Read Online Galloway (1970) by Louis - Sackett's 16 L'amour - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Louis - Sackett's 16 L'amour
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He had built a strong five-room house of logs with three good fireplaces, one of them big enough to warm two rooms and which could be fed from both. He had a weather-tight stable and some pole corrals, and he had a dozen head of good horses and two cowhands. In the house he had a Mexican woman for a cook who looked strong enough to handle both of the cowhands in a rough-and-tumble fight.
But she could really throw the grub together.
She brought me breakfast in the morning, and then she brought me some clothes.
The pants were a might short in the leg as I am two niches above six feet, and the shirt was short in the arm, but it felt good to have civilized clothes on again. They hadn't no spare boots but they did have hide, so I set to work and made myself a pair of moccasins.
Meg stopped by to watch. She set down on the porch beside me whilst I cut them out and shaped them to my feet. "You have done that before?"
"Often. I can make a fair pair of boots, too, given the time."
"Have you?"
"In the Sackett family if a boy wanted boots he made 'em himself. That is, if he was over twelve. Before that we mostly went barefooted. I was sixteen year old before I had me a pair of store-bought shoes. I saved 'em for dancin'."
She hugged her knees and looked at the line of trees beyond the ranchyard. "What were the dances like?"
"Well, most often they were at the schoolhouse. Sometimes they'd be in somebody's yard. The word would go out and folks would tell each other, and each would fix up a basket and go. Other times it would just be sort of on the spur, and they'd come from all over.
"Most of the boys weren't so much for dancin' but if they couldn't dance they could hold the girl whilst she did. There'd be a fiddle, sometimes some other instrument, but a fiddle was all anybody expected or needed.
"A lot of courtin' was done at those dances, and a lot of fightin'. Mostly the boys came for the fightin'. Galloway always had some girl who'd set her cap for him, but he paid them no mind. Not serious, anyway.
"Sometimes there'd not be enough for dancin' so we'd set about an' sing. I liked that because I just plain like to sing."
"What are you going to do now?"
"Hunt us a piece of land and go to ranching. I reckon right now the thing to do is head for Shalako and team up with Galloway."
"You'd better be careful. The Dunns will think you're crowding them."
"It's open range, and there's enough for all."
"That isn't what they think, Mr. Sackett. There are six of the Dunn boys, and there's their pa, and they've a dozen or more men who ride for them."
"Well, there's two of us Sacketts. That should make it work out about right. Of course, if need be there's a lot of us scattered around and we set store by our kinfolk."
I completed the moccasins and tried them on. They felt good on my feet, which had healed over, although the skin was still tender.
I looked down at the girl. "Ma'am, you're a right pretty girl, and the man that gets you will be lucky, but don't you go wasting yourself on Curly Dunn. He's as poisonous mean as a rattler."
She sprang to her feet, her face stiff with anger. "Nobody can be nice to you!
The first time I try to talk to you you end up by criticizing Curly!"
"If I hadn't been armed last night, he'd have killed me."
"What kind of talk is that? You mean he'd have tried to kill you right in my own house, with Pa and me close by? That's ridiculous!"
"Maybe. He said it would look like suicide. Ma'am, you may hate me for this, but I'd be less than a man if I hadn't told you. That Curly is sick. He's sick in the head. You'd better understand that while there's still time."
Scornfully, she turned from me. "Go away. And I don't care if I ever see you again! Just go away!"
"Yes, ma'am. That's why I told you. Because I am going away and I don't figure to see you again too much, and you and your pa have been almighty kind. I've warned you just like I'd warn folks if
He had built a strong five-room house of logs with three good fireplaces, one of them big enough to warm two rooms and which could be fed from both. He had a weather-tight stable and some pole corrals, and he had a dozen head of good horses and two cowhands. In the house he had a Mexican woman for a cook who looked strong enough to handle both of the cowhands in a rough-and-tumble fight.
But she could really throw the grub together.
She brought me breakfast in the morning, and then she brought me some clothes.
The pants were a might short in the leg as I am two niches above six feet, and the shirt was short in the arm, but it felt good to have civilized clothes on again. They hadn't no spare boots but they did have hide, so I set to work and made myself a pair of moccasins.
Meg stopped by to watch. She set down on the porch beside me whilst I cut them out and shaped them to my feet. "You have done that before?"
"Often. I can make a fair pair of boots, too, given the time."
"Have you?"
"In the Sackett family if a boy wanted boots he made 'em himself. That is, if he was over twelve. Before that we mostly went barefooted. I was sixteen year old before I had me a pair of store-bought shoes. I saved 'em for dancin'."
She hugged her knees and looked at the line of trees beyond the ranchyard. "What were the dances like?"
"Well, most often they were at the schoolhouse. Sometimes they'd be in somebody's yard. The word would go out and folks would tell each other, and each would fix up a basket and go. Other times it would just be sort of on the spur, and they'd come from all over.
"Most of the boys weren't so much for dancin' but if they couldn't dance they could hold the girl whilst she did. There'd be a fiddle, sometimes some other instrument, but a fiddle was all anybody expected or needed.
"A lot of courtin' was done at those dances, and a lot of fightin'. Mostly the boys came for the fightin'. Galloway always had some girl who'd set her cap for him, but he paid them no mind. Not serious, anyway.
"Sometimes there'd not be enough for dancin' so we'd set about an' sing. I liked that because I just plain like to sing."
"What are you going to do now?"
"Hunt us a piece of land and go to ranching. I reckon right now the thing to do is head for Shalako and team up with Galloway."
"You'd better be careful. The Dunns will think you're crowding them."
"It's open range, and there's enough for all."
"That isn't what they think, Mr. Sackett. There are six of the Dunn boys, and there's their pa, and they've a dozen or more men who ride for them."
"Well, there's two of us Sacketts. That should make it work out about right. Of course, if need be there's a lot of us scattered around and we set store by our kinfolk."
I completed the moccasins and tried them on. They felt good on my feet, which had healed over, although the skin was still tender.
I looked down at the girl. "Ma'am, you're a right pretty girl, and the man that gets you will be lucky, but don't you go wasting yourself on Curly Dunn. He's as poisonous mean as a rattler."
She sprang to her feet, her face stiff with anger. "Nobody can be nice to you!
The first time I try to talk to you you end up by criticizing Curly!"
"If I hadn't been armed last night, he'd have killed me."
"What kind of talk is that? You mean he'd have tried to kill you right in my own house, with Pa and me close by? That's ridiculous!"
"Maybe. He said it would look like suicide. Ma'am, you may hate me for this, but I'd be less than a man if I hadn't told you. That Curly is sick. He's sick in the head. You'd better understand that while there's still time."
Scornfully, she turned from me. "Go away. And I don't care if I ever see you again! Just go away!"
"Yes, ma'am. That's why I told you. Because I am going away and I don't figure to see you again too much, and you and your pa have been almighty kind. I've warned you just like I'd warn folks if
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