Hot Iron by Elmer Kelton

Author:Elmer Kelton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates
Published: 2012-03-20T00:00:00+00:00

Kenny Norwood knew the awful pangs of loneliness as he stood in front of the barn in the rosy glow of dawn and watched his father ride off toward Mobeetie. He wouldn’t be back till tomorrow night, he had told Kenny.

“You go play with Joe Kirk,” Espy had told him. “He can teach you lots of things.”

Joe had, all right. He had taught Kenny not to stand too close to a water trough. Fellow was apt to get pushed into it. Kenny had.

He had taught Kenny a couple of wrestling holds, too, painful holds that had brought the rush of angry, helpless tears to Kenny’s eyes.

Stand and fight him! That was what the chorus of outraged voices within Kenny had roared every time Joe started to run another whizzer on him. But something had kept holding Kenny back. Not fear, exactly. He’d gotten over most of his real fear of Joe Kirk. But even yet, he knew a dull dread of physical combat. Aunt Margaret had drilled that into him too deeply for him to forget it easily.

Kenny watched his father ride away, and he wished he could have gone with him. He had thought he could never like his father again. But now Kenny found himself listening for Espy’s footsteps with a quick thrill of gladness. He took a deep pleasure in the way Espy’s voice always went quiet for him, and the way Espy’s eyes softened as they dwelt upon his son. Kenny’s heart stirred with pride at the confident way his father went about doing the things that had to be done.

Most especially had he swelled with pride when Cotton Dulaney had come to the syndicate house after Hatch and the fired riders had gone. Cotton had stood uncertainly, looking at the floor, trying to say what was on his mind without making it sound like soft soap.

“The boys asked me to speak for them, Mr. Norwood,” Cotton had said. “We all talked it over, and we want you to know we’ll back up anything you say, a hundred per cent.”

Kenny hadn’t missed the happy glow in Espy’s eyes.

This morning Cotton had roped out the best horse in his company mount and turned him over to Espy. “This here is old Baldy,” he had said. “You need a good horse, and this is him.”

Four other cowboys had then done likewise. And now Espy had a first-rate mount of company horses. Kenny had sensed that Espy couldn’t be prouder of them if he had bought them all for five hundred dollars apiece.

Shortly after Espy left, the cowboys began to rope out their horses and scatter for work. Kenny watched them, his eyes dwelling mostly upon cocky young Joe Kirk.

Aunt Margaret had preached to him against envy, but he could not resist the envy which burned in him now. He had seen the way the cowboys kidded Joe, joshing him around, pranking him, treating him like an equal with the men. They didn’t do that for Kenny. They were polite, but that was all.

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