To the grandson of Long Walker and a Pehnane tehnap’* in his own right, it went hard to take a blow without repaying the striker in full. However he studied the grim set of the girl’s face and knew she would brook no arguments. Good sense helped him to reach the right decision. Turning, he walked with the girl to the waiting cart. Not until they sat behind the plodding donkey did he ask the questions seething inside him. “What happened in there?” “Like I said, I handled the corporal and he won’t be bothering us for a spell,” Belle replied, turning to look back along the street. Seeing no sign of the man and woman, she concluded they must have left the alley by its other entrance. “Anybody see you do it?” asked the Kid. “A man and woman.” “Mexicans?” “No.” Belle answered. “Americans. That’s why I stopped you talking to me in English back there.”
