Eli studied the men harassing Xia, feeling himself grow tenser and tenser as they refused to leave her alone. The oath he'd taken when he became a Pony Express Rider prohibited drinking, and fighting, and swearing, and if word got back to his bosses he was involved in a bar fight, it was his job on the line.  But hell, he'd never been that good at following that code anyway.<br/><br/>He stood up as the men grabbed at Xia, a cold fury in his eyes as he studied the pair, assessing them. "She ain't interested," Eli warned, but it fell on deaf ears.<br/><br/>Just then there was a flurry of movement as Cassie leapt into action, and a tall, dark-skinned man stepped in. Eli took the opportunity to dart forward, kneeing the heavy set man in the groin before he could recover from Cassie’s attack and relieving him of the revolver at his hip. He stepped back, placing himself protectively between Xia and her assailants as he glared at them. Keeping his eyes on the two troublemakers, he flipped open the chamber with an experienced hand, trying to count the bullets by sound as they clattered to the floor to no avail. He couldn’t tell if there was a bullet in the chamber or not.<br/><br/>“I suggest you listen to him.”  His voice was nowhere near as calm as the newcomer’s has been, cracking with fury as he spoke. “Miss Xia ain’t got to go nowhere she don’t want to.”