changing the conversation.
'The 169 night? Why, Miss. Tess, I was just in a little need of
companionship-'
'Not that, Clancy, not that! I want to hear about the lieutenant.'
'The lieutenant?'
'Slater, Edward Clancy! Jamie Slater and the yon Heusen men and the
blazing guns.'
'Oh, it was something, Tess. Honest to God, but it was something!'
'Something? Fine. What? Tell me about it, please!'
'Why, he just-come into the bar, and we all kind of greeted him' --
'Everyone in the place stared at him, wondering if he was : dangerous or
not '
'Right, right. Doc and I were playing cards and we invited him over for
a whiskey. He started asking questions right away, then yon Heusen's
guns came in. One of them had Hardy the bartender by the throat when
Jamie Slater him to stop. The man laughed. Then they were all
threatening to shoot up Slater, but that Slater, he had their number!
Before you know it--one, two, three, four! All of were lying on the
floor and choking and crying and on like babes. And Slater just stepped
over them, as a cucumber, and walked over to the barber and got a shave
and a bath.
'Well, of course, yon Heusen's fellers, they were threat- right and
left, but those boys lit out of town as as Doc patched them up, lit
straight out of town, they Don't know if they went back to yon Heusen or
if they away for good. I ain't seen a one of them since. Of one young
feller, he ain't gonna be ridin' anywhere a while, he kind of took his
shot in the posterior sec- if you know what I mean.' I think I know what
you mean,' Tess said. She gave Ed kiss on the cheek.
'You take care now. I'll be in tomorrow morning. You make sure my piece
goes on the front page.'
'Yes, ma'am!'
Tess left the office and walked slowly down the street toward Mr.
Barrymon~'s office.
What had she gotten?
She'd wanted a hired gun. And she'd gotten one. She railed against Jamie
for leaving the ranch when he'd been finding out what he could--and
shooting it out with some of yon Heusen's toughs at the same time.
And gaining quite a reputation as he did so. She shivered suddenly.
She'd seen him shoot the snake. She'd known that he was fast and good.
She shouldn't have been surprised to hear that he had knocked down four
of yon Hensen's men in a matter of seconds. Then he'd humiliated yon
Heusen at the ranch. Von Heusen was going to be mad, and he was going to
be thirsting for blood. Her blood.
But she'd known she had to fight him. And she had Jamie. She'd wanted
the gun.
And she'd wanted the man.
And now she had both.
She tightened her fingers around the drawstring of her little purse and
stopped walking to lean against a wooden wall as a fierce trembling
