The grass and scrub was little impedance to Moronihah as Caroline guided the horse off the path and out of the line of fire.  It wasn't that the road was paved or anything, just that it had been worn down to the dirt by repeated travel.  Even here so close to town it was little more than a glorified game trail.  There was little in the way of proper cover on the bare hill, but Caroline was able to find the broken remains of a wagon that had been dragged off the road and abandoned.  It was rotted and shattered, clearly having been scavenged for its metal components, but still had thick planks of wood that might stop a bullet.<br/><br/>A flicker of light off of metal caught Caroline's eye on the chest of the pursuer with the rifle.  A cloud shifted, changing the light, and she was convinced that the small reflection was that of a metal star.  A badge, which implied the law.  She was also convinced she saw a long golden braid and feminine curves.  A woman.  The law-woman suddenly pulled her horse to a skidding halt as she dropped the length of her rifle to rest in the crook of her free arm.  She aimed, and fired.  The horse of the man with the pistol suddenly stumbled as the bullet caught it in the leg.  A second shot put the poor beast out of its misery.  The man tumbled into the dirt as his horse fell, arm bending unnaturally as he rolled and twisted.  The second man who was fleeing kicked at his horse's flanks, spurring it on to greater motion.<br/><br/>The two other pursuers didn't even pause as they passed the fallen horse and its former rider.  The first leapt over the body, landing mere inches from the mangled form of the still moving man, the second galloped directly over the man.  The remaining fleeing man was now only a 100 or so feet from Caroline, his two pursuers 50 or so feet behind him.