Free Buck and the Widow Rancher (2006) by Carlton Youngblood

fight?’
    Stammering with more embarrassment, the girl simply nodded. ‘He’s just hot-headed. And the Navarros have been friends of our family since we got here. He really isn’t cruel or mean, just angry.’
    ‘Buck, I’d like to talk with you when you’re finishedthere,’ said Matilda, still full of nervous tension. ‘I’ll be at the horses.’ Turning she walked away with Hightower at her side leaving Frank and two other young men. Smirking, Frank nodded to Buck and nudging the man next to him, followed his father.
    ‘Young lady … what’s your name, anyhow?’
    ‘Elizabeth Cooder.’
    ‘Yeah, I figured. I’ve met your father and his friends and now I’ve met you and your brother. A very angry family, aren’t you, and blaming your troubles on Matilda’s crew. And myself, of course. Well, Miss Cooder, I’ll tell you just as I’ve tried to persuade everybody … I did not shoot the sheepherder or his boy’s sheep.’
    ‘The sheriff thinks you did and until he learns differently, so does my pa. And,’ she said, with pride behind her words, ‘so do I.’
    ‘Elizabeth, come away now.’ The youngster who had been standing with the Hightowers put his hand on the girl’s arm. ‘It does no good, standing here in the street talking to this man.’
    Nodding in agreement and giving Buck a last look of displeasure, Elizabeth Cooder let the young man walk her away.
    Buck watched the couple walk off and, after checking to see that Calvin was breathing, dipped his head in a nearby water trough. Combing his hair with his fingers and brushing at his clothes, he buckled on his gunbelt and settled his hat in place before stepping into the saddle and going to looking for Matilda. What he really wanted, he thought was a hot bath and a drink of good whiskey, but that could wait a bit.
     
    Hightower and Matilda were sitting on chairs on the hotel porch as Buck rode up. Tying the reins loosely to the rail, he went up the three broad steps and stood facing them. Afternodding in Hightower’s direction, he put his fingers to his hat, as a greeting to Matilda.
    ‘You said you wanted to talk,’ he smiled, lounging back against the porch railing. The pain in his chest was fading so he didn’t believe a rib had been broken. When the smithy had hit him, he was sure the whole side of his chest had been caved in, but now the main pain was the throbbing in his head.
    ‘Yes, I do.’ She turned to Hightower and said, ‘Thank you, Hugh. But I think I’d better handle this.’
    The horse rancher signaled his agreement and with a last mocking smile at the standing cowboy, walked off down the boardwalk.
    ‘Buck, I don’t know what to think. You have offered to help me with the bank and I appreciate that, but, well, since you came into the valley there have been at least two men shot, one of them a defenseless old sheepherder. The other, I’ll admit, might have been a rustler, but we’ll never know, will we?’ It was a statement, not a question. ‘And now picking a fight with the blacksmith. I honestly don’t know what to believe.’
    ‘I see your beau, Hightower, didn’t waste any time,’ he said gently.
    ‘He’s not my beau.’ Anger brought more color to her face. ‘Hugh is just looking out for me. After all, I’ve known him since I was little and I don’t know you at all. Of course he’s concerned for me and did talk to me on the things he’s worried about.’
    ‘For the record, Mrs Randle,’ he let a little bite creep into his words, ‘the rustler was stealing your cows and he did make his draw first. As far as that old sheepherder is concerned, I didn’t shoot him. Wasn’t anywhere near his camp when it happened. The fight? Well, I didn’t start that and was damn lucky to walk away when it was finished.’
    ‘Maybe all you say is right and Hugh is wrong. I’m just not sure.’
    ‘Well, missy, you just do whatever you think is best for you. I was asked by my good friend the professor to help you