"It will all pass," Lucy said. "Hal, it's going to be over soon.
Brodie reached out and covered Lucy's hand with his own. "Adios," he whispered softly.
Longarm had seen and heard enough. "Let's go," he said. "We've got a long, hard road ahead. Maria, are you comfortable on a horse?"
She nodded her head.
Longarm pointed his horse to the southwest and set off at a high lope.
Maria followed close beside him, but Lucy lingered for a last word with Hal Brodie. That sort of irritated Longarm, but he knew that it was inevitable because, as much as he cared for the woman and as close as they'd become, neither of them had ever expected their relationship to last beyond this ordeal.
Wickenburg was only forty miles away, but it was a hard road and well past midnight when they arrived. The town had been born after a huge gold strike by Henry Wickenburg in 1863, when he'd opened his Vulture Mine. Almost immediately, the town had blossomed, within three years had become Arizona's third largest town, and had nearly been designated its territorial capital, losing by only two votes. It was said that gold fever was so rampant in Wickenburg's early boom years that the people had not even bothered to spend the time to build a proper jail for the prisoners that their lawmen arrested. Instead, they'd just chained them to a paloverde tree in the middle of town. The tree, still standing, was now called the "jail tree." Now, however, the mining boom was over and Wickenburg had settled into a quieter existence based as much on ranching as mining.
"We'll put our horses up and then find a room here for the night," Longarm said as they wearily guided their horses up the main street.
"Are we all staying in the same room?" Lucy asked.
Longarm had actually given that some thought. He didn't like the idea much, but he really didn't think he could chance letting either woman out of his sight. Maria might be having second thoughts about testifying and decide to run away, and Lucy--well, you never were quite sure exactly what she was thinking of doing next.
"Same room," he said. "I'll spread my bedroll out on the floor. You and Maria can either sleep together, or you can sleep on the floor too."
"All right," Lucy said. "Are you sure that there's a stagecoach leaving tomorrow?"
"Used to be one going out every morning. We'll find out from the liveryman."
They found a livery and awakened its proprietor, a rather seedy-looking fellow who was not all too happy about being awakened in the night until Longarm explained things to him.
"Sure, sure," he said with a yawn. "I'll keep your horses until you get back from Yuma. A dollar a day for all three."
"Fair enough."
"Five dollars in advance."
Longarm forked over the cash. "Is there a stage leaving for Yuma in the morning?"
"Bright and early," the man said. "Leaves just after sunup. Gets you to Yuma faster'n you could ride these played-out horses."
"Good," Longarm said. "What about a hotel?"
"Booked up solid. But you can sleep on my straw for another dollar. It's clean, and I'll wake you in time for the stage."
Longarm only needed to think about it for three seconds. They were all dog tired, and although he expected he could find them a hotel room for rent, it just didn't seem worth the bother given the lateness of the hour.
"Good enough," he said.
The women were not pleased, but Maria didn't complain. Lucy, however, was not shy about expressing her displeasure. "For crying out loud, Longarm! I was hoping for a nice bed."
"You're so tired you'll fall asleep before your head hits the straw," Longarm told her. "We don't even have to walk up the street this way."
"Are you trying to save the government expense money or something?"
"Maybe a little," Longarm said. "As it is, I'm going to have to concoct a few extra expenses to cover the hundred dollars that I need to repay Brodie."
"All right," Lucy said with a yawn as she practically tumbled from her roan mare. "Which stall do you want Maria and me to sleep in?"
Longarm looked to the liveryman, who pointed down the line and said, "Third one down is empty and cleaned."
"Thanks a whole hell of a lot," Lucy snorted, taking Maria's hand.
Longarm shrugged, and the liveryman stuck out his hand for the extra dollar. Once paid, he began to unsaddle the horses and lead them out to a corral.
Longarm brought the bedrolls into the stall and spread them out on the clean straw. It occurred to him that he was probably sleeping with the two prettiest women in Wickenburg tonight but that nothing was going to happen. They were all just too dog tired and Yuma was still a long stagecoach ride away.
CHAPTER 11
Longarm awoke early the next morning when the sun was still low on the eastern horizon. Beside him Lucy and Maria slept peacefully, and although he hated to awaken them, Longarm knew that he must.
"All right, ladies," he said, "it's time to rise and shine."
Lucy groaned, but Maria started and sat up quickly, her eyes round with fright.
"Easy there," Longarm said. "Nothing is going to hurt you. You're safe and, in a couple of days, this will all be over and you can go onto something better in Yuma."
Maria nodded. "What is Yuma like?"
"Well, it's pretty hot there. A whole lot hotter than Prescott."
"It's hotter than hell," Lucy muttered. "It is hell."
Longarm ignored her and concentrated on Maria. "The good news is that you'll always be able to cool off even on the worst days by swimming in the Colorado River."
"Except that it is probably dry this time of year, although it regularly floods in the springtime."
"Lucy," Longarm said, "you're not helping things."
"Sorry."
"Maria," Longarm said, trying to raise the maid's obviously depressed spirits, "if you don't like Yuma, you can go on to California. There are some beautiful cities there."
She nodded, but did not look cheered.
"All right," Longarm said. "We've got to get moving. The last thing we need to do is to miss that stagecoach."
The two women were not very enthusiastic. But Longarm prodded them so hard that he was able to get them up and moving before the sun had fully lifted off the horizon.
"Where is this damned stagecoach line and why do they have to leave so early?" Lucy said snappishly.
"Because they want to beat the worst of the heat," Longarm explained. "The stage will hold over in Gila Bend for a few hours this evening, then proceed into Yuma overnight and arrive by mid-morning."
"Another night without sleep."
"Are you always so pleasant at this hour?" Longarm asked.
"I don't know because I've rarely been awake at this hour," she groused. "Are we going to have time for a cup of coffee or something to eat before we board the stage?"
"We'll find out when we get to the stage line."
"Good," Lucy said as they plodded along the almost empty street.
Longarm was thinking that it wasn't going to be a whole lot of fun traveling to Yuma with these women, but it was all part of his job. As bad as it might become, he never had any doubts that it was preferable to being chained to a desk.
As they were passing Howard's Mercantile, Longarm caught a sudden movement out of the corner of his eye and a well-developed inner sense told him that it marked danger. Without thinking, he threw himself into the two women even as two gunshots broke the early morning silence and a pistol flashed twice from across the street.
Maria cried out in pain and Longarm rolled, trying to shield them and at the same time drag his gun up and fire at their ambusher.
But the man was gone, probably into the alley across the street. "Maria, how badly are you hit?"
The Mexican maid had fainted. Longarm and Lucy both tore her blouse open and saw that a bullet had grazed her ribs.
"It's just a flesh wound," Longarm said with relief. "Lucy, take care of her while I try and get that sonofabitch!"