“Sure.”
Oscar let go of my hand and stood up.“I only wanna say that—Jimmy and I are very lucky to have friends like you, Miss June.”
“Thank you.I feel the same.It’s not many men would journey across country at the request of a woman of ill-repute.”
Oscar nodded and left, shooting a concerned glance my way before he did.
Miss June gazed at me as she held a fresh cloth soaked in the disinfectant to the gash in my side.
“Jimmy, I’m glad you’re here, I truly am, but I’m not sure you’re gonna be able to ride out to look for Cal anytime soon.”
“Oh,” I said, forcing a smile, though the thought of having my wound stitched, and the pain that would cause, made me a bit faint.“I’ll be fine after a day and with a good night’s rest.”
She narrowed her eyes.“Now, Jimmy.I’m not going to stitch you up and care for you, only to have you ignore my advice and not heal well.”
“Fine.What then?”
Miss June looked at the door, and I knew what she was thinking.
“No,” I said.“No, way.Oscar’s not going out to look for Cal by himself.”
Miss June fixed her gaze on me with an arched brow.“Do you honestly think I’d send him out by himself?”
“No, but—”
She held up a finger.“Let me speak, please.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Now, I need Mr.Hanover here to keep me and my girls safe.But I was thinking of sending Trick with him.”
“Trick?”
Miss June nodded.“She can ride better than many men, Jimmy.She’s a good horsewoman and doesn’t have any shame in sitting astride, which is safer—and I don’t have any side-saddles.And she can shoot.”
“She can?”
Miss June gave a curt nod.“Yes, sir.She made Gus teach her after she recovered from her injury.She keeps a pistol hidden in her room.I taught all of them to shoot after that.And most of them are good, too.It’s amazing what a woman can do when she’s taught.”
I didn’t doubt that that was true.
“Yeah, I taught Oscar to shoot.He was such a city boy that he hadn’t ever used a gun before.Me and Clarence—that’s my friend in Port Essington—we taught him to shoot a rifle, too, and he’s a pretty decent shot.He carries a revolver, but I reckon I can let him have the rifle if they go out.”
“Are you okay with that?”Miss June asked, knowing how protective I was of Oscar.
I huffed a laugh then winced.“I reckon I’d better be.’Cause Oscar’s gonna want to.”
Miss June smiled.“I have a feeling it will make a nice change for Trick, too.She gets mighty bored around here sometimes.”
“Hmm.Even with all the—” I made a gesture.
Miss June shrugged.
“That’s her job, Jimmy.She may get some pleasure and fun out of it—I hope she does—but any job gets monotonous after a while.”
“I suppose.”
I’d never really thought about it.I knew that women were as capable of enjoying a tumble as men were, but I hadn’t considered if that was your means of making a living, that it might get to be not so much fun after a while—which was a sobering thought, for certain.Not to mention that having to do it for money meant you might not always be feeling an attraction.Maybe most of the time you weren’t.
