EDGE: Violence Trail (Edge series Book 25) by George G. Gilman

Author:George G. Gilman [Gilman, George G.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Lobo Publications
Published: 2014-01-10T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

EDGE slept as he always did. Shallowly, but soundly. His mind just below the level of awareness and his resting body an instant away from explosive response should danger threaten. Once, he came awake to sounds other than those made by the stirring horses and oxen. And raised his hat brim to look through the slits of his eyelids at the back of Pedro Montez. The boy, clutching his father’s Sharps rifle, was heading towards the trail which crossed the mouth of the canyon.

Like an animal, Edge was aware of the youngster’s return. He did not know how long the boy had been gone, but the sounds of his moving were familiar. And the half-breed slept on, resting his body and mind, restoring energies drained during the day, in the manner of a man well schooled in the arts of survival. The lessons of war now a habit.

He was first to wake as the light of dawn spread across the cloudless sky from the east. He lit a new fire on the ashes of the old, boiled a skillet of water and drank a mug of coffee as he shaved off the thick, black bristles, leaving only the drooping moustache at the top and corners of his mouth.

‘You can be very handsome in the right circumstances, Edge,’ Isabella said, speaking for the first time after watching him several moments. ‘For when I saw you yesterday, I thought you ugly. Yet, today—’

‘You still look the same,’ he replied. ‘Good.’

‘Beauty is skin deep, they say,’ she responded grimly, tossing off her blankets and getting wearily to her feet. ‘I think there is much ugliness inside you. And I feel I am no better. In my heart, I can experience no pity for the men of that town who came after us.’

She stretched, arching her back so that her tight-fitting shirt and pants emphasized even more the contours of her body and limbs.

Edge forced himself to look away from her. ‘I figure you’d feel real good to me, lady,’ he murmured.

‘Father!’ the girl blurted, ashamed she had forgotten. She whirled and hurried to the rear of the wagon.

‘You continue to look at my sister in a way I do not like, hombre,’ Pedro growled as he folded up into a sitting posture, fisting the grit of sleep from his eyes.

‘A woman to a man/Is a wondrous sight/And it must come to pass/That—’

‘Shut your stupid mouth!’ Pedro cut in on the newly-awakened Ree. ‘And be on your way!’

Ree showed fear.

‘You got any fancy words about a kid who likes looking at corpses, feller?’ Edge asked evenly.

‘My father lives still,’ Isabella announced as she climbed from the wagon. ‘But is much weaker.’

‘He is going to die!’ Pedro snapped. ‘Until he does, we, his family, can take care of him. We can light our own fires and bathe his wound ourselves. We do not need you, or you!’

He shifted his scowling eyes between the Siamese and the half-breed.

‘Pedro!’ the girl snarled. ‘They have aided us. They mean no harm to us.

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