Blood Legacy (A Tony Masero Western) by Masero Tony

Author:Masero, Tony [Masero, Tony]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Piccadilly Publishing
Published: 2015-12-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Zack hired himself a pony from the livery stable and James rode in the same buggy he had come into town with. He had not come alone it seemed as there were three men that accompanied him. They were dour looking fellows who said little and wore mean and watchful expressions on their faces the whole journey out to James’ ranch. Zack had an uncomfortable feeling about them as he rode alongside the buggy and he kept looking self-consciously over his shoulder at the following trio.

“Don’t mind them,” said James. “They’re just there for my welfare. A man needs a little protection down here with so many roustabouts on the loose.”

“They’re certainly some kind of rough looking fellows alright.”

“The Solo brothers. The two lookalikes, Ben and Travis are twins. The older one, Ahab Solo, is their half-brother and the leader. They know their business though, anyone comes near me and they’ll cut them down pronto. Most of the time they keep pretty much to themselves and do as I tell them. They work out fine.”

Ahead they saw the wooden gateway to the ranch property coming into view. Above the gate a large circular iron wagon tire had been mounted and welded inside it was a large letter ‘v’ running from top to bottom.

“Welcome to the Circle V,” James introduced.

On each side of the gate, barbed wire fencing stretched away in either direction and disappeared into the rolling hills. They rode under the sign and on along a well-trodden and wide dirt track, the road undulating as they moved over the softly curving dry hills. They crested a rise and Zack asked, “Is that a lake I see down there?”

“Sure is,” said James. “I had the water diverted from Dead River, even had some aqueducts built to bring it here. See the island in the middle? That’s the main house. Had it all built before we flooded the area.”

On the crest of a rising mound at center of the large false lake stood a spreading collection of buildings in white their tiled roofs a shade of bright orange in the rising sunlight.

“Heavens! James, it sure looks big enough.”

“Be it ever so humble….” James quipped.

Zack could see cattle wandering across the further slopes beyond the lake and coming down to the water’s edge to drink. “How many head?” he asked.

“About ten thousand at the moment but I expect to increase that pretty soon.”

They rode down to a wooden dock mounted beside an assembly of stables and barns that stood at the lakeside and dismounted.

“You boys take care of the horses and the buggy,” James ordered the Solo brothers and they promptly obeyed without a word.

“You want us over at the house?” Ahab Solo asked as he mounted the buggy’s riser. He was a lean unshaven man with gaunt withdrawn features under a wide brimmed black hat. His hair was long and greasy-looking and it ran down over the nape of his neck.

“I want you to stay over here keeping an eye on things,” James said dismissively.

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