Then Mary’s eyes swelled again, and she spoke rapidly. “I’m sorry. That’s a terrible thing to say. What happened happened, and there’s nothing we can do to change that.”
He nodded, but her words had already pierced his heart.
If only he hadn’t stopped at that saloon. If only he had skipped the beers and the conversation with Darlene the saloon girl, he wouldn’t have decided to have supper in town. He would have been here hours earlier, in time to help Cole fend off these men.
But as always, he had taken his time at the saloon, drinking and talking to a pretty girl, then taken his time again, riding here.
And he would have to live with that guilt for the rest of his life.
Again, emotion plugged his throat, and again, he fended it off.
Later,he told himself.Later, after you finish what you need to do, there will be time for grief.
Now, it was time to keep his promise.
“I gotta find these men before they decide to run out of the country. Why don’t you let me take you someplace?”
She shook her head. “Help me bury Cole, and I’ll come with you.”
“No, there isn’t time to bury him, and you’re not coming with me.”
“I will help you kill them.”
He shook his head.
“I can shoot,” she said.
“I know you can. Cole told me in a letter. But being able to shoot isn’t the same as being able to shoot a man. Have you ever done that before?”
She shook her head. “But I have a good reason now.”
“A good reason isn’t always enough. I’ll drop you off at a neighbor or take you into town, but once I catch these men’s trail, I will ride it alone.”
“All right, Conn.”
“Which is it, then? A neighbor or town?”
“Neither. If you don’t have time to bury Cole, I’ll stay here.”
“What if they come back?”
She stared back at him. “If they come back, I’ll run into the woods again.”
He nodded, figuring it was a reasonable plan and that she was solid enough to pull it off.
They were silent for a time, just standing there close enough to comfort one another but too unfamiliar to do so.
“It’s strange,” she said. “You look just like him.”
Conn nodded.
“Even the scar,” she said with seeming wonder, tilting her head and squinting to see his face better.
“Yeah.”
“But Cole said he got that mark from a hatchet when he was a kid.”
Conn nodded. “Threw it at a tree. It bounced off and hit him in the face.”
