The Gunsmith 335

Clint spent a little time in the stable with Eclipse. Although the fee he’d paid for the Darley Arabian to stay there had included feed, it obviously hadn’t included much in the way of brushing. Since the liveryman had made himself scarce after getting paid, Clint ran a brush through Eclipse’s mane and then walked toward his saddlebags. The moment Clint reached for the saddle, Eclipse began to fret.

“None of that, boy,” Clint said. “You’re lucky you got the rest and greens you were after. If you start getting fuss ier, I may have to start looking for a new horse.”

Going by the way Eclipse stomped and shook his head, it was hard to be certain he didn’t understand everything Clint was saying.

“Oh, for Christ’s sake.” Clint grunted as he dropped the saddle and hunkered down next to the stallion’s front hooves. “What’s the matter with you?”

Clint had heard someone walking toward his stall, so he wasn’t taken by surprise. He hadn’t expected to hear Delilah’s voice, however. Just to be sure, he looked up to see who’d spoken. It was Delilah, all right. She wasn’t wearing the fancy clothes from the night before, but that didn’t hamper her looks any. In fact, the simple brown skirt and white blouse were downright attractive. Then again, knowing what was under those garments allowed Clint to be attracted to her without stretching his imagination very far.

Delilah stepped close enough to reach out and pat the white spot on Eclipse’s nose. Almost immediately, the stallion calmed down. “Do you think he understands what you say?”

Gripping a hoof under one arm, Clint looked up and said, “Of course. Otherwise, I’d be crazy to flap my gums so much.”

She chuckled and continued to rub Eclipse’s muzzle. “He’s a fine looking creature. Is something wrong with his foot?”

Clint let the hoof drop and went around to grab hold of the other front leg. Eclipse allowed him to grip his hoof without putting up too much of a struggle. “He’s been awfully fidgety. I thought he was just tired after too many long rides, but I’m thinking it may be something else. Aw, come on!”

Huffing and grunting, Eclipse shifted his weight and pulled his leg free from Clint’s grasp. When Clint tried to get hold of it again, Eclipse bobbed his head and protested loudly.

“No, he didn’t,” Clint said through gritted teeth. “I’m thinking I may have been wrong right from the start. If there’s something I missed, I’ll feel awfully foolish for putting him up in a stable and paying extra for greens.”

“Nah. The way he’s fretting, it strikes me more as something like a cracked shoe or maybe a pebble jammed up in the wrong place.” After struggling a bit more, Clint let go of Eclipse’s hoof and let out a tired breath. “Nothing here, though.”

Clint was crouched near Eclipse’s left flank, doing his best to keep from getting knocked over by the fidgeting stallion. He looked up at Delilah and replied, “Sure, I’m not busy here or anything.”

“No,” he snapped as he grabbed hold of Eclipse’s rear leg so he could examine that shoe. “What is it?”

Sighing at having to play second fiddle to a fussy horse, she said, “You can come back and play in the tournament, if you like.”

“Normally, when you get escorted away from a game at the wrong end of a shotgun, that means you’re through playing.”

She shrugged and scraped at the swinging door that closed Eclipse’s stall away from the rest of the stable. “This isn’t the first time George has done something like this. Also, someone may have put in a good word for you with the management.”

“Could have been me,” she added with a wry grin. “After last night, I’m not so eager for you to leave.”

“What about the accusation of cheating?” Clint asked as he took hold of Eclipse’s back leg and poked around the edges of that shoe. “Something like that doesn’t usually set too well in a tournament.”

“The rest of the men at your table spoke up on your behalf,” Delilah said. “Jack has played in every tournament Pace’s has hosted, and he’s butted heads with George more than once.” Placing her hands upon her hips, Delilah locked eyes with Clint and stopped just short of stomping her foot. “Are you going to stay or not? I won’t beg.”

Her expression softened and she tilted her head a bit. “You think so? Perhaps you’d like to see me begging on all fours?”

Once again picking at the stall’s door, she replied, “I told you already. Last night was better than—”

She chewed on her lip, perhaps to make herself look more appealing. Her efforts were having an effect on him, but Clint wasn’t about to let her know as much. Delilah smiled at him, licked her lips, and then rolled her eyes. She must have thought she wasn’t making a dent in his resolve because she dropped her act like a hot rock.

“You must really think a lot of yourself if you expect me to grovel just to keep you in town,” she snapped.

Clint got back to examining Eclipse’s shoe and laughed under his breath. “I didn’t even expect you to come this far to track me down.”

Clint let Eclipse’s hoof slip from his hands as he jumped to his feet. “A couple thousand? Are you kidding me?”

Now Delilah’s wounded innocent act came back in force. She clasped her hands in front of her, tilted her head, and batted her eyelashes as she stepped forward. To put icing on the cake, she even reached out to brush her hands against Clint’s chest when she told him, “I know you can do it, Clint. Honestly.”

She shook her head and showed him a smile that was just as naughty as it was nice. “Everything I told you before was true. I just thought we could make a good team.”

“So you just had a few thousand dollars lying around to bet on a stranger who could read your signals, huh?” Clint grunted. “That’s very fortunate.”

“It’s not cash. It’s money owed to me by some of the regulars at my table. I wagered their markers on you, double or nothing.”

“Of course.” The longer she had to wait for her answer, the more her smile faded. Finally, she asked, “Well? What do you think?”