Hell And High Water by William MacLeod Raine

Author:William MacLeod Raine [Raine, William MacLeod]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Google: hMdmPAAACAAJ
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Published: 1943-01-15T04:19:56+00:00

CHAPTER XVIII — Todd Comes Back

AS BOB had predicted to Broderick, he was in the saddle within a week. The tan in his cheeks had washed out a little. He did not feel as strong as usual, though he was building blood fast, and he favored his shoulder by picking mounts with an easy gait. At first he did light jobs close to the ranch house that required not too long a stretch of riding.

Of Willie May he saw very little except for glimpses at a distance. Of late she had been very friendly with him, but he knew that was at an end. He was to her now just a presumptuous fool.

A good many rumors were in circulation as to the whereabouts of the Hickorys. One report was that some of them had been seem in Texas, another that they had holed up in the Cherokee country. Bob was of opinion that they had separated. Probably some of them were no longer in the Indian Territory, though he felt that the Hickorys were more likely to stay in a district with which they were familiar, one where the arm of the law was not long enough to reach them easily.

He had heard nothing from Cle Hightower and was uneasy about him. Very likely he was trying to find where the Hickorys were holed up. If he did so and let himself be trapped, the outlaws would rub him out. Moreover, the time of execution was drawing close. Broderick was finding difficulties in getting a pardon. The Principal Chief conceded the bad reputation of Hightower’s foes but would not act to save him without evidence to show that he had not been the aggressor in the fight. Cal Judson was proving unexpectedly stubborn and Dyke Sims could not be found. Bob thought perhaps he had better go and bring Todd back at once. With the Hickorys fugitives from justice he would not be afraid to testify if he were given a guarantee of safety. J. A. had promised to find a place for him and his family on the ranch where they would be protected from the vengeance of the outlaws.

Bob had spent all the money coming to him for wages, but he borrowed sixty dollars from Broderick to pay the expenses of this trip. Since he knew where Todd was and did not have to cut sign on his trail, Lee traveled by train and stage. He knocked on the door of the sod house beside the mill while the wrangler at the Buffalo Skull Corral was eating dinner with his family. Mrs. Todd came to the door, and at sight of him her sallow leathery face showed instant alarm.

Bob gave her his boyish friendly smile. “I reckon I’m a sure enough pain to you,” he said.

Reluctantly she invited him to come in and join them at the table. He accepted the offer at once, both because he was hungry and because he knew that people felt more kindly toward someone they had just fed.

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