about her either. How bad can she be?'
Chapter Two
The woman was a walking plague.
They hadn't even gotten out of town before Travis was punched, kicked, tripped, and shot at, but not by anyone from Pritchard. No, it was Miss Emily Finnegan who tried to do him in, and even though she swore on her sainted mother's grave that it had all been a terrible misunderstanding, Travis didn't believe her. Why would he? He had it on good authority from his friends the Cohens that Miss Emily's mother was still alive and probably dancing an Irish jig with Mr. Finnegan back in Boston, now that the two of them had unloaded their ungrateful daughter on a poor, unsuspecting stranger living in Golden Crest.
Admittedly, Miss Emily was a pretty little thing. She had hair the color of sable that curled softly around her ears, and big hazel eyes that were brown one minute and gold the next. She had a real nice mouth too, until she opened it, which, Travis was quick to notice, was most of the time. The woman had an opinion about everything and felt compelled to share it with him so that there wouldn't be any future misunderstandings.
She wasn't a know-it-all, but she sure came close. He formed his opinion just five painful minutes after he'd met her.
It had been suggested by Olsen, the hotel proprietor, that they meet in front of the stage coach station. Travis spotted her from way down the street. She was standing directly behind the hitching post, holding a black umbrella in one hand and a pair of white gloves in the other. There were at least six satchels lined up in a neat row in front of her on the boardwalk, entirely too many to drag up the side of a mountain.
Miss Finnegan was dressed to perfection from head to toe in white linen. He assumed she hadn't had time to change out of her Sunday best church clothes. Then he remembered it was Thursday.
They didn't exactly start out on the right foot. She was standing at attention with her shoulders back and her head held high, watching the commotion across the street. Although it was still early in the morning, a rowdy crowd had already gathered in Lou's Tavern and were making quite a ruckus. Perhaps that was why she didn't hear him come up behind her.
He made the mistake of tapping her lightly on her shoulder to get her attention so that he could tip his hat to her and introduce himself. That's when she shot at him. It happened so fast, he barely had enough time to get out of the way. The little derringer she had concealed under her gloves went off when she whirled around. The bullet would have gotten him smack in his middle if he hadn't spotted the gleaming barrel and leapt to the side in the nick of time.
He was pretty certain the gun housed only one chamber, but he wasn't taking any chances. In a flash, he grabbed hold of her wrist and twisted her arm up so that her weapon was aimed toward the sky. Only then did he move close so he could give her a piece of his mind.
And that's when she whacked him with her umbrella and kicked him hard in his left kneecap. It was apparent that she was aiming for his groin, and when she missed her mark the first time, she had the gall to try again.
He made up his mind then that Miss Emily Finnegan was crazy.
'Unhand me, you miscreant.'
'Miscreant? What in thunder's a miscreant?'
She didn't have the faintest idea. She was so taken aback by the question she almost shrugged in response. Granted, she didn't know what a 'miscreant' was, but she did know that her sister, Barbara, used the word whenever she wanted to discourage an overzealous admirer, and it had always been very effective. What worked for her conniving sister was going to start working for her. Emily had made that vow on the train from Boston.
'You only need to know that it's an insult,' she said. 'Now, let go of me.'
'I'll let go of you after you promise to stop trying to kill me. I'm your escort to Golden Crest,' he added with a scowl. 'Or was, until you shot at me. You're going to have to get up there on your own now, lady, and if you kick me one more time, I swear I'll-'
She interrupted him before he could tell her he'd toss her in the water trough.
'You're Mr. Clayborne? You can't be,' she stammered out, a look of horror on her face. 'You aren't… an old man.'
'I'm not young either,' he snapped. 'I am Travis Clayborne,' he added, but because his knee was still throbbing from being kicked by the bit of fluff, he didn't bother to tip his hat to her. 'Give me your gun.'
She didn't argue. She simply placed the weapon in the palm of his hand and frowned up at him. She didn't apologize either. He noticed that slight right away.
'I swear I'm going to be limping for a week. What have you got in your shoes? Iron?'
Her smile was dazzling, and heaven help him for noticing, she had a cute little dimple in her right cheek. If he hadn't already decided he didn't like her, he would have thought she was a might better than simply pretty. She was downright lovely. He had to remind himself the crazy woman had just tried to kill him.
'What a silly thing to suggest,' she said. 'Of course I don't have iron in my shoes. I'm sorry I kicked you, but you did sneak up on me.'
'I did no such thing.'
'If you say so,' she said, trying to placate him. 'You were teasing me about changing your mind, weren't you? You wouldn't really abandon a helpless lady in her hour of need, would you?'
The little woman had a sense of humor. Travis jumped to that conclusion as soon as she told him she was helpless. She'd said it with a straight face too, and, honest to Pete, it didn't matter that his shin was still stinging from her wallop of a kick; he still felt like laughing. He couldn't wait to be rid of her, of course, but he was in a much
