Still folded in on herself, Tully continued to dabble, filling in spaces from memory so she didn't get caught looking at the odd man, but then she finally did glance up, barely seeing past the brim of her hat.  There was an odd mixture of relief and disappointment to see that the man was back in conversation with Mr. Cantrell, and she was forgotten.  

Well, forgotten was what she preferred, right?  And likely if not for Mr. McVey, she'd be lingering deeper in the shadows, sleeping under porches, as elusive as a feral cat...

"Well, look'it here, boys!  If it ain't that scruffy Nevada!"

Jarred from her sanctuary, Tully looked up, startled to see four miners, mostly young men near her age, hovering over her.  She'd had run-ins with them in the past, nothing too serious, but they delighted in harassing her, and the eldest, Cecil, seemed bent on getting her alone, he'd even tried to kiss her once!

"Leave me be," she snarled, pulling the drawing pad to her chest as she glared at the men, feeling like a trapped animal.

"But we wanna see whacher doin'."  Eliphaz grabbed the pad, nearly tearing it, then dangling it over her.  "Drawin' silly animals again?"  He dangled the pad above her as she jumped up, but try as she might, she couldn't reach it. In the mean time, her pencils all clattered to the boardwalk.

"Looks like she's making up people now!"  Phillip, the shortest of the bunch laughed.  "Girl's head is off in the air!"

"Give it back!"  Tully was looking to make a retreat into the Union building, but her path was blocked, and she really did want the drawing pad back.

"You gonna make us?"  There was no reasoning with the drunk miners, she knew that, but she wasn't going to back down.

Until Cecil grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her against his body.  "Gimme a kiss an' we'll give ya back yer stupid papers," he demanded, puckering his lips.  He was wise enough, from a previous encounter, to keep her in a position that kept her from kicking...in the shins, or elsewhere!

"Let go!"  Tully tried to bite, but Cecil dodged, stopping short of slapping her, but rattling her roughly...

He grunted in response, still a little uncertain about how he should feel knowing the local artist saw him as a worthy subject. He couldn't deny the fact he stood out due to being Japanese and his choice of official uniform was definitely unique in Kalisport if not all of America.

Just as he was about to assure Quentin he would seek Tully out at a later date to inquire about the drawing he spotted a group of locals approaching her. He didn't have to hear what they were saying to know they were up to no good. In fact by the time he crossed the street one of the thugs grabbed her arm in a way clearly not appreciated by Tully.

"Unhand her now," Shintaro said, his voice full of authority. He had his left hand wrapped around the sheath of his sword. His right hand was relaxed, ready to either go for his sword, draw his gun or react in any other way appropriate. There were four men to consider but right now only one was doing something he could call illegal.

Cantrell had turned when he saw Shintaro react to something going on across the street. He saw the four toughs bothering Tully and fell in behind Shintaro as they crossed the street. Shin barked a command and was dealing with the man who was touching Tully directly. Quentin kept his position a few steps back and watched the miscreant's friends as they began to spread out. Cantrell had seen this sort of behavior before. The friends would look for an opportunity to interfere and protect their comrade regardless of how much an idiot he was being. 

Quentin's hand drifted over to lightly rest on the butt of his cross draw Colt opposite his Mare's Leg. There was no need for the cut down rifle but he might need to drop one of the loudmouths friends if they made a play for Shintaro. He may not be wearing a badge, but Cantrell considered the samurai a friend and that left little room for him to stay uninvolved. Two of the men had glanced at Cantrell and they saw his gaze locked with theirs. His faint half smile belied the coiled spring that was winding tighter as the seconds passed... 

"Unhand..?"  Spinning to face the speaker, Cecil hauled Tully with him, causing her to stumble, although she regained her feet quickly.  The man looked Shin over, then laughed.  "Look at that, boys!  He's wearin' a dress!"

The other three laughed, and as Eliphaz and Phillip squared up with Cecil, Larry took a few steps back, watching closely.  

"Let go'a me," Tully growled.  Her gaze angry and defiant, but there was also a hint of fear, not so much from the current circumstances, since she knew that the strange-looking man wouldn't let the bullies hurt her -- and Mr. Cantrell was right there -- she didn't like having so much attention focused on her.  "Yer hurtin' my wrists, Cecil!"

The man ignored her, besides rattling her a little, his attention on Shin.  "Who'er you ta tell me what ta do?  What are ya?  Some kind'a shaman or somethin'?  We don't like yer kind here."

There was only the faintest hint of a warning that the man was about to act, a flinch at the eye that even he wasn't aware of.  But in that instant, he shoved Tully toward the man with the swords, following right behind with a strong, but drunken attack.  Eliphaz and Phillip were close behind, itching for a brawl, and Larry took a couple more steps away, his hand dropping to the pistol he was wearing...

Cantrell's mouth tightened when the three toughs made their move for Shin. As much as he would like to open fire on them, their proximity to Tully and Shin made shooting a horrible idea. The fourth member of the miscreant group made a huge mistake by stepping away from the fracas and his hand dropped to the butt of his revolver. He probably thought he would get the drop on everyone and let his friends have their fun with the group. 

Quentin gave the man a chance. He only watched him until the man made to hook and draw. Cantrell's draw was smooth but not blindingly fast. Years of practice and actual use peeled away the shakiness adrenaline gave most people. Quentin's body twisted slightly as his hand grasped the colt and it came out of the holster. He only brought it up from his hip until he could barely see it. The whole hip shooting thing was a miracle unless you were close enough to an opponent to touch them. As long as there was some reference, point shooting was very accurate. Quentin's Colt barked twice and two red holes appeared in the man's chest. The pistol continued coming out of the holster and then flew from the nerveless fingers to land a yard away in the dirt. The young tough sprawled backward with a thump to lay motionless in the street. Quentin turned slowly, scanning for any new opponents while Shin handled the three closing on him and Tully.

Shintaro kept his focus on Cecil and his friends, more importantly if any appeared to be going for their guns. He ignored their ignorance about what he was wearing.

"I'm Takahashi Shintaro, Deputy," Shin responded, but he didn't let talking distract him. When Cecil shoved Tully in his direction, Shintaro easily moved out of the way. It may not have been very gentlemanly of him to not try to catch Tully to ensure she remained steady on her feet but Shintaro had other priorities. He had four men clearly itching for a fight to deal with.

When Cecil closed in to attack, he didn't find Shintaro distracted, instead he was ready to deflect Cecil's strike, grabbing ahold of his wrist in much the same way he did with Jimmy, bending it painfully back. At the same time, Shintaro moved to keep Cecil between him and the other two, using Cecil like a shield.

He heard gunshot from behind him, realized Quentin had taken out the fourth man who had stayed back. Shintaro was glad he had one less man to worry about. He was a good fighter both unarmed and with his blades but even three opponents was a challenge, four would be impossible without receiving some injury. He just hoped the men's clear drunkenness was in his favour.

Tully was as startled as Cecil when Shin stepped aside.  Of course, she'd been expecting the exotic man to 'catch' her, one way or another, and had also recognized that she was being used as a diversion and had every intention of getting out of the way as quickly as she could.  

As it was, he side-stepped and she went sprawling into the dirt behind him, but well out of harm's way.  For now, she opted to stay down, and when shots rang out, she gasped and covered her head, drawing up her knees.

Cecil, for his part, had expected that the girl would occupy his opponent long enough that he and his cohorts could quickly overwhelm him, but the tables turned quickly.  Instead of finding himself besting the stranger along with his two friends, he was being used as a shield to block his pals.

Fortunately, Phillip and Eliphaz weren't too daunted, and were carried by their momentum, and both took swings as Cecil ducked.  They all ignored the shooting for the moment, intent on showing the new guy a lesson!

Quentin was satisfied no one else was part of this gang and nobody else seemed to want a part of this fight. He turned back to the three charging Shin and Tully. Quentin charged into the tangle and shoved his Colt back into its holster. His hand flew over to the right side and he yanked the Mare's Leg from its own holster. The cut down rifle would have been too dangerous to fire into that mob bit made a damn fine club. 

Quentin grabbed the arm of the tough at the back of the group and pulled. The man turned and to his credit let go with a punch without even looking. Quentin swung the Mare's Leg up and cracked the metal and wood into the man's arm. He let out a cry of pain as the flesh and bone connected with unyielding steel. Quentin lowered his arm and speared the barrel of the Mare's Leg into the man's gut, the barrel sinking in several inches on impact to make his air whoosh out. The man stumbled into Cantrell and his arms draped on Quentin as he still tried to fight. Cantrell staggered back a step and then brought the Mare's Leg down on the man's back to drop him to his knees. Another swing and the man fell to the ground in a heap.

Quentin looked up at the others and knew it was now up to Shin. The tangle of bodies would make getting involved dangerous, but from how Shin had handled the first tough he suspected they were in for quite a shock...