After a while Billy noticed Ty Lee's preoccupation and nudged Red River under the table with his toe. He motioned Red River's attention to Ty Lee with a crafty glance. Red River turned in his chair to see what Ty Lee was studying.
That little gal was all of five feet tall and couldn't have weighed more than eighty-five pounds. She possessed a sad countenance and looked ahead through dark expressionless eyes. She had a narrow nose with a gentle bump on the bridge like those classic beauties in the mail order catalog and sat in an erect almost rigid position, her backbone never touching the back of the chair. Her dark brunette hair was lifted gently from the base of her delicate neck into a precisely crafted bun. Her complexion was light but her skin glowed healthy. She had a fragile, willowy air about herâfeminine, soft, porcelain. She weren't no raving beauty at first glance but drew an increasing appreciation with study. After a while a fellow wondered why he hadn't noticed her beauty before, sort of like red hills laced with dark green buffalo grass and cedars in the spring. It was always there if a fellow just took the time to appreciate it and once he did, he never forgot it. She was that type of woman.
Red River gave Billy a wink before turning to Ty Lee. “Why don't you go over there and say something to her?”
Ty Lee looked down at his food. “Naw, she wouldn't take no truck with the likes of me. She'd probably call the law and pronounce me a masher in right quick order.”
“A fellow never can tell. Sometimes them little gals like the attention. Hell, Ty Lee, you ain't looked or smelled this good for years. Now's the time. You need to strike while the iron is hot.”
Ty Lee cut a harsh course with his eyes as he spoke softly. “I ain't something a pretty little gal like that would be interested in. I reckon she's got a beau due any minute. Afore I knew it, some city slicker'd have a six shooter stuck in my ribs.”
“I could ask her for ya,” Billy said in earnest.
Ty Lee puffed up like an Arkansas cottonmouth. “Don't you even presume that I need the likes of you to do my introducings for me. Boy, you got clabber for brains and that's fer sure.”
Red River could see that Ty Lee was having a difficulty pressing on his nerves. The joke was over and a gent never pushed a saddle pard beyond his limitâ¦if he had any sense of right. “We need to be finding us a couple of bottles anyhow. Let's finish these steaks and be on with it.”
Ty Lee nodded and returned to his steak. Billy looked at the table and quit his meal. Ty Lee had never talked to him that way and his feelings were hurt. Ty Lee and Red River's opinions were just about the most important elements in Billy's life and even mild disapproval from either cut deep into the orphan's insides.
Ty Lee sighed, quit his steak as well, and shook his head. “I shouldn't have said that. I'm right proud of you, boy. I just let my saddle get set crooked and tried to blame you. I'm apologizing fer that.”
Billy smiled weakly. “Don't pay no mind. I weren't trying to spur you but I guess I did.”
“It's women,” Ty Lee said after a moment of uncomfortable silence. “Fair for a fact, nothing is more perplexing than what a gal can do to a man's reason. Steer clear of them allâthat's my motto.”
Billy looked up and smiled broadly. “Yeah, women. That's fer sure.”
Red River winked at the boy. “That's fer sure.” He went back to his steak in earnest.
It was then that the miracle occurred. That little gal turned toward Ty Lee and smiled broadly. Her teeth were as straight and bright as a piano keyboard. “Excuse me, do either of you gentlemen have the time?”
Ty Lee gulped hard. His eyes grew wide and his chin dropped to his shirt collar. “IâI reckon I don't ma'am. I never had much use for a timepiece.”
Sam leaned across the table toward Ty Lee. “There's a clock on the wall behind her.”
Ty Lee didn't seem to hear. He couldn't draw his eyes off her.
“Tell her the time from the wall clock, Ty Lee,” Sam tried again.
Ty Lee shook out of his daze and meekly motioned toward the wall. “There's a clock just behind you, ma'am.”
She turned and giggled. “My, I am such a fool. I did not notice it. How silly of me!”
“Yes, ma'am,” Ty Lee stammered. “I meanâ¦I don't think you're a fool or anything. I really hadn't noticed it myself.”
She turned back toward Ty Lee. “I guess my companion is not going to make it.” She sighed and shook her head in mock consternation. “Looks like I'm going to have to dine alone.”
Sam was as quick on the uptake as a mustang finding an open corral gate. “Let's go, Billy.”
“What fer?” the sprout asked, his voice rising. “I ain't had my dessert.”
Sam eyes near to cut the kid's hat from his head. “We need to be a-getting that bottle for Candle.”
Billy reacted like he'd just caught himself in the ear with his own quirt. “Oh, yeah, right. We need to be going, Ty Lee.”
Sam wanted to slap the sprout out of his chair. “Ty Lee don't need to go. I'm sure he'd rather stay here and visit with the lady.”
“You gonna stay here, Ty Lee?” Billy asked.
Ty Lee didn't take his eyes off her. “Yeah. You fellers go on. I'll catch up by and by.”
“How you know where we'll be?”
Sam put his hand on Billy's shoulder and dug his thumb into his collarbone like he was spurring the Black Queen. “Let's go. Time's a-wastin'. Ty Lee knows our plans.”
Billy winced from the pain, looked up at Sam and started to complain. He held up when he read Sam's face, then took on the look of a dunce in the corner who finally understood the lesson. He nodded meekly, feeling stupid for not getting the drift in the first place. “Yeah, we got to be going,” he said in a too loud voice. “I don't think Ty Lee needs to go.”
“Yeah. You fellers go on. I'll catch up by and by,” Ty Lee repeated, looking like a freshly weaned calf watching his momma leaving for the range.
Sam near to jerked the sprout out of his bootheels. He threw down his money and roughly escorted the boy through the door. When they hit the boardwalk he turned for the Wish-Key. “I tell you, boy. You are about as slow as a turtle on a log in the middle of winter.”
Billy shook his head. “How was I to know you was setting him up? How was I to know that she was really interested in him?”
“She was interested, believe me. Ain't no gal ever ask a perfect stranger fer the time unless she's eager to palaver. She was giving him the moon-eyed look and boy, when a gal like that gives someone like Ty Lee the moon-eyed look, it's the chance of a lifetime. You'll know that when you get some learning bout the feminine persuasion.”
Billy nodded and struggled to keep up with his friend's pace. They made for the bar in quickstep, leaving their compadre to his fate.
Ty Lee waited until they were out of sight before he spoke to her. “My name's Ty Lee Driscoll. I ride for the H Bar Seven out of Williamson County, Texas.”
She was impressed. “From Texas! Well, I'll declare. I'm Lannie Anderson. I work here in Abilene.”
“Schoolteacher, I suppose,” Ty Lee said.
She smiled prettily. “No, Mr. Driscoll. I'm a professional woman, although I've always wondered if I wouldn't make a good teacher.”
“I reckon you would.” Ty Lee smiled shyly and his face turned crimson.
She smiled at his bashful ways. “Your friends were certainly eager to be on their way. I'm glad you decided to stay for a spell.”
Ty Lee nodded. “They don't need me.”
She took one more small bite and daintily dabbed the corners of her mouth with her napkin. “That was a fine dinner and certainly first-rate company from an exceptional gentleman.”
Ty Lee rose from his chair. “Thank you, ma'am. I guess I need to be getting on.”
“I wonder if I might impose upon you one more time?” she asked.
He nodded and smiled.
“It is getting dark outside and with my companion's failure to keep our dinner date, I was wondering if you would be willing to act as my escort to my boarding house. I know it's asking a lot, but a lady shouldn't be seen unescorted this time of night.”
“It would be my pleasure, ma'am. I'd be honored to escort you.”
She stood and smiled sweetly. “Spoken like a true gentleman of the South.”
He offered her his arm and proudly led her to the doorâ¦after leaving a silver dollar for her meal at his insistence.
***
Red River and Billy were just starting through the entrance of the Wish-Key when the doors sprang open from the other side and a flying body landed hard in the street and rolled through the dust and horse leavings toward the center. An instant later a six-foot wrangler with a full black beard burst through waving a Navy Colt in his right hand. “Ain't no hombre gonna crawfish on a bet with Gil Matters. You'll pay up, by God, or I'll send you to hell with Lincoln!”
Red River brushed Billy back against the wall with a sweep of his hand and forced the lad back to a safer position.
As Matters stepped into the street the doors sprang open again and cowboys filled the boardwalk to watch the action.
The gent in the dust slowly rose to his feet and silently brushed the grime from his suit. As he rose, Red River recognized him as the Kansas City buyer, Orrie Gates.
“Shouldn't we do something?” Billy asked quietly. “That fellow ain't hardly a match for that big guy in a tussle.”
Red River shook his head. “No, sprout. It ain't none of our affair and I got me a feeling that Mr. Colt is going to even the odds right quick-like.”
Billy's eyes went wide as he turned back to the street. “No kidding?”
“That big gent is so drunk I doubt he can hit a bull in the ass with a single tree,” Red River said. “But, old Gates there, he's sober as a judge and wise enough to know he can't whip this feller. When the shooting starts, keep your head low.”
“I said pay up, gott damn it,” Matters cursed as he staggered a few steps forward and waved the un-cocked revolver before him.
Gates flung back his coat, drew a short-barreled Army from his belt and threw a shot wildly into Matters's right foot.
Matters yowled like a cat caught under a rocking chair and sent a shot toward the moon as he fell butt first into the street.
Gates threw another shot into the dirt next to Matter's holster, then stepped back as Matters cursed again and carefully aimed his revolver at the buyer's nose. A second later the shot sounded and Gates's eyes went wide as he realized that it was a clean miss and he was unharmed.
Gates made for a horse trough on the far side of the street. As he retreated, Matters studied the hole in his boot for a while before standing.
As the shooting angle changed, the crowd scattered to get well out of the line of fire. Red River grabbed Billy by the shirt collar and made a quick retreat around the corner into the alley.
A bullet followed shortly and the corner exploded into splinters.
Billy examined the hole carefully with his finger before Red River pulled him back. “Get your head down! This ain't over yet.”
Matters hopped forward on one foot and sent two more rounds into the horse trough. Each round was returned by Gates as he crouched behind the trough and threw his shots wildly toward Matters without looking to see if he was hitting anything.
Then there was silence. Both combatants had emptied their guns. The boardwalk cowboys realized that it was safe to rush Matters and put an end to the affair before any more buildings got shot up. No less than five of them overwhelmed and forced him to the ground. Gates stood dumbly, his face as pale as a sheet, the smoking Army limply held in his hand. He turned meekly, dropped his revolver and threw up his dinner on the far boardwalk.
The law arrived and settled the matter in short order. Matters was carried to the doctor's office and Gates was tossed unceremoniously into the town jailâan oversized windowless outhouse with a chain and padlock holding the door fast.
After the street settled and the stories were told, Red River and Billy bought their bottles and rode back to camp. They spent the rest of the night telling Candle of the fracas, drinking whisky, and waiting for Ty Lee. It was Billy's first encounter with Red Eye and he paid a heavy price in the morning. The lad was so sick that he wondered if he had to get better just to die.
It was mid-morning when Ty Lee rode into camp, filled his coffee cup and squatted by the fire. He didn't volunteer any news and no one asked. He just sat by the fire and stared silently into the coals.
After a while, Red River decided to make his move. “What do you think, partner? We better get into town and start that money back to Townsen.”
Ty Lee nodded. “Fair for a fact. It's time to head for home.”
As they saddled fresh horses, Red River said, “We probably ought to buy ourselves some grub for the ride back. Is there anything you need from the store?”
Ty Lee nodded without looking up. “I could use some tobaccy, but I'll have to get a loan from you.”
“You spent it all?” Red River asked.
Ty Lee smiled and tightened his cinch. “She stole it. When I woke up this morning she was gone and my whole poke with her.”
“The hell you say. We better get to the law and get them on her.”
Ty Lee threw down his stirrup and lifted his foot into it. “No, let her have it.”
Red River swung into his saddle and settled into the cantle. “That's a lot of money for one night, partner.”
Ty Lee smiled and gently spurred his pony forward. “All I know isâ¦for a spell there last night I was more than I ever was and more than I'll probably ever be.” He turned to his partner and his eyes cut deep. “What's that worth to fellows like you and me?”
Red River gave it some thought, nodded, and rode on in silence.