in a listening mood.
An hour later Lewt was still trying to think of something to say to reach her when they heard horses riding in fast.
“Get off the road!” Duncan shouted. “We’ve got company coming.”
Sumner didn’t take the reins but directed Anna where to go. They moved onto a rocky side and down an incline to where the ground sloped into almost waist-high grass. Beyond the grass were trees growing along a gully.
As the wagon disappeared from the road, Duncan reached Lewt and Em. “Looks like men coming up fast about a mile away. I’m guessing six, maybe seven. We have little chance of outrunning them with the wagon, and if we stand and fight, we’re outnumbered.”
Lewt and Em nodded as Wyatt joined the group.
“How about I face them?” Lewt said. “They saw me at the ranch, but they don’t know I’m involved with you. I could talk to them, act like I haven’t seen anything. Maybe head them off in the wrong direction.”
“I don’t know.” Duncan shook his head.
Lewt smiled his slow easy smile. “Look at it this way, all I’m doing is bluffing and we both know I’m an expert at that.”
Duncan finally agreed. “It’s not much of a plan, but it might work. Em and I will take cover between you and the wagon. If they head toward it, we’ll open fire, so make sure you stay out of the way.”
Wyatt headed down the rocky incline. “I’ll stand with Sumner at the bottom of this gully. Any man who makes it past you and Miss Em will be walking straight into our fire.”
They all moved into action. Duncan and Em climbed the rise to watch and be ready. Wyatt brushed any tracks away where the wagon had left the road, and Lewt unsaddled his horse in the grass on the far side of the road. He brushed the animal down with the saddle blanket, hoping no one would notice the sweat where the saddle had been. There was no time to build a fire, but he tossed a few things around to make it look like he’d been there for a while.
He’d just sat down on his bedroll and pulled out a deck of cards when he heard the men coming.
Lewt glanced back in the direction Em had gone. He scanned the ridge, but he saw no sign of her. The need to see her was an ache inside him. He touched two fingers to his hat in a salute, hoping she could see him.
As the riders came into sight, Lewt stood and began rolling up the bedroll he’d just tossed on the ground.
The band slowed. They were dirty and muddy and looked madder than hell. Lewt recognized the leader as one of the guards from when he’d gambled the night away. The man looked more animal than human on a good day, and this wasn’t a good day.
“Morning,” Lewt said, as if the men were in their Sunday-go-to-meeting best. He counted seven men. One man behind the leader pulled his gun, but the rest just slowed their horses and stared.
“If you’ve come by to rob me, you’re out of luck. I left all my money back at Three Forks. I’ll play you a round for any food you can spare, though. It’s a long way to Austin.”
The leader raised his hand to signal the other outlaw to lower his gun. “I remember you,” he said. “Where’s your vest with all the colors braided with gold?”
“I don’t wear it when I travel,” Lewt said with a smile. “Sun bounces off it.”
The leader laughed as one of the men behind him mumbled something Lewt couldn’t catch.
“My friend says one of the girls claims you spent the rest of the night in her bed, then shot out the window like a coward when you heard shooting.”
Lewt stood tall, facing them straight on. “Look, I’m a gambler, not a gunfighter. I don’t even carry a gun, so of course I took off as soon as the shooting started. I want to live to gamble again. I paid for my time with the rather drunk lady with my last twenty.”
Lewt was doing what he always did when being confronted. He was blending as much truth into the lie as possible.
It worked. The leader of Toledo’s band believed him.
“How long have you been here, Gambler?”
Lewt shrugged. “I had too much to drink last night. To be honest, I’m surprised I got my bedroll on the ground before I fell asleep.” Lewt scratched