“I know that,” Amy nodded evenly. “But I’d still do it, Nick. I’m sure you know I would.”

“But—”

But I ‘did’ know she’d do it, even if it got her hanged. So there just wasn’t anything more to say on the subject.

I looked at her, with her hair spilled out on the pillows and the warmth of her body warming mine. And I thought, god-dang, if this ain’t a heck of a way to be in bed with a pretty woman. The two of you arguing about murder, and threatening each other, when you’re supposed to be in love and you could be doing something pretty nice. And then I thought, well, maybe it ain’t so strange after all. Maybe it’s like this with most people, everyone doing pretty much the same thing except in a different way. And all the time they’re holding heaven in their hands.

“I’m sorry, honey,” I said. “O’ course, I’ll do whatever you want. I wouldn’t never want to do nothing else.”

“And I’m sorry, too, darling.” She brushed my mouth with a kiss. “And I’ll do what you want. As soon as things here are a little more settled, I’ll go away with you.”

“Fine. That’s just fine, honey,” I said.

“I want to very much, dear, and I will. Just as soon as we can be sure that there are no loose ends here.”

I said again that that was just fine, wondering what I was going to do about a great big loose end like Rose Hauck. Then I thought, well, I’d just have to face that problem when I came to it. And I put everything out of my mind but Amy, and I reckon she put everything out of her mind but me. And it was like it was before, only more so.

It was like nothing that ever was. Only more so.

Then, again we were layin’ there side by side. Breathing together, hearts beating together. And suddenly Amy tore her hand out of mine, and sat up.

“Nick! What’s that?”

“What? What’s what?”

I looked to the window where she was pointing, at the drawn shade with its rim of flickering light.

Then, I jumped up and ran to the window, and tilted the shade back. And I guess I must have groaned out loud.

“God-dang,” I said. “God-dang it to heck, anyway!”

“Nick, what is it, darling?”

“Colored town. It’s on fire.”

I guess I should have known it might happen. Because Tom Hauck ‘was’ a white man, whatever else you said about him, and it looked like a colored fella had killed him. So some idjit would get the notion that “the niggers got to be taught a lesson,” and he’d spread the word to other idjits. And pretty soon there’d be trouble.

I got dressed with Amy watchin’ me worriedly. She asked me what I was going to do, and I said I didn’t know, but I was sure going to have to do something. Because a thing like this, a sheriff bein’ off fishing when trouble broke, was just the kind of thing that could lose an election.