Monahan said, “Ain’t no dodgin’ what’s true.” Once the boys were gone, he suggested, “We’d just as well forget about fence buildin’ today. Preacher, I’d like to show you my horses. Traded for a nice little set of mares and a sorrel stud since you were here last.”

“As I recall, the Comanches cleaned you out last year.”

“I’m hopin’ the volunteers can keep them crafty devils from comin’ south.” He looked at Rusty as if for verification.

Rusty found Geneva looking at him too, and felt compelled to make some kind of answer, even if it meant nothing. “I’ll just be followin’ orders, but I expect we’ll do the best we can.”

Monahan said, “The country you’ve got to cover is big, and there won’t be many of you. Seein’ how poor Texas is now, I can’t understand how anybody thinks it’d be better off by quittin’ the union. Everything the union’s been doin’ for us, we’ll have to do for ourselves.”

Rusty could see the other side of the argument. “A lot of folks don’t think it has done much for us.”

“A lot of folks are wrong. I’m afraid they’re fixin’ to find that out.”

Rusty was not overly interested in seeing Monahan’s mares. He would rather have stayed and gotten acquainted with Monahan’s daughter, but he felt it his obligation as a guest to act pleased and accept in good grace whatever courtesy the host extended. He rode out with Monahan and Webb.

Monahan said, “If it hadn’t taken us so long to borrow horses to ride, we’d’ve caught up to them Indians and got our own back. As it was, we trailed them all the way to the Red River, me and James and Billy.”

Webb was incredulous. “The three of you? What would you have done if you’d caught up to the Indians?”

“Like I said, we’d’ve took back our horses. By the tracks there wasn’t but six or seven hostiles. Me and the boys could’ve whipped up on them easy.”

The stallion made a threatening rush at the three horsemen, but Monahan put him to flight by waving his hat and shouting at the top of his voice. Rusty thought he might have flushed birds out of the trees half a mile away.