I let her wear my hat.

She slipped an arm around my waist, and we rode on over to the trail. It was strange, having a girl behind me, hanging onto me, sometimes brushing up against my back. I rather enjoyed it, actually.

After I'd seen that Bowie knife, I couldn't help but trust her. I couldn't help but like her, too. She was tough and had more gumption than any gal I'd ever run across. Even though she'd tried to steal General and she'd hurt me some, I judged she must have a good heart or she would've cut me open.

She was awful pretty, too.

I took to feeling glad she'd jumped me.

Maybe we'd stay together all the way to Tombstone.

But by and by she said, "I sure could do with a smoke."

The words were rocks that crushed my joy.

"I haven't any makings, I'm afraid."

"Too bad."

Too bad. Quite.

She's bound to end up as dead as McSween, I thought. Dead as everybody else who's crossed my trail.

There was only one way to save Jesse. I had to get clear of her, and soon.

But I'd told her she could ride with me, and the notion of going against my word didn't set well. Besides, it wouldn't be right to leave her alone in the wilderness without a horse and supplies. So I was stuck with her, at least for now.

Glad to be stuck with her, too, though it worried me.

I'll just have to see that she doesn't doesn't get killed, I told myself. get killed, I told myself.

The trick was to keep her alive, and let her stay with me till we came to a town or met up with some folks who might be willing to take her off my hands.

We rode on and on. Sometime late in the afternoon we came up behind a buckboard pulled by a pair of mules. It was still a ways off when I saw it had a boy in the back, a man and a woman in the driver's box. This looked like an outfit that might not mind an extra pa.s.senger.

The kid was maybe eight years or nine years old. He sat amidst of a jumble of luggage and supplies, so I judged the family likely had food to spare. I couldn't see how they might object to taking Jesse along if I paid them for their troubles.

But it didn't seem right to foist her off on these folks without warning, so I said, "I should think this family might be pleased to have your company. Perhaps we'll ask if they'd be willing to let you travel with them."

She didn't answer. Pretty quick, though, she smacked the back of my shoulder.

"Say, now!"

"Dirty sidewinder."

"You'll be better off."

"I'm just fine right here, thanks all the same." Then she fetched me another smack.

"Quit that."

"You ain't gonna drop me off with a pa.s.sel of strangers. Get it outa your head."

We were just drawing up on the buckboard, the kid waving, the man and woman in front both turning around to see us, when Jesse called out "Gee-yup!" and gave General a whap on the rump. He took off with a lurch. I had half a mind to pull in the reins, but instead I let him trot on until we'd left the bunch a ways behind us.

General settled down to a walk.

"I don't see why you had to do that," I said.

Jesse didn't talk for a spell. Finally, she said, "I thought you and me was pardners."

"You'd be better off with those folks."

"How do you know that, Mister Smarty? How do you know the pa-if that's what he even is-don't take a horsewhip to his wife and boy eighteen times a day just to exercise his arm?"

"It wouldn't have hurt to have a talk with them. They might've been quite friendly."

"How come you're so all-fired hot to throw me off on someone else?"

"I don't care to see you hurt."

"You fixing to hurt me?"

"Why, no. Certainly not. The problem is, you're likely to get get hurt if you stay with me. You just won't last, not unless you get clear while there's still time." hurt if you stay with me. You just won't last, not unless you get clear while there's still time."

"Why's that?"

"I don't know, actually. But I've left behind me an awful string of dead folks."

"You got a sickness?"

"Nothing more than bad luck."

"Well, that eases my mind. You near had me scared. I saw a feller caught himself a dose of the rabies, one time. He took to cavorting down the street all wild-eyed and s...o...b..ring. You never seen such a sight. He went to bite old lady Jones, and Sheriff Hayes dropped him stone cold dead. That was in El Paso three years back. Saw it happen with my very own eyes. They say it was a dog bite. You get yourself bit by a rabid hound, you might just as well cash in your chips then and there. That's what I'd do, blow out my own brains and call it quits. You don't want to make a fool outa yourself, foaming all over tarnation and snapping at folks so they have to shoot you."

"You won't catch rabies from me," I told her.

"When was the last time you got yourself bitten?"

"Earlier today, actually."

She let out a laugh and slapped my arm, but not hard. "Smarty."

"I do hope I won't commence to s...o...b..r and snap."

My hat suddenly got shoved down onto my head. "Ow!"

"You better wear it for a spell. The sun's getting to your brain."

I lifted it some so it wouldn't squeeze my b.u.mp. We rode on for a while, then Jesse said, "So what was it that killed off such a string of folks?"

"Mostly guns and knives."

"But you ain't the one that done 'em in?"

"I didn't kill my friends. But plenty of them ended up dead on account of me, so it's much the same thing."

"How'd you manage all that?"

"It's rather as if I led them into trouble, you see. Not that I did such things on purpose. But those folks got killed, anyhow. I'm afraid the same might happen to you."

"Well, don't go worrying about me."

"I can't avoid it, actually."

"You won't get me killed, so quit bothering your head about it. When my number comes up, it won't be on account of you. It'll be my own dang fault. You can bet on that."

"It shall shall be your own dang fault, quite right. It'll be your stubborn ways. I've warned you fair and square." I turned General and looked back down the trail. The buckboard was still a distance off, but getting closer. "You ought to reconsider." be your own dang fault, quite right. It'll be your stubborn ways. I've warned you fair and square." I turned General and looked back down the trail. The buckboard was still a distance off, but getting closer. "You ought to reconsider."

"Nope. I'd a sight rather take my chances with your bad luck, which I don't believe anyhow, than join up with them folks."

"You claimed you're not addle-headed."

"That man, he'd take after me. It's what men do."

"He's married, Jesse."

"That ain't likely to stop him. He'll just bide his time till he can get me alone, maybe tonight when his woman's sleeping or maybe he'll just go and try me right in front of her eyes. Some fellers ain't particular who watches."

"You're daft."

"I know what I know. It'll happen, sure as you're sitting there. And then I'd be forced to give him a taste of my knife. More than likely, the widow'd lose her head when she saw how I'd carved her husband. Wouldn't matter that he was no good and better dead. He was her husband and the father of her boy, so she'd throw a fit and grab a gun and shoot me. Then I'd I'd be killed. And you know what? Every last bit of such a sorry business would be all be killed. And you know what? Every last bit of such a sorry business would be all your your fault for pa.s.sing me off on these folks." fault for pa.s.sing me off on these folks."

I twisted around on the saddle and gazed at her. She looked grim, but had the usual spark of mischief in her green eyes.

"When was it now," I asked, "that you kissed the Blarney stone?"

"What're you getting at?"

"I've rarely heard such malarkey."

"Malarkey?"

"Outrageous nonsense."

"You just don't know nothing at all."

General stepped off the trail without any urging from me as the buckboard closed in on us. But he needn't have bothered. The fellow with the reins brought his mules to a stop in time to miss us, even if we hadn't moved.

"Vahs iss dee problem?" he asked. I'd run into a German or two back home and took him for one because of the odd and spitty way he talked.

Before I could answer, Jesse said, "No problem."

He scowled at her. He looked like a hard man. Maybe Jesse hadn't been far off the mark with her notion that he enjoyed taking a horsewhip to his family. The gal beside him kept her head down as if she was bashful. She wore a white linen bonnet. I couldn't see her face at all. The boy in the rear of the wagon watched us, but kept mum.

"Iss dis your sister?" the fellow asked me.

"She lost her horse," I explained. "I've been giving her a ride."

"Allzo," he said, whatever that meant. One of his dark eyebrows climbed up his forehead. "Vee take dis froyloyn. She komm mit, yes?"

At that, the gal raised her head. Her face was all ablush. She was working her lower lip between her teeth and she stared at Jesse with a jittery look in her eyes.

Well, then she shook her head just a bit. It wasn't much of a shake, but enough so the man noticed it. He spat some words at her. They didn't make any sense at all to me, but she cringed and dropped her head.

Now that she was taken care of, he gave me a sly grin and said, "Vaht vant you for her? I give you dee five dollar, yes?"

"I don't reckon so," I said.

"Nine?"

"He wants to buy buy me, Trevor." me, Trevor."

"She isn't for sale," I said.

"But yes. Vee feel?"

Jesse snapped, "n.o.body lays a hand on me, you d.a.m.n polecat!"

Scowling fierce, he lurched to his feet there in the driver's box, jabbed a finger at her and hissed, "Sheeson!"

The word wasn't out his mouth before I had a Colt in my fist.

He gave it a glance, frowned some, then came back at me with his oily grin. "Ten dollar?"

"b.u.g.g.e.r off," I said, then wheeled General around and put in the spurs. We galloped on down the trail till a rocky bend put the buckboard out of sight.

Pretty soon after we'd slowed down to a walk, Jesse pushed her head against me. Her hair tickled the back of my neck. "Sure glad you didn't sell me off to that pig," she said.

"I wonder if he might've gone up to twenty."

She b.u.mped her head against me fairly solid. A bit later, I heard a few sniffles. It crossed my mind she might be crying, but that didn't seem likely. Not Jesse.

Just in case she might still be worried, though, I said, "You can ride with me for just as long as you like. I won't try to give you away again. Or sell you, either."

She leaned more of herself against my back and wrapped both her arms around my middle. She gave me a squeeze, then said, "See that you don't."