concerned.â âMaybe we should leave it that way,â Pommel said. Temple thought carefully. âI donât know about that. Reese has a right to know.â âPac doesnât,â Pommel said abruptly. âCan you tell one without the other finding out?â âWhy not? Reese and Pac have little to do with each other. They grow farther apart every day.â âYou can figure that one out. Maybe you ought to ask Mary?â âNo, she has nothing to do with this one. She took it upon herself to write you and get you into this mess. What happens from now on is for you and me to decide.â âYou sound angry.â âIâm tired of you and Mom making those kinds of decisions. Iâll do what I think is right.â Pommel smiled. Whatever had happened in the past, he liked the son that Mary had raised. He figured he was probably a better man than most. Templeâs judgment was certainly as good as his. âItâs your show. I ainât here to take over. You do what is best.â âI will. I always have,â Temple said bitterly. Pommel nodded and sloshed the remains in his cup. âIf you really want to help, Iâve got a job for you thatâs a hell of a lot more important than riding around the range looking for trouble,â Temple said. âWhatâs that?â âThe Ring has me boxed in. Iâve got at least seven hundred head to get to the railhead in Amarillo. I canât take the herd without leaving the ranch. The minute they know Iâm gone, I figure theyâll hit the ranch. Theyâve burned several places to the ground. Reese has the freight operation to run and heâs got a family. Pac is too hot headed. None of the men will listen to him. If you could drive the herd, I could defend the ranch.â âWhat do we tell the others?â âJust what you are, a professional trail boss. Thatâs all they need to know for now.â âWhat about the other ranchers? Wonât they join in an organized drive?â âTheyâre too scared to do anything. The only one with any fight left is Blomberg and heâs too crippled and old. Here of late heâs backed off. He doesnât want us to pull a raid like Reese suggested. Heâs afraid how it will look in Austin. He says the law will only come down on us.â âOught to be the same law for everyone.â âOught to be. Thatâs what I said. Blomberg says it isnât.â âIf thereâs no law for Bent and Colredge, then thereâs no law for me,â Pommel said sullenly. âYou gonna help me or not?â Temple asked abruptly. Pommel threw a couple of mesquite limbs into the flames and watched them take fire. âYes, Iâll do whatever you think is best.â âIâll pay you regular foremanâs wages,â Temple said. âNo money. Iâll do it because Iâm trying to repay a past debt to you, or I wonât do it at all,â Pommel said in a determined voice. Temple nodded. âIâm too cornered to argue. I ainât going to hassle about that.â Pommel smiled and emptied the pot into their cups. âGood enough. Itâs your show.â They talked for a while but soon went to their bedrolls. Pommel was relieved that it had gone as well as it had. He had expected anger, maybe even a bullet or two to dodge. Temple wouldnât have been without the right. But there were questions that troubled him about Pac and Blomberg. He figured he would wait a spell and see what developed. Perhaps it was best that the others didnât know about Pacâs relationship with Bent. Maybe he could use it to his advantage if things got out of hand and he needed a draw card. Whatever, he had never met a man that he liked better than Temple. She had done a good job. He owed her that.
Chapter VIII I Sulky Pearson lifted the hem of her nightgown and made a