When Johnny and Charlie rode into town, there were even more people crowding the streets than there had been the day

before. Charlie clung, her arms around Johnny's waist, as he stopped and started, weaving thru the crowd of people, wagons and

buggies.

Once they'd left the horse at the stable, with water and oats, they began to walk around, working the way to the corrals where the

sale horses were being held. More were arriving.

There was standing room only around the arena, and Johnny said, "We'd best find a spot to stand, or you won't be able to

see anything."

Once the auction began, there was so much to see, all at once, that Charlie felt as though her head was spinning around. She

asked Johnny a few questions, but there was such a lot of noise, that it was hard to talk much.

A man wearing a white apron and pushing a small cart thru the crowd was calling out, "Cold drinks! Get your cold drinks!"

"Thirsty?" Johnny asked Charlie, and she nodded.

"Two, please," Johnny told the man, as he paused beside them. Johnny handed a couple of coins to the man, who pocketed them

in the front of the white apron, and handed off two brown bottles after opening them.

"Here you go," Johnny said, handing one of the bottle to Charlie.

Charlie took it, eyeing it a bit puzzled. She watched as Johnny tipped the bottle up and took a long drink, and then

leaned out over the arena fence.

Charlie took a drink, and tasted something she never had before.

"What is it?" she asked Johnny.

"Root beer. Have you never tried it?" Johnny asked, looking amused as Charlie took another sip, wrinkling her nose

a little at the unusual taste.

"No."

"You don't like it?" he asked.

"I like it," Charlie assured him. "It just takes a little getting used to."

Johnny laughed. "Well, drink up," he told her.

Charlie continued sipping at her drink, seeing other kids throughout the crowd that were drinking it as well. After awhile, she decided

that she really did like the half-sweet, half-bitter taste of the new drink.

Horse after horse came into the arena, and was auctioned off to a new owner. One caught Charlie's attention, in particular.

It had an obvious limp, and appeared old, and was rather thin.

The auctioneer kept trying to tempt bids from the crowd, but there weren't many.

"Is it old?" Charlie asked Johnny.

"He's old."

"Why is nobody bidding on him?" Charlie asked, looking about the crowd.

"I guess they figure that he's seen his best days," Johnny said.

Charlie had her mouth open to say more, when the horse was led from the arena, and then, watching, Charlie saw

him handed off. It seemed that the person who took the horse looked familiar. And then, remembering, Charlie thought

it was the raggedy-dressed man that Lucy had pointed out the day before. The one that was 'mysterious'.

When he faded from sight, Charlie continued watching the auction, her thoughts still on the older horse.

When Lucy spoke from behind, Charlie was startled.

"Hello!"

"Oh! Hello," Charlie said, jumping a little.

Lucy giggled. "Did I scare you?"

Instead of waiting for an answer, Lucy talked on. "Can you come over to my house? My papa said I could ask you. I have

a new swing, and we can play on it."

"Um, I don't know," Charlie said, looking at Johnny.

"Please come. This is so tiresome," Lucy said, with a sigh. "I don't see what's so interesting about watching horses walk

around in a circle."

Charlie found the auction quite the opposite of tiresome. She was enjoying seeing all the horses, and being around the hubbub of

the crowd. Still, it might be fun to go to Lucy's house for a bit.

She looked up at Johnny. "Lucy's asked me over to her house for awhile. Is it alright?"

Johnny regarded both little girls, and said, "Just to Lucy's house, though, alright? Don't either one of you

run off to get married today."

Lucy giggled, and Johnny smiled at her.

"I'll stay awhile longer, and then I'll come over to the Stone's and collect ya, alright?" he said, to Charlie.

Charlie nodded, and went off with Lucy. They set out walking, with Lucy barely taking a breath between words.

Charlie thought that she'd never heard anybody talk so much before. Still, Lucy was her one friend here so far. So, a person

needed to overlook certain things.

Charlie caught sight of the ragged man again, the one who'd taken the older horse. He was walking very slowly, leading the

horse, as if heading out of town on the main street.

"Look," she said, pausing, and pointing.

"What?" Lucy asked.

"It's that man. The one you said your papa says not to talk to. The one with the glass eye."

"Oh. Yes. Come on," Lucy said, with a light tug on Charlie's arm. "My house isn't much further."

"I wonder what he wanted that old horse for," Charlie said, still standing there, pondering.

"I think he eats them," Lucy said.

"No, he doesn't!" Charlie said, horrified.

Lucy shrugged. "That's what I heard my brother telling one of his friends."

"Let's follow him," Charlie said. "Just for a little way."

"I'm not supposed to talk to him! I told you that!"

"I didn't say that we'd talk to him. Just follow him a bit," Charlie said.

"Well-" Lucy said, hesitating, and Charlie seized her advantage.

"Come on," she said, giving Lucy a pull.

The two girls walked, a cautious distance behind the man. It seemed that once out of the main part of town, the

man was there, and then suddenly, he was not.

"Where did he go?" Charlie asked, stopping and looking all around, puzzled.

"He can make himself disappear," Lucy said, sounding as though she truly believed it.

"No one can do that," Charlie protested. "Where is his house? How much further?"

"Not very far. Just over the hill, there."

"Show me," Charlie said. "Please, Lucy?"

"And then we'll go right back?"

"Yes. Right back."

"Well, alright," Lucy said, sounding reluctant. The girls walked on, just a bit, and Lucy pointed.

"There."

The word house was a bit much for what was just in the front of them. Or so Charlie thought. It was barely a shell of a house.

More of a decrepit shack. A couple of hound dogs laid out front. Tar paper hung at the one window.

"He lives there?" Charlie asked, more to herself, than to Lucy.

"Uh huh. Come on. Let's go back."

Charlie gave a last look around, and then turned to go with Lucy. They hadn't walked very far, when there was a shout

from behind. It was a garbled sort of shout, and hard to make out. Lucy jumped, and Charlie was startled, as well.

"He's yelling at us!" Lucy said, sounding frightened.

Charlie gave a look back, the shack barely still in sight. She thought she saw a movement from the side of the house.

"He doesn't want us around!" Lucy said, and began running.

Charlie broke into a run, as well. It was that, or be left behind.

They were back onto the main street before Lucy stopped running. She must have felt safe once again in the midst

of people. She stopped, her face red from running.

Charlie, who'd had plenty of running experience when she ran with the wild group of kids in Stockton, wasn't so

out of breath as Lucy.

She found her adrenaline was pumping.

"He was going to kill us!" Lucy said.

"He wasn't," Charlie protested. "We don't even know if he was yelling at us."

Lucy remained unconvinced of Charlie's logic, and continued insisting that the man was evil, and meant them harm.

Once at Lucy's house, her mother offered them cookies and lemonade, and the girls had only just begun their

turns on Lucy's new swing, when Johnny came.

"Does Charlie have to go already, Mr. Lancer?" Lucy asked, sounding disappointed. "We just got started swinging."

"We need to get headin' home," Johnny told her.

"Oh," Lucy said, looking sulky.

Charlie said her goodbyes, and she and Johnny walked back across town, towards the stable.

"Is the auction still going on?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah. It's bound to last quite a while longer. It's nearly lunchtime. Do you want to go to the hotel and get somethin'

to eat?"

Charlie nodded. Her stomach had been grumbling, even after the cookies that Lucy's mother had offered.

Once at a table in the hotel restaurant, Johnny set his hat aside, and ordered two lunch specials. He nodded

towards the root beer bottle that Charlie still carried.

"What are you doin', still carrying that around?" Johnny asked.

Charlie set the bottle on the table, next to his hat. "I'm going to keep it," she said.

"How come?"

"Because I can use it to keep wildflowers in. And, it's a remembrance. Of spending time with you at my first

horse auction, and my first time tasting root beer," Charlie told him.

Johnny smiled at her, his blue eyes sparkling. "I'm glad if you had a good time."

"I did," Charlie assured him.

As they waited for their food to be brought to the table, Charlie decided to question Johnny.

"Do you know that old man who lives on the edge of town?" she asked him. "The one who has a glass eye?"

"No, I don't. What man is this?"

"Lucy says he has a glass eye, and he lives in a shack at the edge of town. She says he doesn't talk to anyone much."

"Hmm."

"He took that old horse today. The one that no one would bid on at the auction," Charlie told him.

Johnny only raised his eyebrows in answer, and Charlie talked on.

"Why would he want the old horse, do you think, Johnny?" she asked.

"He might figure that he can get some work out of the horse."

"Do you think he might be mean to it?" Charlie asked, her eyes wide with concern.

"I don't know, pequeno. I don't know him, so I can't say. I hope not."

The waitress brought their steaming plates of food, and they began to eat.

"Lucy says her brother said that he eats horses," Charlie said.

"Lucy's brother does?" Johnny asked, pouring sugar into his coffee, and grinned.

"No, silly. The man."

"I doubt that."

"She says that he's dangerous, and she's not supposed to talk to him."

"Really?"

"Uh huh. But he doesn't look dangerous to me. He just looks poor. And his house isn't a house at all. It's just a shack, with

tar paper on the window. It's ugly."

Johnny paused, regarding her with more intent. "How is that you know that?" he asked her.

Charlie looked at Johnny over the top of her glass of milk. "Lucy showed me," she admitted.

"Was that what you were supposed to do?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We didn't go close-" Charlie said, her voice trailing off.

"You were supposed to go to Lucy's house. Just Lucy's house," he reminded her.

Charlie set her glass down, licking her lips, and studying him across the table. He didn't look particularly vexed. He

did look serious, however.

"Yes," she said.

"Should I not believe ya, then? When you tell me somethin'?" he asked.

Charlie felt her face get warm. "You can. Believe me, I mean."

"Hmmm," he said, and began eating again.

After a few minutes of silent eating, Charlie asked, "Are you angry with me?"

"No."

Charlie sighed with relief. "That's good," she said.

"That doesn't mean that I want ya to make a habit of this. Sayin' one thing and doin' another." He gave Charlie a

serious look. "Understand, pequeno?"

"Yes, Johnny."

"Alright. Eat your lunch."

Charlie nodded, and took a bite of her mashed potatoes. "I'm gonna ask Murdoch if he knows anything about that man."

L