was silent. He mulled over Dave's idea. "You can handle Dale McGraw alone?"
"Hell, McGraw is a banker, arrested for stealing from his own bank. If I can't handle him, I need to turn in my badge."
"Yeah, I reckon a middle-aged embezzler wouldn't put up much of a fight."
"Come on, Travis, you can use a break, and I want to go home to Mary."
"All right, all right, I'll go if it means you might see your baby born, but I wouldn't call the town of Serenity a break."
Dave laughed aloud." No, I guess not."
A few minutes later, Travis and Dave reached the road to Serenity.
"Here's where I leave you," Dave said." See ya tomorrow."
Travis sighed." Yeah, see ya tomorrow."
I should reach Serenity before nightfall. Tired from travel, Fury hoped she had enough money left from her last bounty to get a room in the hotel and sleep in a real bed. Even with the training she received from Black Hawk, the years she'd spent as a bounty hunter had not been easy. There were long days of travel and nights of sleeping on the ground. Rain or shine, cold or hot, the weather did not offer any reprieve, the job had to get done. Bringing criminals to justice offered her survival and a way to search for those who murdered her parents. She had a few close calls and knew one day she would probably be killed, but she hoped she would find her parents' murderers before she met that fate.
Fury tried her best not to think of her parents and her life with them, because those thoughts made her feel and she found feelings and emotions a detriment to her survival. Perhaps fatigue kept her from keeping her memories buried. She thought of her papa's laugh and her mama's sweet smile. Tears attempted to form in her eyes, but she forced them back. A sad smile swept her face as she remembered how easily Belle would cry. Sweet Belle, soft and feminine, replaced by hard, cold Fury. Not a trace of Belle's femininity remained. Fury walked like a man and spoke in a low voice if she spoke at all. She wore men's clothes—jeans, shirt, and a jacket, to cover her womanly form. Today, the jacket was troublesome. It was a hot day, and she didn't dare remove it, so she settled on rolling up her sleeves, hoping that would bring relief.
Fury kept her hat low, to hide her feminine face. She didn't bathe often, using her offensive smell to keep others away, and added an extra layer of dirt to her face so her lack of facial hair would be obscured. To add a final touch to her masculinity, Fury smoked a slender cigar and taught herself to like the taste of whiskey. She smiled when she remembered how sick both habits made her in the beginning, but now, they were a part of Fury.
The town of Serenity glowed from the light of the setting sun as Fury arrived at its outskirts. She stopped for a moment as she heard the wild sounds coming from the town. Serenity did not live up to its name. It had become a town where people of dubious reputations often gathered due to the lack of effective law enforcement. Fury was no stranger to Serenity; she found the Golden Nugget saloon a place with a wealth of information if you knew the right people to ask, and besides, she had grown to enjoy the whiskey they served.
She tied her horse to the hitching post outside the saloon, and a dirty brown dog followed her into town and lay next to her horse. Even though the saloon served as a good place to gather information, at times it could be dangerous.
Fury checked the tilt of her hat, making sure it covered her face. She took a deep breath and pushed through the saloon doors. She knew she would get a reaction; she always did, but her reputation as a bounty hunter had grown past the rumors that Black Hawk had spread. At first, a reputation gave her an advantage, but now she was a target for want-to-be gunslingers hoping to make a name for themselves. Fury approached the bar with her usual confident swagger. She wanted to be left alone to drink her whiskey and look for a particular type, the kind of person who could have the information she needed and would willingly part with it when plied with enough whiskey. Fury had become an expert at singling out informants.
"Whiskey," Fury said as she slapped down money on the bar.
"I'm sorry, young fella," the bartender replied," we don't serve kids. Come back in a couple of years."
Fury lifted her gaze to meet the bartender's eyes.
"Oh, it's you." The bartender quickly retrieved a shot glass and placed it on the bar in front of Fury. He filled it with whiskey.
"Hey, bartender!" bellowed a large man sitting at a poker table. "You gonna serve a kid?"
Fury drew her expected share of unwanted stares, murmurs, and snickers, but experience had taught her that the reaction soon dissipated as everyone returned to playing cards and drinking. But on occasion, Fury drew trouble and she felt this would be one of those occasions.
The blustering drunk, in a mood to cause trouble, thought it would be great fun to antagonize the boy at the bar. Fury had dealt with similar situations a few times; men wanting to feel manly by bullying someone they perceived as weak.
It will blow over, as long as the bartender doesn't tell him who I am.
"Hey, kid!" the drunk barked again. "Does your mama know you is here?"
He laughed as chuckles waved across the room. The reactions of others egged the drunk on.
"I bet if she knew you was here, she would come in and grab you by the ear. Then she would take you to the woodshed when you got home." He howled with laughter.
"For heaven's sake, Morley, shut up! Don't you know this is Fury? You fool."
Fury glared at the bartender. I don't know who is the bigger idiot.
She hoped her reputation might frighten the man, but it made him more determined.
Morley slapped his knee and laughed. "This…this is the dangerous and deadly Fury? He don't look that deadly to me; in fact, I would say he is downright scrawny. Why, I don't think them thin little arms could even hold a gun."
Fury turned to face the blowhard when she heard someone speak from the end of the bar.
"Mister, move along, you have had your fun. Leave the boy alone."
Nothing infuriated Fury more than someone thinking she needed to be rescued. If she ever allowed anyone to intervene for her, she would appear weak and her days of bounty hunting could be over. The last thing she needed or wanted was a knight in shining armor.
Fury turned and glared at the man who spoke. Travis! Fury had learned how to keep her emotions in check, but seeing Travis, she struggled to keep her composure. She would not, could not, let a rush of emotions take over.
"Butt out, mister!"
"Well, folks, he kin talk. And I do agree with the boy, mister, you need to butt out."
"It's ranger, not mister. Texas Ranger Travis Parker, to be exact, and if you don't do as I say, I will arrest you for disorderly conduct and threatening a minor."
"Minor!" Fury was livid. "Who are you calling a minor?"
"You. I'm calling you a minor. Now be quiet, kid, and let the grown-ups talk."
"Shut the f—"
