Dancing with the Devil

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen 

Before Ance could ensure that justice, or vengeance, whichever you chose to call it, was served, he first had to see that Penelope and her mama got some supper in their bellies. 

The evening was hot and though the sun was beginning to set it offered no relief from the oppressive heat. Ance wiped a bit of sweat from his brow before adjusting his hat and casting a quick glance toward Penelope and Audrey who were walking beside him toward the café. 

Audrey had been very quiet and withdrawn since their earlier talk. Ance could tell she had something on her mind and he wondered what exactly she was thinking--which was surprising since he usually didn't give two hoots in hell about what a woman thought. 

The streets were fairly busy given the time of day as folks finished up their tasks and headed toward either the café, the hotel, the saloons or the brothel. Ance held Penelope's hand in his and, oddly enough, found himself thankful that Rodger had shown up when he had. It had given Ance an excuse to spend just a little more time in the girl's presence. 

"Look at the puppy!" Penelope exclaimed, pointing at a flop-eared mutt sniffing at the dirt about twenty feet away. "It limps like me," she added. Ance took in the sight of it's front right leg which appeared to have been broken at some point and hadn't been reset correctly. The bones had healed but the leg was disfigured. 

"That's not a pup, Penny. That dog's probably older than you," Ance informed her. 

"It's a cute puppy," Audrey countered with a warning glance up at Ance. 

Ance nearly laughed out loud. Not many people dared toss him glares like that but, then again, Audrey wasn't like most people. Ance didn't know much about her but he could already tell that she was different--tougher--than most folks. 

"Can I go pet it?" Penelope asked. 

Ance was about to say no but then he saw the way her lip stuck out and he sighed. "Go ahead." 

As Penelope limped quickly toward the dog, Audrey shook her head. "Was that a good idea, Ance? What if it's mean?" 

Ance laid his hand over his gun and shrugged. "Then I'll kill it." 

Ance and Audrey stood watching Penelope pet the dog. The hound seemed more than a little happy to have the attention as its tongue flopped out and it rolled onto its back so she could scratch at his stomach. 

"Mama, Ance, can I keep it?" Penelope requested. "The puppy needs a family. No one wants it because of its leg." 

Ance shook his head. "And how do you know that?" 

Penelope raised her chin stubbornly. "It told me so." 

"Penelope..." Audrey scolded. "Don't tell such wild tales." 

Ance chuckled. "If it were up to me I'd let you keep it but since it'd be living at your mama's house, it's not up to me." 

Audrey sent Ance yet another glare as Penelope folded her hands, stuck out her bottom lip and begged like a champion. Ance was amused and that was saying something... He realized he had changed since Penelope had come into his life and that worried him. How could he go back to the life he'd lived before her now that he knew how good life could be with her?

Ance tensed when something in the air suddenly changed. The evening became quieter somehow and Ance looked through the crowd going about their days and saw the trail worn, dusty outlaw pulling his gun with his gaze locked on Penelope. 

There wasn't time to pull his gun and guarantee he'd stop the other man from shooting the girl and so Ance didn't try--instead he lunged forward, grabbed a shocked Penelope up into his arms and turned his back on the man, hunching over the girl to protect her just as the booming gunshot resounded in the evening air. 

Audrey cried out in alarm, horses spooked, townsfolk scattered and the pup hightailed away for cover.  

Ance felt the bullet slam into his low side and hissed at the pain it was accompanied by. He pulled his gun as he turned and fired off a shot of his own. The man cried out as his gun was shot from his hand--along with two of his fingers. Ance fired off another and sent a bullet slamming through the man's thigh and sending him crashing to the ground. 

Ance set Penelope on her feet and pointed toward Audrey. "Go to your mother," he growled. 

Ignoring the pain in his side, Ance stalked toward the man on the ground. "Who sent you?" he hissed, though he already had a fairly good idea what the answer to that question would be. 

"Go to hell," the man gasped between panting breaths. Sweat slicked his brow as his blood pooled on the dirt around him.

Ance nodded. "I'm pretty sure that's where I'll be going," he admitted. "But I'm damn certain that you'll be getting there before me. Now who the hell sent you?" 

Ance rolled his eyes when he saw the man reach for his gun with his uninjured hand. Much to Ance's surprise, Audrey was suddenly there. She scooped the gun up, cocked the hammer back and aimed the revolver steadily at the injured man's chest. "You will tell me why you were trying to kill my daughter and you will tell me now." 

Ance somehow tore his gaze away from Audrey and returned it to the whimpering, gasping man on the ground. "Or you'll what? Kill me?" the man demanded with a laugh. 

Ance nodded before lifting his foot and setting it back down upon the man's shattered leg. "Slowly." Ance agreed as the man's screams of pain filled the air. 

Ance noticed Audrey turn a few shades paler beside him but the gun in her hand never wavered. He was impressed. 

"Barnaby sent me, dammit," the man whimpered when Ance removed his foot. "Did you really think you could steal from the man and he'd just let you go?" 

"Why target the girl?" Ance growled. 

"Because that's what he ordered. He wants the girl dead first, then you. Now dammit, Ance, either kill me or get me to a damn doctor...." 

"Alright then," Ance set his sights on the man's forehead and pulled the trigger. 

He reloaded his weapon and then glanced at Audrey to find that she was pale, shaking a bit and still had the gun aimed down at the now lifeless man at their feet. Ance reached out and grabbed the barrel, causing her to jump. "Unless you're gonna shoot a lifeless corpse, give me the gun," Ance urged. 

Audrey's grip on it fell away just as Penelope came running toward them. Ance quickly stepped forward, grabbed the girl and walked away before Penelope would see the corpse on the ground. 

Audrey was hot on his heels as he strode toward the hotel. "Ance, is that man dead?" Penelope whispered. 

"If he ain't then he's the toughest bastard I've ever met," Ance replied. 

"Ance, where are we going? You're hurt..." Audrey finally spoke. 

"I'll be fine, Audrey. We'll worry about me later. Right now we gotta get out of Grandy. That won't be the only man Barnaby sent and I can keep Penelope safer out there--" he nodded toward the plains. "--than I can here in town." 

"Why do they want to hurt me?" Penelope asked with a frown. "I didn't do anything." 

"I know you didn't, Penny," Ance assured her. "Some men are just plain rotten deep down and other rotten men, like me, have to deal with them." 

"You're not rotten, Ance," Penelope assured him before kissing his bearded cheek. Ance felt his heart swell at the contact. 

"No..." Audrey laid her hand on his bare forearm as they continued walking and Ance nearly hissed at the contact. Not because it was unpleasant but because it caused a heat and a spark of awareness that he had never before felt in his life. "No, you aren't rotten, Ance. What you did today for my daughter.... You could have...." 

Ance shook his head. "There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do for Penny. Now let's quick with all this chatter and get you ladies somewhere a bit safer." 

"What about....?" Audrey tilted her head back up the road and Ance knew she was worried about Rodger York. 

Ance sighed. "Later. We gotta get our priorities straight and he's no danger to anybody just now." Ance managed to offer her a smile though it felt foreign and strange on his face. "I'm gonna take care of things, Audrey. I won't let anything happen to our Penny."