'You're gonna make me, huh?'
'Go away Frank.' she says again.
'And you can shut up. I ain't working for you no more so you can't tell me what to do.'
Logan tires of the exchange and steps forward, treading deliberately and maliciously on the foot that causes Frank to limp.
Frank yells and hops away unbalanced. Logan swings a punch that lands squarely on Frank's jaw and sends him sprawling in a heap on the floor. Logan finds himself feeling sorry for the man, sent on such a foolish errand. He pulls the punch a little, after all Frank is already off balance and it wouldn't take much to knock him down. It is just a show, he reminds himself.
Frank, lying on the floor, touches his fingers to his bleeding lip. Logan is surprised to see that he has drawn blood when he hadn't hit the man that hard.
'Is that the best you've got?' he says, reaching for his gun.
'I really wouldn't do that in here.' Logan warns him. 'Not with everyone watching you.'
'You're as bad as she is.' Frank says, moving his hand back away from his gun. He starts to try to get to his feet. 'But don't you think you'll get by working for her. Oh no, she'll shoot you like a coyote. Why, she's got that little gun pointing at you right now.'
'Thanks for the warning.' He doesn't look at Miss Nixon. She might be pointing a gun at him, she might not, but turning to look at her is going to give Frank an opportunity to fight back. 'Now don't make me hurt you again. Get yourself out of here.' Logan steps towards Frank again in a way that he hopes looks menacing.
Frank glares first at Logan and then at Miss Nixon, and then turns to go. 'This isn't over.' he says under his breath. He drags himself to his feet and limps away, clutching the rail of the bar for support.
'And perhaps you could ask them to send me some fresh coffee on your way out since you spilled so much of this one.'
Frank doesn't look back, but he does exchange a glance with the sheriff and the mayor on his way past them and out of the door.
'Thanks,' she says, putting a tiny pistol back into the folds of her skirt, 'but I don't need you to fight all my battles for me'
'Your battle?' he says, confused. It seems clear to him that Frank had been sent limping over to bother him, to test him out as the new man in town. In what way could that have been her battle?
'He has that limp because I shot him. He used to work for me.'
'I see.' He says. But he doesn't see. It makes so little sense. Someone is playing games with him here. He wonders if the pretty girl is everything she seems or she is another of the mayor's puppets. 'So was the gun pointed at me or him?'
She shrugs and takes a sip of her coffee.
'When I arrived I thought this looked like a strangely peaceful town. Hardly anyone wore guns and everyone seemed to be smiling. And now I see you tucking that little gun into your skirts and I find myself wondering how many guns there were that I didn't see.'
'You weren't wrong. Most of the people in this town are very happy here. It is normally a pretty peaceful place, but if you live out of town like I do and travel alone then you'd be a fool not to protect yourself somehow.'
Renault sidles up to the table carrying a fresh tray of coffee.
'I'm very sorry about that problem with your coffee.' He exchanges the spilled cup for a fresh one.
'I'm sorry that we had to ask him to leave.'
'That's quite alright sir, although we do prefer it if you could avoid violence inside the hotel itself. We really don't want to get a reputation for fist fights, not in a quiet town like Walkers Creek.'
The muffled sound of three gunshots in the street contradict Renault.
'My horses...?' Logan starts up, concerned.
'Don't worry, we've got them stabled out at the back for you, and I've had your saddles and packs sent to your room.'
Renault departs with the same oily movement that he arrived with.
'So you're staying here? Will you be in Walkers Creek for long?' she asks.
'A couple of days. Maybe longer. It depends how welcoming the locals are.'
'Well,' she says, standing to go, 'I have some urgent things to attend to, but I hope I can be a welcoming local for you again sometime Mr. Tanner.' She offers her hand.
Logan stands.
'Stay there.' she says, playfully pushing him back into his seat. 'I can look after myself you know.' She smiles and laughs. That smile. He forgets for a moment his confusion over who works for whom and where all the violence was hiding in plain sight. He resolves to see that smile again soon.
He notices that Humby's eyes follow her as she leaves the room. He wonders if she says anything to him as she passes.
CHAPTER SIX
She feels as though the trip to Walkers Creek has been successful. The medical supplies that Laura asked for are the most important thing. It seemed surreal sitting calmly drinking coffee in the hotel knowing that Billy was so desperately unwell back at the ranch but it was better than getting in the way trying to help at the ranch. Laura had sent for supplies but they probably weren't needed, it was a ruse to get her out from under their feet. At least she is doing something to help this way.
Meeting Logan Tanner gave her a brief respite from her own dark thoughts. It is unusual for a man in the town to take an interest in her. Frank Lake bothers her quite regularly but that is just crude leers. All the others Humby normally scares off. But this man was charming and just a little over-protective. She talked a steady flow of half-truths at him just to try to keep him there in La Rosa because it was so nice having his company. Her heart leapt to see him fight with Frank. She shouldn't be attracted by violence but there was something thrilling about having two men fight over her. Perhaps she seemed ungrateful afterwards as she tried to conceal how much she had enjoyed it. She hopes that one day he should visit the ranch. Will her vague offers turn out to be interpreted as an invite? She realizes she'll be watching the road for the next week hoping the next rider to round the bend is him.
When she wasn't flirting with Logan she kept her ears open in the town as she went on her errands. If there was anything known about what happened at the McLaren house and at the dam then she hoped that it would come out. Nobody mentioned anything about a deputy. That's a big relief to her. Billy will be in the clear once he gets better. Provided, that is, that Sanchez dealt with that problem successfully. He hadn't returned to the house before she'd left for Walkers Creek. She hopes the deputy was already dead and that Sanchez only had to hide the body.
The incident at the McLaren house is certainly exercising the town gossips. The well-dressed folk in La Rosa talk of an illegal whiskey still that exploded. McLaren is not of their class so it seems to please them to think of him suffering as a result of his own foolishness. If everyone believed it was just a whiskey still that exploded then she'd have failed. It wasn't meant to look like an accident, it was meant to look like a warning. The shop-keepers, on the other hand, seemed to know that it was dynamite. They have no reason to look down on McLaren and without their thoughts being clouded by wealth they can see exactly what must have happened. Her friend Mannion isn't the only one that suspects that she might have had a hand in it. It seems McLaren talked a lot about his dispute with her when he was drunk in the saloon.
Of course there is no harm in people thinking that she had a hand in blowing up the house so long as nobody can prove anything. It will be useful to have people a little fearful of her. It is the best way to stay strong and independent.
The trap bounces along the rutted road out of the town. She hates it, it is so much more uncomfortable than riding a horse but fine dresses and saddles just don't go together. She could have ridden into the town in her ranch clothes but it is important to give the impression that nothing unusual is happening. Buying bandages and medicines can be laughed off as being paranoid and over-prepared when she doesn't seem in too much of a rush, but buying those things when she hasn't even got time to put her best clothes on would make tongues wag about who was hurt back at the ranch.