Adolphina was outraged. She clenched her fists and suppressed an urge to pummel him senseless.
The firing in the street had about tapered off; only a few shots were coming from the saloon. Abe Haslett turned his head toward the doorway but did not show himself. “Law dog! Can you hear me over there?”
“I hear you!” Undersheriff Glickman responded.
“I have a woman here!” Abe yelled, and looked at her. “Who are you, anyhow?” After she told him, he hollered, “Mrs. Luce is her name! Unless you want something unpleasant to happen to her, you and your men will lay down your guns and let us ride out.”
“First Frost, now you!” Seamus Glickman shouted. “Whatever happened to chivalry? Did it die with the knights?”
“What in hell is he talkin’ about?” Abe asked Adolphina.
“I will thank you not to use foul language in the presence of a lady,” Adolphina instructed him. “If you insist on hiding behind my skirts, at least be polite about it.”
“You are wearing a dressin’ gown, not skirts,” Abe Haslett said. “And on you it is more like a tent.”
“There you go again. You have a foul mouth.”
Abe’s dark eyes glittered. “You just don’t listen, do you? Female or no, I will not abide slurs.”
“Being called a tent is hardly a compliment.”
“All right,” Abe said. “I will desist if you will behave. Once me and my brothers are in the clear, I will let you go with no hard feelin’s. Do we have a deal?”
“You have the rifle,” Adolphina answered.
By now the firing had completely stopped. Abe cupped a hand to his mouth and bawled, “Jefferson! Quince! Josephus! Are all of you still with me!”
“I am here, brother!”
“Alive and kickin’!”
“I got nicked but I am fine!”
Abe smiled. “Stay put while I show our prize. Then we will be on our way, and good riddance.” He wagged his Winchester. “After you, if you please, and do not think of running or my trigger finger might twitch.”
“You would shoot a woman in the back?” Adolphina asked.
“Back or front makes no never mind to me,” Abe told her. “Now out you go. Keep your hands where I can see them, and don’t speak unless I say you can flap your gums.”
“I hope I get to spit on your grave,” Adolphina said, but she moved past him and out under the brightening sky of dawn. A golden arch crowned the eastern horizon, and down the street a pig, unperturbed by the gunfire, was astir.
“And you call yourself a lady,” Abe criticized, following her out and crouching so she shielded him from the shooters in the saloon. “Do you see her?” he yelled. “I am no bluff.”
Chester Luce appeared in the shattered saloon window. “She is my wife! You had better not harm her!”
“You have my sympathy, mister,” Abe called out. “As for the harmin’, that depends on the cooperation we get.” He raised his voice. “Did you hear that, law dog? Do I have your word we can ride out?”
“You have it,” Seamus Glickman replied. “And I will be delighted the day I officiate at your hanging.”
“Kansans sure are bloodthirsty,” Abe said. Then, “Brothers! We must make ourselves scarce while we have this whale to bargain with.”
“That does it,” Adolphina said, and turned. “I have borne all the bad manners I am going to.”
Abe pointed the Winchester at her bosom. “You will turn back around and behave, damn you.”
“I am not a whale,” Adolphina said.
“You are no guppy, either.”
Between the pain from the gash in her temple and her fury, Adolphina’s head was pounding. “You are as yellow as your teeth. I have half a mind to take that rifle from you and wrap it around your neck.”
“There will be hell to pay if you try,” Abe Haslett warned.
“Hell it is, then,” Adolphina said, and reached for his Winchester.
Chapter 30
“I can’t,” Ernestine Frost said.
Jeeter Frost had led the horses out and was holding hers so she could mount. The thunderous din in the street was added incentive for them to fan the breeze, but now his new bride had paused and was staring back at the rear of the general store. “What is it you can’t?” he asked.
“I can’t leave yet,” Ernestine said. “I have to go back and check on her.”
“You do not,” Jeeter said.
“We left her lying there over the table. We don’t know if she was alive or dead.” Ernestine shook her head. “It is not right. We can’t go riding off without doing what we can for her.”
“The cow brought it on herself.”
“Please be nice,” Ernestine scolded. “If you don’t want to go, even though it was you who walloped her with that frying pan, then I will go myself.” She started to walk off but he grabbed her arm.
“Hold on. Hear that shooting? I am the one who has to go.” Jeeter turned her toward her mount. “You climb on and wait for me. I won’t be long.”
“We are man and wife now,” Ernestine said. “We should go together.”
