Read Online It's Your Misfortune and None of My Own (Code of the West) by Stephen Bly - Free Book Online Page B

so.”
    Tap pulled her close and put his arms around her shou lders. She slipped her arms around his waist, and they held each other tight. He thought he heard some songbirds singing nearby, but then decided it was just the ringing noise in his ears.

    4
    A fter several awkward attempts at conversations, the four were on the trail to the ranch. Tap and Pepper rode the horses about fifty feet ahead of the buggy occupied by Robert and Mrs. McCurley.
    “What’s the ranch like?”
    “I’m sorry about your father.”
    “Is it as pretty a country as this?”
    “Ah . . . your mother’s doin’ all right in Chicago, is she?”
    “Did you get any cows yet?”
    “I hope you had a nice train ride out. I’ve never been on the train too much.”
    “What about those bulls down in Arizona?”
    “I’m sorry but I never . . . eh, you know . . . ran across your brother, eh, Abel.”
    “Did you ever try to sleep on a train?”
    “I hope you didn’t get stuck in the rough part of Denver.”
    “Is the ranch very far from here?”
    “Fort Collins is a little nicer, but personally I’d just as soon stay away from both of them. Yep, give me the wide open country any day.”
    “Do we have any neighbors?”
    “I’m sorry I didn’t get to Fort Collins in time. There was this Indian trouble down in Arizona.”
    “Is the house nice? I hope the roof doesn’t leak. I have nightmares about roofs leaking.”
    “We had to shoot our way out of the desert.”
    “How far to the nearest town? We don’t have to go to De nver, do we? I don’t like Denver.”
    “I tried to clean the place up a bit, but I’m not used to ha ving to keep things lady-clean.”
    “I don’t guess I’ll ever see my brother .  . . eh, Abel, again. Something must have happened to him.”
    “A couple of hands from the Rafter R Ranch came over for a visit, but that’s quite a distance.”
    “Did you buy this horse just for me?”
    “You ought to see the sunsets at the ranch .  . . Oh, I guess there’s plenty of time for that.”
    “He’s not like the horses in Tennessee .  . . I mean Kentucky . . . eh, I sold them to some folks in Tennessee.”
    “Sure seems strange for the two of us to be ridin’ up this trail together, doesn’t it?”
    “What’s his name?”
    “I want you to make a list of what we need to buy for the ranch house. It looks to me like it’s been a while since a woman was there. How did you get to McCurley’s anyway? Are they running a stage that far?”
    “You’ll have to tell me about California. I ain’t . . . I mean, I  haven’t ever been there. Of course, I’ve never been anywhere but back East.”
    “Onespot.”
    “I took a stage. There was a wreck. I don’t think I want to go on that road again. I talk too much when I’m nervous. Oh, heavens, am I nervous!”
    “We sure do have got a lot to talk about.”
    “Do you think this is a good idea? I mean, we don’t know each other very well, do we, Mr. Hatcher?”
    “Miss Cedar, at this rate we’re goin’ to know ever’thing about each other in about twenty minutes.”
    Well, Pepper, old girl, that went pretty well. I don’t think he suspects anything. I wonder what he looks like with a shave? At least I ain’t stuck with no rotten-toothed potbelly. I sure do hope he don’t have a mean streak. Boise City Stella ran off with that mean lawyer, and we never heard from her again. I hope he doesn’t hurt me none.
    The black horse had a smooth gait, and Pepper enjoyed the bouncing rhythm. The countryside was more open than around Pingree Hill, but she had spent most of her time i ndoors. The fresh air seemed to help her breathe easily and see more clearly. Sometimes during the conversation it was almost as if she were at a distance watching the two of them ride along.
    He’s a fine-lookin’ man, really. In a drover sort of way. I mean, I can’t imagine him in a suit and tie, except at the weddin’, of course.
    Tap glanced over at the