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“She must be a fine woman.”
Karla gri
“Listen,” Falvey said eagerly. “Why don’t you come inside while I have a drink?”
“I don’t serve the bar, Mr. Falvey.”
“I didn’t mean that. Just…so we can talk.”
“There’s a stage due just before eleven and the change team’s not nearly ready.”
“It’d only be ten minutes.” Falvey smiled. He was trying to make the proposal sound offhand.
“I’m sorry,” Karla said. “There’s just not time.”
“Oh, come on.” He was still smiling as he reached out to take her hand, but she stepped away from him. For a moment he stood awkwardly, his arm still extended, then moved toward her again.
Karla backed away. “Maybe you’ve already had too much to drink.”
Falvey stopped. “Karla…I swear, I only want someone to talk to.”
“And I told you I didn’t have time.”
“Karla-” He hesitated, but stepped toward her again as he said more calmly, “Didn’t you ever want to relax and talk to someone? Just talk about anything, as long as it wasn’t important. Even the weather. I mean talk without raising your voice, without arguing, without knowing someone’s going to snap at the next thing you say.” He paused. “That’s all I want to do, just talk.”
“Don’t you talk to your wife?” Karla asked hesitantly.
“Have you ever?”
“Talked to her? A few times. But I don’t know your wife very well.”
“You’re fortunate,” Falvey said.
Karla stared at him. “I think you’d better go.”
“Karla, you don’t understand.”
“Mr. Falvey, I’m not going to stand here and discuss your wife with you.”
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said what I did. I started wrong.”
“Why don’t you go in and serve yourself?” Karla said. “I’ll come in when I can.”
Falvey nodded. “All right.” He asked then, hesitantly, “We can be friends, can’t we?”
The girl smiled uneasily. “I don’t have any enemies, Mr. Falvey.”
“Damn it, just say yes or no!”
Karla’s eyes showed irritation, and suddenly, anger. “You don’t force friendship! It either happens or it doesn’t happen!”
“I’m sorry-”
“I’m not even sure,” Karla said, “I know what you’re looking for.”
“I’m looking for someone who acts like a human being! Is that too much to ask for?”
“It is when you ask like that!”
“I’m sorry, Karla.” He seemed suddenly very tired. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to talk the way I did.”
“That’s all right.”
“I’ll come back some other time…if it’s all right with you.”
She nodded, then watched him turn and walk back to the adobe. A moment later she heard his horse, the sound fading into the distance.
The yard was quiet.
Then, as she turned to the horse again, an arm came around her shoulders, jerking her off balance, and a hand covered her mouth before she could cry out. She struggled, her nails digging into the arm across her chest, trying to twist away, trying to turn to see who it was, then glimpsing the bare sun-blackened upper arm close to her face she stopped struggling.
She could feel his arm relax. His hand loosened on her mouth, then came away slowly, brushing her lips.
“Don’t call out.” His voice was quiet, close to her face. Karla nodded her head and the hand dropped to her shoulder.
“I’m going to take this horse. You just stand still.”
Karla nodded again. “All right, Mr. Bowen.”
The hands on her shoulder tightened suddenly and pulled her around to face him. “How’d you know who I was?” His face showed open surprise.
“I…recognized your arms.”
“My arms?”
“From this morning.”
“But how do you know my name?”
Karla half smiled. “Mr. Renda told us.” She added quickly, “You jumped off at the grade, didn’t you?”
“Before that.”
“And they couldn’t chase you because of the other prisoners.”
“That’s right.”
“But the trackers are probably already following.”
“That’s right,” Bowen said again. Still he did not move. His hands were on her shoulders and he continued to study her dark face, trying to understand the calm way she looked up at him.
“Then you’d better hurry,” Karla said. “The saddle’s on the wall behind you.”
Bowen turned, almost reluctantly. He bridled the big mare, spread the blanket, and as he swung the saddle up, Karla started to walk away.
“Where’re you going?”
Karla looked back. “To get you some clothes.” She waited as he stared at her and she felt that she could almost read his thoughts. “Don’t you trust me?”
“I don’t know why I should.”
“All right, ride around with those numbers on your pants.”
Bowen shook his head. “I don’t understand you.”
“What would you like to know?” Karla asked.
“Why’re you helping me?”
“I’m not. You’re taking a horse. What good would it do if I objected?”
“The clothes-”
“You would have thought of it sooner or later,” Karla said. “Hurry now.”
Unexpectedly, Bowen said, “Was Falvey bothering you?”
Karla smiled again. “Maybe you’re not in a hurry.”
“Was he?”
“Mr. Falvey was looking for a friend, that’s all.”
“He could use one.”
“So could you.”
“I was trying to figure,” Bowen said hesitantly, “if there was something between you.”
“You’d better think about getting something between you and Renda’s trackers.” She turned. This time he did not stop her and she went on to the adobe.
Bowen was leading the horse out when she returned carrying a blanket roll. “Shirt and pants are inside,” Karla said. “And something to eat.”
Bowen’s eyes remained on her. “I’d like to know why you’re doing this.”
“I’m not sure why myself,” Karla answered quietly. She said then, “If you’re caught, they’ll make it hard for you.”
“Like what, working on a road?”
Karla hesitated. “Did you really steal cattle?”
“Now how would you know that?”
“That doesn’t matter now. Just tell me.”
“Why would you think I didn’t?”
Karla’s shoulders moved, her dark eyes still watching him. “I just have a feeling you didn’t.”
“You can sure simplify things,” Bowen said.
“But did you?” Karla asked again.
“I got to go.”
“Tell me!”
Bowen swung up to the saddle, then looked down at her.
“That man with the beard this morning-Earl Manring-he hired me in Prescott to help him drive a herd, even showed me a bill of sale for the stock. But the second day out we were arrested to stand trial for rustling. The man who’d sold Earl the stock said he never did such a thing and that the bill of sale Earl had was no good, and he said he could prove it because there wasn’t any copy of the transaction in his books.”
Karla said, “Didn’t you have a lawyer?”
“The court appointed one. We didn’t have any money for our own.”
Karla frowned. “But the man who sold you the stock-”
“Sold Earl the stock-Earl already had the bill of sale when I met him. The man’s name was McLaughlin. He took an oath that he’d never seen the bill of sale Earl had before in his life.
“Earl told me he should’ve known better than to deal with a man he didn’t know, and no wonder the stock was offered at such a good price. He said McLaughlin took advantage of him-got his money for the stock, then didn’t register it in his books, called out the law, then even got his stock back. We were arrested one day, tried the next, and there wasn’t anything we could do about it. The fastest trial I ever heard of.”
“And,” Karla said, “you were sentenced to Yuma.”
“Seven years each.”
“You needed a good lawyer,” Karla said thoughtfully.
“We needed more than that.”
“You needed a lawyer like Mr. Martz, the Hatch & Hodges attorney. He’s in Prescott. He’s-” She stopped abruptly, looking up at Bowen.
Bowen shook his head. “The trial’s over.”
“But if he could prove you didn’t know anything about it-”
“He’d be awful good.” Bowen reined the mare around. “I hope I can pay you back for this.”