A Cowboy Is Forever by Shirley Larson

Author:Shirley Larson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-03-31T06:06:59+00:00

Chapter Eight

The cows knew the way to the summer pasture, up past the second bend of the creek, around the grove of aspens, just past the tree festooned with blackbirds and upward along the silver ribbon of a stream that narrowed to a trickle. Gray Mist liked the slow pace, and so did Charlotte, especially on an early July day like this, when it seemed as if she could see the sky from pole to pole and the air had the warmth of a hot sweet biscuit. Even the dust was too lazy to rise. Ahead of her, Tex rode, hat in hand to scare the stragglers, his beloved tri collie nipping at the heels of wandering strays. Even Princess, the premier cow, behaved herself and followed the herd.

It had been quite a while since Athena’s visit, but her spirit lingered with Charlotte. Have faith in Luke. She hadn’t. She’d sent him away, because in that first crazy moment when she snatched up the gun, he’d acted instinctively. Athena was right, Charlotte’s hackles would have flown to the moon if Luke had seemed to threaten her father.

I was three years old the last time I tried to hug a porcupine.

She’d been a porcupine, all right. A stubborn, thickheaded spiny pig. What were the chances he still believed in her, now that they’d found that blasted iron on her property?

Zero to none. She’d lose Luke’s trust along with everything else.

She’d had time to think about what it would be like without Luke standing behind her. During these past weeks, with Luke absent from her life, the world had chilled to a bleak emptiness. Too late, she’d realized she’d learned to depend on his faith. Now, when she fell into fitful sleep and dreamed about finding the branding iron and woke shaking and afraid, all her bravado was gone. The days were long and lonely without him.

Would she be indicted, lose her ranch? Not if she could help it. This was her land, and she would do everything in her power to keep it, including sleeping out in the open tonight to watch the herd. Her horse was loaded down with sleeping bag, water bottle and, tucked away carefully in waxed paper, Athena’s raisin-oatmeal cookies.

She’d wanted to sell the year-old calves to give Tex the money he needed, but when she called Tom Hartley to let him know, he’d advised her not to. Ordered her not to, actually. He’d said she’d better not sell even the smallest calf until this brouhaha with Henry was settled. Any new moneys in her account were bound to be suspect. She’d agreed. But she knew in her heart that it wasn’t right to ask Lettie to wait, and so she’d gone to the telephone and found a buyer for the one valuable animal she had that was not part of her herd. It was like selling a part of her soul to part with Lady Luck’s colt, but Carson Dole was a good man and, most

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