Joseph needs the rest," Clancy said. "I can go on," Raven insisted, gritting his teeth and holding himself stiffly upright in Clancy's saddle. He'd been conscious for several hours but looked pale and strained. His leg was swollen and red from his foot to his thigh where his pants abruptly ended. "No use trying to impress Miss Charm with your manly fortitude," Clancy said, shaking his head. "She's already seen you swoon." "Don't touch the reins," Raven warned, irritably knocking Bodine's hands away, "I'll handle the horse." "You don't know nothin' 'bout horses," Clancy responded before turning his attention to Charm. "He never did. Why, I remember when he was a lad, fifteen, maybe sixteen, he took a shine to Nora May Bentley. Pretty little thing she was. Anyhow, Joseph lost his head and decides to go see her. So he hops on this big old ornery bay I sometimes let him ride, seein's as he was like a son to me." Clancy reached for the reins again, but Raven managed to jab a sharp elbow into the other's ribs, prompting a grunt of wounded noise.
