Page 59 of Bullets and Dandelions

“Dunno, but I’ll find out,” Stone said.

My attention was caught by more vendor tents. I walked over and eyed the colorful shirts on display. All my clothes had burned in the barracks fire, and I needed everything.

“C’mon Tinkerbell, you can shop later.” Stone placed a white cowboy hat on my head and handed me a pair of sunglasses. “You need these to keep the sun off.” He took my hand and led me through the arena gates.

I liked the feeling of his fingers intertwined with mine.

“You are drawing a lot of attention, Chiquita.”

I looked around. Sure enough, everyone was staring at me. “This is Arizona. Everyone is allowed to carry weapons. What’s the big deal?”

“It’s like seeing Bambi with big, sharp teeth,” Johnson responded.

“Bambi? I don’t appear that harmless.”

Stone snorted. “Yeah, you do.”

“Until we look into your eyes.” Tex shivered. “And we see death looking back.”

I gave him a one-fingered salute. “Not true.”

“Haven’t you ever wondered why men give you such a wide berth?” Johnson asked.

“Gee, maybe it was because I hadn’t showered in a week or two.” My nose wrinkled. Talking about icky. The smell of popcorn mixed with cow dung and horse piss was downright awful.

“You’ll get used to the stench,” Tex commented.

I wasn’t so sure about that. My head swiveled as I took in everything.

Horses, huge bulls and cattle filled the corrals. Old wooden bleachers surrounded the arena. There were only a few seats left. “Where are we going to sit?”

“Hector got us seats in the rich folk section.” Stone pointed to an area covered by an awning.

“Oh, okay.”

Stone handed me a ticket. “You have seat A3. Head on up. We need to check in with the arena director.”

“Try not to get stomped on by the bulls.”

Stone grinned. “Where’s the fun in that? If anyone gives you a problem, kick their asses.”

“Yes, sir.” I saluted him sharply.

Big grins on their faces, my squad strutted off.

Testosterone made men crazy and stupid at the same time. I took my seat and people watched. The petting zoo was full of kids having a blast. It was so weird seeing women without burkas and smiling happily. What stood out the most was the lack of fear.

An older woman took the seat next to me. She smelled like roses and her bright red hair was piled high on her head with two white feathers protruding from the top. Her ginormous breasts threatened to pop out of her low-cut green velvet dress. She reminded me of a saloon girl from the 1800’s.

“Who has been beating on you, honey? Is that why you’re carrying those pistols? Do you even know how to use them?”

I gaped at her in surprise. She was actually worried about me. I gave her a reassuring smile. “I was in a car accident, and I use the pistols in my act.”

The woman’s green eyes studied me intently. “Act?”

“I’m a quick draw artist and a sharpshooter.”

“You any good?”

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