I haven’t shot you yet is because I wanted you to know first who is doing this. I don’t take kindly to being insulted and embarrassed in front of my friends.”
“I call them as I see them,” Clint answered.
All the while they talked, Elizabeth moved closer to Clint, until finally she was close enough to move her arm into his as a show of support. “Please don’t do this!” she begged Ezra. “What kind of a man are you?”
“He’s not what he pretends to be, that’s for sure,” Clint replied before Ezra could speak. “I had you figured all along, Faine. For all your pretense of being a fancy lawyer, you’re no better than an outlaw.”
Faine grinned. “Like you said, you call them as you see them.”
Her blanket hiding Clint’s six-gun, Elizabeth carefully slipped it into Clint’s hand.
“You’d better move aside, ma’am,” Ezra told her, stepping back slightly. “I wouldn’t want this man’s blood to splatter on you.”
“Do like he says, Liz,” Clint told her.
Had she done the right thing? If someone died here tonight, would it be her fault? God help us, she prayed inwardly, terrified for Clint.
“Get the woman out of the way,” Ezra told the man beside him.
In one split second everything changed. Elizabeth saw fire spit from Clint’s handgun…saw Ezra fly backward…saw fire coming from the second man’s gun. Clint stumbled slightly. Elizabeth screamed his name, and then came another shot from Clint’s gun…the second man went down. Clint shoved his six-gun into Elizabeth’s hands. “Stay here!” He picked up Ezra’s rifle and ran off into the darkness.
Elizabeth stood there shaking. She was almost sure Clint had been hit. Her breath came in quick gasps and tears filled her eyes as she stared at Ezra and the second man. Both lay near the fire, blood on their chests. They looked dead.
“Dear God,” she groaned. “Please forgive me! I couldn’t let them shoot Clint without giving him a chance!”
Tears welled in her eyes, and she looked down at the gun in her shaking hands. She could smell the smoke that still wafted from its barrel. She looked out into the darkness. “Clint,” she whispered. He’d surely gone after those who were trying to steal his horses. She jumped when she heard another, louder shot. It had to be Clint shooting Ezra’s rifle. She could only hope that’s what it was, rather than someone shooting at Clint.
What was wrong with these men? She thought about the fist fight she’d seen on the way to camp. Why did men have to be like this? Why had her own innocent father been murdered for the few lousy dollars he’d had in his vest pocket. He’d never harmed a soul in his life. Greed. Lust. Such sinful things led to fights and murder. And how could she blame Clint for defending himself? Surely part of it had been for her sake. These men would have taken her with them if he hadn’t stopped them.
Tears stung her eyes as she waited in fear of what might have happened to Clint. Should she run after him, or should she wait here? What if he was dead? Should she use the gun in her hand if men came for her? No! She could never do that! When soldiers came for Jesus in Gethsemane, He did not resist. Still, that was because He knew His calling. He was born to sacrifice Himself for man, and to fulfill the prophecies for the Savior. Surely He understood that sometimes a person must defend himself against evil.
“Clint!” she shouted. “Clint, where are you?”
Finally she heard some kind of commotion in the distance to her left. She and Clint had not even been aware that Ezra and his bunch were camped in the same valley. They must have been too far away to notice, but if that was the case, how had they known she and Clint were there? Ezra must have had men scouting around for things they could steal when they’d noticed her and Clint.
A tear slipped down her cheek. Where was he? It suddenly struck her that she would feel a loss much deeper than she had thought she would if something had happened to him…much deeper because she was in love with Clint Brady, and there was no denying it any longer. It might be too late to matter.
“Clint!” she screamed again, clinging to the six-gun. How much time had passed? Five minutes? Ten? Two men still lay dead nearby. What was she supposed to