Read Online Slocum and the Hellfire Harem (9781101613382) by Jake Logan - Free Book Online Page A

here.”
    She smiled at him, her own hands covered in grease. “I think you’re full of it, and I also think that the twins are in a huff because you took their job. They wanted to fix this themselves. That’s what they were working on before you showed up.”
    He nodded. That would explain the banging and ringing sounds. “Well, why don’t they get over here and help?” He stood, eyeing the scant selection of tools they’d brought with them.
    â€œLikely as not, because Mama told ’em to stay in the house.”
    â€œSure, because I’m a man, and as we know, all men are evil.”
    Her smiled disappeared. “Most are,” she said, not looking at him. “Least the ones I’ve known.”
    He was pretty sure that pursuing that line of thought would only make her angry again, and he’d had enough bickering with these women. He wanted to get the wagon fixed and get the heck out of there.
    â€œYou’ll want a proper wheelwright to take a look at it once you get to the next decent-sized town.”
    Ruth nodded, holding the wheel in place while he scored the wood for another round of crude carving with his sheath knife. Not much longer and he’d have it.
    â€œCalifornia. We’re headed to California and want to make it over the Sierras before the snow flies.”
    â€œOh, you don’t have all that far to go, then. And it’s still high summer, so you should be fine. Provided you get this wheel looked after.” He looked at her, half smiling.
    â€œYes, sir,” said Ruth, saluting him.
    â€œThat a truce of some sort?”
    She shrugged. “Could be.”
    â€œWell, thank God for that.”
    Her playful smile disappeared once again and she said, “God?” she snorted. “I don’t intend to thank Him for a thing. What’s He ever done for any of us except heap misery down on our heads by the bucketful?”
    â€œAmen, daughter,” said the old woman, stepping down off the porch. The two women exchanged a look and then both started laughing. Slocum wiped his face with his balled-up shirt. The old lady’s face seemed to lose ten years of hard living. The smile livened her entire appearance and Slocum could see clearly the beautiful woman that had raised such pretty daughters.
    She looked at him, and kept the smile in place. “We are obliged to you for your assistance with the wagon. If you get your clothes back on, we’ll be eating shortly. It ain’t much, but it’s what we got.”
    The meal was far more than he’d expected, considering the women looked to be traveling light. They’d unloaded their possessions into the broken-down house, and from what little he saw stacked inside, it seemed as if they had packed in a hurry and expected to move fast.
    The family gathered around an old table in the center of the main room; crude benches had been set up along both sides. A crate at one end of the table served as his seat. “So,” said Slocum, helping himself to a biscuit after the rest of them dove into the pile. “I take it you all don’t say grace beforehand.”
    â€œNot anymore!” said a freckled little girl, smiling at him.
    â€œHush, child!” Ruth scowled at the girl and ladled steaming stew onto Slocum’s pie-tin plate.
    â€œWe’ll be buying supplies,” said the old woman. “Restock the larder for the journey at Dalton’s Corners. It’s a few days west up the road from here. Know of it, Mr. Slocum?”
    â€œI do, in fact, though I’ve only ever come into it from the west and left it headed southward. This road is new to me.”
    â€œYep,” said the old lady. “Not many folks travel this road. It’s been a lonely valley for far too long for us—” She clapped her mouth shut and glanced quickly at him.
    He said nothing, pretended that what she’d said didn’t mean anything to him. In