“I’m going to take a bath in the lake,” Megan said after she’d washed their plates and packed everything neatly away in the saddlebags. “I feel gritty.”
“So do I,” Longarm said. “Mind if I join you?”
He could not see her face, and therefore her reaction, clearly because of the failed light, but he thought he saw her smile. No matter, because she said, “It’s a big lake, Marshal Long. Why don’t you find some more of it?”
He didn’t have to hide his disappointment. “I guess that means I’ll have to wash my own back tonight, huh?”
“I guess it does,” Megan said.
“You’re a strong woman,” Longarm told her. “A real pillar of virtue. Your father sure didn’t have anything to worry about, did he.”
“Shut up and go for a swim. Don’t drown, because then I wouldn’t have any excuse to see Bodie, which I’ve been wanting to do for years.”
“It’s not so much.”
“Neither are you,” she said, poking him in the ribs and then hurrying off toward the water.
Longarm couldn’t see a lot, only her silhouette, as Megan peeled out of her men’s clothes and stood beside the shore. The damned moon was behind the clouds, or he might have gotten a far better view of her lovely body. As it was, he could see just enough to realize that the top half of Miss Megan Riley was every bit as perfect as the bottom half. Her breasts were large, firm, and high. Her waist was very small and her hips, maybe because she spent so much time on horseback, were almost as slender as those of a man.
“Damn,” he muttered, smoke trailing dragon-like from his nostrils as he stared at the young, voluptuous woman, who began to walk out into the water.
Longarm stood up and took a half-dozen steps toward Megan, and then he stopped. With a great effort of will he turned east and began to trudge along the lake’s shore.
He went about a quarter of a mile before he flopped down on the grass and yanked off his boots. Unbuckling his gunbelt and then undressing quickly, he strode into the cool waters of Topaz Lake. The water burned his saddle sores initially, then it soothed them like a balm. Longarm ducked his head under the surface, and when he raised it, he felt the mountain wind chill his cheeks.
He sighed with pleasure. Despite his physical exhaustion caused by too many unaccustomed hours in the saddle, he went for a long, vigorous swim. The cool, choppy water revived him completely, and when he finally had had enough exercise, he swam back to shore and collapsed naked on the grass, letting the wind dry his body.
“Custis?”
He must have dozed. Starting awake, Longarm sat up. “Yes?”
“Are you all right?”
“I want you, but I also need to sleep.”
“Well, come on back to our camp. You can have the sleep at least.”
“Yeah,” Longarm said, reaching for his things. “I guess a man has to settle for whatever he can get in these parts.”
Megan giggled, and then she sashayed off, but not before Longarm realized that she was still naked herself.
Longarm woke up fast, and he hurried to catch up before the girl could get back to their camp.
Chapter 5
Bodie was big, bad, and bawdy despite the fact that the toughest marshal in the West was running things. There had always been a large contingent of fortune seekers who were attracted to Bodie for the same reasons they found the rich mining towns on the Comstock Lode so enticing. Namely, where there was lots of money there was lots of opportunity, an even Ivan Kane’s tough reputation did not discourage the boldest of the get-rich-quick types. Bodie had first sprung up in 1859, but it hadn’t been until another ten years later that the big strikes had brought nearly ten thousand people rushing to seek their fortune.
“It’s not quite as big or busy as it was when I was here two years ago,” Longarm decided out loud as they reined up their horses and gazed at the boom town ahead of them. “Do you know what men say when they come here?”
“No.”
“Good-bye, God, I’m goin’ to Bodie.” Longarm smiled. “Of course, that changed some when Ivan Kane arrived in town. “But I well remember that, the first time I came through here, Bodie struck me as just being a maverick. It never seemed to abide by normal standards, and I doubt it even has a church yet, despite the size of its population.”
“But I’ll bet it has plenty of saloons.”
“That’s a fact.” Longarm said. “The town exists mainly because of the Standard Mine and Mill over on Bodie Bluff. It’s an exceptionally rich mine, and I think it’s safe to say that it’s produced millions of dollars worth of ore.”
“Where is it located?”
“Just off there to the west. We’ll be staying at the U.S. Hotel on Main Street, if we get a room.”
“Two rooms,” she said with amusement. “You never give up, do you.”
“Nope.”
Megan looked right into his eyes and said, “Good!”
Before Longarm could react, she was moving forward on her sorrel mare and yelling back over her shoulder, “The first thing we do is find a good stable and take care of these horses. Do you hear me, Marshal Long?”
“Loud and clear,” he yelled back as he hurried after her.
They attracted a great deal of attention as they rode up Main Street and then turned on King Street and dismounted before the Stuart Kirkwood Livery Stable.
It had a well-run appearance, and Megan went over to a stack of hay and pulled out a handful. She studied it carefully, seemed to approve, and then brought it back to her mare. The horse was so hungry that it gobbled the hay up immediately.
“Their corrals are clean and they feed good alfalfa hay,” she said. “I think this will do nicely. How much do they charge a night?”
“I have no idea,” Longarm said. “The last time I was in this town I arrived by stagecoach and left the same way.
“Of course,” she told him, a hint of disdain in her voice. “Well, let’s find Mr. Kirkwood and make the arrangements.”
Kirkwood was out behind the barn working to repair a bridle. When he saw Megan, he smiled broadly. “Howdy, miss! Can I help you in any way a’tall?”
“You can,” Megan said. “We’ve too very good horses that demand the best of care. How much a night?”
“The best of care?”
“Within reason,” Longarm said. “The United States government won’t be gouged.”
Kirkwood was a nondescript-looking man in his forties. His face was lined and deeply tanned. He stood up and frowned. “You’re with the government?”
“They’re paying the feed bill,” Longarm said.
“Well then, they can pay it somewheres else,” Kirkwood snapped. “Last time some two-bit government official boarded his horse here, I got stuck with a piece of paper that I was supposed to send off somewheres in Denver and I never got any money at all!”
Kirkwood glared at Longarm. “You ain’t the fella that did that, are you?”
“How long ago was it?”
“Couple years. Was a big fella, like you. Said he was a marshal. Sort … you are him!”
“No, I’m not!”
“The hell you say! And you owe me for six nights’ board! Be … be three dollars and fifty cents interest on my money.”
“Go to hell,” Longarm growled.
“Pay him,” Megan ordered. “Pay the man or you’ll not have my horse to ride back to Reno.”
“Don’t tempt me,” Longarm said, digging into his pockets.
When he paid Kirkwood, the liveryman said, “I ain’t taking nothin’ but cash from you, buddy.”
“I ain’t your damned buddy.”
“Pay him three dollars in advance,” Megan said.
“And if I don’t, you’ll take your horse and ride back to Reno, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Well, then…”
“And you’ll never know what might have happened tonight.”
“Kee-rist!” Longarm groused, digging back into his pockets and forking over the money. “Megan, you’re pushing me to the limit.”