A Chance Encounter - Book One of the Western Girls Trilogy

Chapter 3

"Well," Mrs. Cooper said with a sigh as the coach lurched into motion. "That was certainly a very interesting turn of events, wasn't it, Mr. Lewis?"

"Nice bit of sleuthing by Mr. Warren there, if I do say so myself," Mr. Lewis replied.

"Sleuthing?" Mallory asked.

"Why yes! He found out that Mr. Allen's friends were the ones that robbed us! He found them in the saloon last night. Convinced them to give back everything they took, he did! Not sure how, but he did!"

Mrs Cooper chuckled. "Probably with his good looks, I'd guess!" Then she gasped. "I see you got your necklace back as well!"

"Yes. He was kind enough to return it last night. There was just one little piece that was bent and I was able to fix it fairly well,"

"He's a saint, that one," Mrs. Cooper nodded in Nick's direction.

They settled into a comfortable silence for a while. Soon the rocking motion of the coach lulled Mallory to sleep. Mrs. Cooper nudged Mr. Lewis in the arm when she noticed Mallory's head tip against Mr. Warren's shoulder. "That's a handsome couple right there," she whispered softly.

Mr. Lewis just chuckled and went back to reading his newest newspaper again. "Ah, I remember what it was like to be young!"

"I remember what it was like to be thin!" Mrs. Cooper sighed.

"He'd be hard pressed to find a prettier one that that," Mr. Lewis nodded. "And I daresay, he's proven to be quite the gentleman.

"I still can't fathom how he got our things back."

"I'm going to presume those guns he wears probably had something to do with it," Mr. Lewis said.

Nick was not asleep as they thought, but he ignored their comments. His left leg was starting to tingle but he dared not move for fear he'd wake Miss Quinn, who seemed to have fallen asleep on his shoulder. She smelled of wildflowers and it was the nicest thing he'd smelled all week. Eventually, he also fell asleep.

One of the wheels must have hit a rock and the stage lurched slightly. Nick sat up straight in his seat to find Mr. Lewis and Mrs. Cooper both asleep and Miss Quinn sitting quite primly beside him, reading her book as if nothing had happened.

"Our new driver is about as careful as Mr. Allen," she said softly. "He doesn't even bother trying to miss the bumps."

Nick straightened his hat. "I can tell," he replied.

"You know, I do believe this coach is a little roomier than the last one."

"Seems that way," he said. "My knees don't quite reach Mrs. Cooper's."

She smiled. "I wonder if they upgraded us because of that whole fiasco yesterday."

"They certainly went out of their way to make sure we were all happy," he said.

"Mr. Warren," she glanced over to make sure the others were indeed still asleep. "How exactly did you convince those men to give our things back? There were six of them and that didn't even include Mr. Allen!"

"I told them I wouldn't go see the sheriff if they gave it back," he said.

She didn't believe that for a second and stared at him, waiting for the truth.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked nervously. He'd just stared down seven men the day before and hadn't felt nearly as intimidated as he did just then.

"Did you threaten them?"

"Miss Quinn," He said. "I simply introduced myself and said I would appreciate them giving the items back."