'Get off my land.' She says calmly.
'I haven't got anything. I lost my last dime this morning. I mean, I spent it, on breakfast. When am I going to eat next?'
'Get off my land, or I'll put a hole in the other foot.'
'You wouldn't dare, and anyway what difference would it make?'
'Don't try your luck.' A voice came from the shadow of a tree by the corral. It was Louis. 'I've been watching her practising with that thing. If she aims for your foot she'll probably hit you in the head. And if she even thinks of firing a warning shot you'll most likely fetch up with lead in your stomach. Have you ever seen someone die from a gut-shot? It's not nice and it takes a long, long time.'
Frank is taken aback, clearly he hadn't seen Louis watching their exchange. He sits up and takes the reins.
'If you're not going to give me no money then I sure as hell still need some. I'll take it if I have to. You'll see me again. Maybe then you won't have all your guns and people looking after you and then we'll see. We'll see alright.' With that he gives the horse a kick and turns it round and gallops hard away back up the road he'd come on.
Louis puts his gun back in its holster.
'Thanks Louis.' She says.
'No problem. I remember the incident with his foot. I always wondered if you'd intended to miss.'
'I don't regret it.'
'I know, it's tough asserting your authority when you don't have the muscle to take them on in a brawl, but we do think Frank has a point.'
'We?'
'The team. We talk about it and such. Frank's a boor and a gambler but he's in trouble if he can't earn money in an honest way. You have to see that. If you could do something to help him I think it would go down well.'
'It's a tough world out there Louis and I'm not going to nursemaid anyone, least of all someone who insulted me the way he did. If you feel so strongly, why did you come out to chase him away?'
'I was saving him from himself, and from another bullet from you. I don't want him coming round here shooting his mouth off any more than you do. We shouldn't have to put up with that, but there has to be a way to see him right without hurting your pride, or his. Have a think on it Miss.'
With that, Louis turns and walks back towards the corral.
Emily fires another shot from the rifle at her targets, not caring that Louis is nearby. A tin somersaults off the wall. Louis doesn't flinch.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
'So now we're partners.' He says cheerfully.
Wilson grunts and hands him the reins of the horse. It isn't Logan's horse. The sheriff has provided him with one 'for the purpose of being a deputy.' He presumes the idea of giving him an unfamiliar horse is to make it harder for him to get away. It comes with a particularly uncomfortable saddle.
He has decided to make the best of things for the moment. He came to Walkers Creek to make money and the McLaren job seemed like the quick and easy way to do that. That mostly worked out. He has half the money and if he can get hold of the rest of the money he's going to have enough to get clear to San Francisco. Of course, now that Wilson is tethered to him, getting the money is going to be almost impossible, but the sheriff has sweetened the pill a little by actually paying him for this little charade. It's not like him to seek out a regular paying job, but maybe this will all work out after all.
'Don't just stand around there, we've got work to do.'
'Okay pardner.'
'Don't call me that.' He spits a stream of tobacco juice at Logan's boots. 'The name's Wilson.'
'Okay pardner.' He says stubbornly. No harm in annoying the gaoler. Ultimately he's going to need to give Wilson the slip. If Wilson finds him irritating he might give him enough space to escape.
'You're going to be spending a lot of the day on your own with me, Tanner. There are lot of narrow ravines out there where you'd never be found. It's best you don't plant the idea in my head of killing you and leaving you in one of them.'
Maybe he's overplaying the irritation. He smiles, trying to look a bit more agreeable.
'Mr. Humby will be waiting. Get on with it.'
'Humby?' he asks, trying to get comfortable on the saddle.
'We're riding escort for him today.'
'To the mine?'
'To his girl.'
The mayor's girl? That's bringing mixed feelings. He likes the idea of seeing her again. Actually he's even excited by the idea of seeing her again. He enjoyed seeing her earlier by the creek, but back then he'd told her that she was mistaken and that he didn't work for Humby after all. Back then he didn't know she was sweet on Humby. Now he'll be arriving as Humby's escort. That could prove rather uncomfortable.
Humby is waiting for them at the stable, his huge horse saddled up ready. He probably chose the horse because of its size, thinking it conveyed more status. He looks down on the two deputies when he finally climbs into the saddle but the horse doesn't look likely to be quick.
'Tanner, you stick with the Mayor. I'm going to ride a little way behind and keep a lookout.' Wilson says once they are out on the road.
Humby looks him up and down.
'You're the one who fought Frank Lake aren't you?'
'Not sure you'd actually call it a fight. The punches were a bit one-sided.'
'I see. Well, nice to know my escort can handle himself.'
He is baffled. He'd just assumed that the sheriff and the Mayor had concocted this between them, that they both knew that he had bombed the McLaren house and were trying to get him to give something away, but somehow Humby seems to be acting as though he was just another new deputy.
'What do you think of Miss Nixon?' Humby asks.
He isn't sure how to answer that.
'I hadn't realized that you and her...' He says eventually.
'Really, I thought everyone knew. I hope that doesn't mean you're my competition. You should know that no good comes to men who stand in my way.' Humby laughs to indicate that he meant it as a joke, but the laugh has some venom in it.
'I'll keep out of your way today,' he says. Does he really mean it? Probably not, if the opportunity arises to win her from the mustachioed mayor then he'll almost certainly take it.
Wilson kicks his horse into a gallop and catches them up again as they take the fork off toward the ranch.
'I'll check on ahead and make sure there's no trouble at the ranch,' he says quickly, before galloping on up the road.
Humby's horse doesn't look capable of a gallop and it continues to plod along the road at a steady pace.
'Anyone would think he was expecting trouble,' Logan says.
Humby says nothing.
Trouble wouldn't be completely unwelcome. If there's trouble he'll be perfectly justified in running away. Turning his horse and riding for the hills. It might create the very chance of escape he hopes for. Of course he'd miss the chance to see Emily, but he was always planning on leaving town without her.
The ranch is calm as they ride up. Wilson has dismounted and is tying his horse to the hitching post. Emily Nixon is stood in the road to greet them with a rifle tucked under her arm.
'Hello my darling,' says Humby.
