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At least that’s what Chris first thought was the cause of their staring. For the first time in days she came out of her dejection and began to take an interest in her surroundings.
As she watched the people, she became aware that they were actually stopping to stare at Tynan.
He was in front of her, his back held as straight as a piece of steel, eyes ahead, looking at no one. As they passed the sheriff’s office, a man ran inside and the sheriff came out within seconds.
“I don’t want no trouble,” the sheriff called, directing his plea in Tynan’s direction.
Tynan didn’t acknowledge the man’s presence but kept riding in a slow, steady pace.
As they passed a saloon, a garishly dressed woman came out, did a double take when she saw Tynan, then began running through the dirty streets. As they neared a place called the Pink Garter, the double doors swung open and out stepped a tall, older woman with hair an extraordinary shade of red—not natural-looking at all, Chris thought.
“Tynan!” the woman shouted.
Ty put his hand up for them to halt while he went to the woman.
Chris had never strained her ears so hard in her life as she did to hear what the woman had to say.
“You shouldn’t have come back here,” the red-haired woman said. “You’re askin’ for trouble.”
Chris couldn’t hear Ty’s answer. With his low voice he could make the sound disappear when he wanted to.
After a moment of listening to the woman, he reined his horse away and motioned to the others to follow him as he led them to a hotel.
“You’ll stay here tonight and tomorrow we’ll ride out early.”
“And where will you be staying?” They were the first words Chris had spoken directly to him in days.
He looked at her a long moment. “I have friends here. Go inside and ask them for a bath,” he said before turning on his heel and leaving them.
“What do you think that was all about?” Chris asked Asher.
“The bath? I agree, Miss Mathison, that it’s been so long since I had one that I’m close to forgetting what they are too, but you’ll remember as soon as you see the hot water.”
Chris ignored his attempt at humor. “No, I mean out there in the street,” she said, following Asher into the hotel. “Why were all the people staring at Tynan? And why did that woman warn him?”
“I have no interest in anything except a hot bath, a hot meal and a cool, soft bed. I am not interested in any mysteries and as far as I can tell, our guide is one long mystery. Chris, will you please sign the register so we can get a room?”
At the moment, Chris couldn’t have told anyone why she had been depressed for the last few days. All she could think of now was that there was a good story at her fingertips. Why was this entire town glaring at one man? Of course it had to do with Tynan’s having been in jail but what had he done that made the whole town watch him?
“Miss,” the desk clerk said, “would you like to register?”
“Yes,” she said absently. She started to write Christiana, but suddenly changed her mind and wrote Nola Dallas.
The clerk, bored, turned the big book around and then his eyes bugged.“TheNola Dallas? The one that went to Mexico?”
“Yes.” Chris smiled as sweetly as she could manage.
“But I thought you were really a man.”
“Many people do.” She kept smiling at the man. Once, she’d persuaded a guard to open a cell for her with just that smile.
Asher looked annoyed. “We’re just here for a little rest,” he told the clerk. “Please don’t tell anyone she’s here.”
“I wouldn’t think of it,” the clerk said, his eyes wide. “I wouldn’t tell a soul.”
Still frowning, Asher took Chris’s arm and led her up the stairs as Chris kept looking over her shoulder and smiling at the desk clerk. “I wish you hadn’t done that,” Asher said when they were at the door of her room. “Your father was worried about some trouble from Lanier. Of course you didn’t actually publish anything about him, but just the same…”
Chris smiled at him. “I just wondered if people this far west had heard of me, that’s all.”
