She Returns from War - By Lee Collins Page 0,20

took a deep breath. "I need your help hunting a group of creatures."

"Awful long way to come just to find a big game hunter," Cora said. "Ain't you English folk got enough of your own hunters? Why bother me about it?"

"Big game hunters couldn't help me with these sorts of creatures," Victoria replied.

Cora raised an eyebrow. "What are you getting at?"

"I'm told you are skilled at killing beasts of a...supernatural nature."

"Father Baez tell you that?"

"No," Victoria said. "I first heard your name from a friend of my father's. He is a scholar at Oxford-"

Before she could finish, Cora's lips pulled back in a grin. Unlike her earlier laughter, this smile seemed born of fondness. "Well, I'll be damned. Your daddy was a friend of old King George?"

"King George?" Victoria's brow furrowed. "I'm afraid I don't follow."

"That's what I called him," Cora said. "Easier on the tongue and all. Ain't nobody got the time to spit out all of James Townsend. Besides, he sure carried himself like he was royalty, so I thought it fit."

Despite her apprehension, Victoria felt herself smile. "I suppose he could give that impression. I don't know him well, but he is a very well-educated man. He identified the creatures I spoke of and suggested I seek you out to assist me in subduing them."

"Did he, now?" Cora leaned back. "We did have ourselves a time back in Leadville. Shot up a whole mess of vampires and a wendigo besides. Even old King George stuck himself a few suckers with that cross of his. Never did kill a one of them, though."

"He didn't?" Victoria asked. "He told me he had firsthand experience in such dealings."

"In a way, I guess that's true," Cora said. "Like I said, he was there for a lot of the scrapes we got into, both in town and up at the mine, but I had to do most of the work my own self. You Brits ain't worth half a shake when doing needs done."

Victoria squared her shoulders at the older woman. "I'll thank you not to judge all of my countrymen by the actions of one."

"You're welcome, then," Cora said, "but that don't change the facts none."

Victoria pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. She wasn't sure if this woman was being deliberately obtuse or if she just wasn't that bright. Most likely both. It was time to try a different approach. "I'm not disputing the fact that you are more than capable. Had I thought James could have helped me himself, I wouldn't have traveled these long miles to seek you out." Only half a lie.

"Good to know George ain't taken leave of his sense." Cora shifted her weight toward the door. "We done now?"

"Will you help me?"

Cora's smile exposed the gap between her front teeth. "And here I thought Brits was at least good for their brains. Ain't you figured it out yet?"

Victoria hesitated. She heard the answer in Cora's tone, but she had to ask. "What?"

"My hunting days are over."

For a moment, Victoria could only stand there blinking. Cora watched her, the smile never leaving her face. Victoria knew she had to say something, something that would change this old woman's mind before it was too late. The silence hung between them as the sounds of the saloon filtered through the door, voices and laughter and the meandering melody of the piano. Victoria's mouth felt full of cotton.

Cora's boots thumped against the floorboards. She stepped over to the door and reached out her hand to open it. Victoria moved without thinking, grabbing her wrist. "Wait."

The hunter's brown eyes snapped up. "Take your pretty little hands off me," Cora said, her tone flat.

Victoria's grip tightened. "Help me."

Cora's other hand cracked across her face. The force of the blow knocked her backward into a crate. Cradling her stinging cheek, Victoria blinked back tears. She turned her head and looked at the other woman, accusation in her blue eyes.

Cora matched her gaze evenly. "I mean what I say," she said. "Don't you ever touch me, and I ain't helping you with no monster hunt. My hunting days is through."

"So you're a coward, then?" Victoria asked, rage overwhelming her sense. "You're just a drunken old fool who strikes other women who come to her begging for help." She stood to her full height, removing her hand from her face. Her cheek blazed bright red. "I came to you across countless miles, crossing an ocean and half a continent because

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