Only 06 - Winter Fire

have upset her more than she’s letting on.”
    The ambush, or what happened after , Case thought bitterly.
    Judas priest, why did I do that? I could have pleasured her from her head to her heels without risking a baby .
    No answer came to him except the ache in his gut that started whenever he thought of Sarah’s silky, passionate, generous response.
    He had just had her, and he wanted her until he all but shook with it.
    â€œGet one of the raiders’ belt guns,” Case said curtly.
    His tone made Conner hesitate, but only for a moment. He had about given up ever finding Case with time to teach him how to handle a six-gun. Between hunting silver, hauling firewood and water, standing guard, repairing the cabin, and scouting for timber for the floor planks, Case was busier than three men.
    â€œI’ll be back before you know I’m gone,” Conner said eagerly.
    Case didn’t answer. He was staring off toward Deer Canyon. In the late-afternoon light, every shrub and branch and blade of grass stood out clearly.
    So did the quick, graceful shape of Sarah climbing up a rubble slope to the mouth of a nearby canyon.
    He was still watching her when Conner returned.
    â€œDon’t worry,” the boy said, closing the front door behind him. “There’s no way into that canyon except through here. She’s safe from raiders.”
    Though Case nodded, he didn’t look away until she disappeared into the shadows on one side of the canyon. Then, reluctantly, he turned toward the boy whose quick smile reminded him all too much of Sarah.
    â€œWhich one did you choose?” Case asked.
    â€œThis one. It draws real slick.”
    He wasn’t surprised to know that Conner had been trying out the raiders’ belt guns. Neither was he surprised that the boy had chosen the quickest draw in the batch.
    â€œIt draws real slick,” Case said impassively, “but it doesn’t aim worth a fart in a windstorm.”
    Conner frowned down at the gun he was holding.
    â€œWhat do you mean?” he asked.
    â€œHave you shot it?”
    â€œUte would have my scalp for wasting bullets.”
    â€œLearning isn’t a waste,” Case said. “Follow me. No use in stirring up the chickens.”
    â€œI wouldn’t mind practicing on that big orange rooster,” Conner muttered.
    â€œHe’s a mean son,” the older man agreed. “But hesires the kind of chicks the land requires—quick and tough.”
    â€œI know. I’ve chewed on more than one of them. And vice versa.”
    The corner of Case’s mouth lifted, shifting his beard just a bit. He enjoyed Conner’s sharp mind. It was like listening to a masculine echo of Sarah’s quick tongue.
    â€œRun over and warn Ute that there’s going to be some shooting,” he said. “I’ll set up targets.”
    Conner ran off to the wickiup and returned at the same headlong pace.
    God, to be that young again , Case thought as he walked back from the targets. All fired up and raring to go at the thought of a little shooting .
    Hope Conner lives long enough to approach shooting cold, the way you would digging out a privy .
    â€œReady,” Conner said, settling his hat firmly on his thick blond hair. “What do I shoot at first?”
    â€œThe little rock sitting on that big rock about a hundred feet away.”
    Conner drew and fired in a startlingly smooth motion.
    He missed both rocks.
    In fact, he came closer to shooting off his toe than he did to hitting anything made of stone.
    â€œHoly hell!” Conner said, staring at the gun. “This trigger is as touchy as a snake’s tongue.”
    â€œHas about the same range, too,” Case said dryly. “That piece of iron is all sawed off, filed down, and slicked up for drawing and shooting as fast as possible.”
    While he talked, he drew his own gun. He reversed it and held the weapon out butt first to Conner.
    â€œLook at the difference between the two guns,” Case said.
    Conner took the gun and looked from it to the raider’s gun.
    â€œYours has a longer barrel by at least an inch,” the boy said.
    Case nodded. “A hair slower on the draw that way, but what I shoot at, I hit.”
    â€œThe front sight is filed off the raider’s gun.”
    â€œSame thing,” Case said. “Speed over accuracy.”
    â€œMay I shoot yours?”
    â€œHolster it first. Then try for