In The Beginning by Gail Daley

Author:Gail Daley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: book 1 Series Steampunk western science fiction space colony forbidden frontier world will survive m
Publisher: Gail Daleys Fine Art
Published: 2020-12-01T05:00:00+00:00

The Drunken Scion

WHEN JOHNSON ARRIVED back at his ranch after completing his arrangements with Marlow Chamber, he was furious to find his crew idly playing a hand of cards in the bunkhouse instead of looking after his herds.

"Why aren't you men out working?" he demanded.

Jones, a short thin man with a wispy mustache, looked up from his cards. "We ain't had no orders to do anything, boss."

"What do you mean? Didn't my son give you orders this morning?"

"We ain't seen Sam in more than a week," offered Tom Wright.

"Where did he go?"

Jones shrugged, pushing two chips into the center of the table. "I call," he said. "If you mean Sam, he packed up stuff and took off."

"If you mean Emory, he's been drunk since he got here," Larry volunteered.

"Yeah," complained Bert Johns, "He got fresh with the cook and she and her family up and left. We ain't had any decent food since."

"I'll take care of the cook," Johnson promised. "You men get out to the south pasture and check on the herd."

He turned and went into the house. Samuel's room was bare. The bed was made up and the room tidy, but everything Samuel owned was gone.

When he went out to the tricorn corral, he saw that Samuel's favorite mount and three others were gone. Returning to the house, he sat down at the table and stared at the place where his middle son usually sat. He sat there for some time before he noticed the folded paper on the mantle.

"Dear Pa," it read. "I'm sorry to leave this way without saying goodbye, but it has now become necessary. I won't permit you to use Jeanne or myself to hurt her family. Please don't look for me. I expect nothing from you, and I wish you and Emory luck in making the J-4 into a prosperous ranch.

Your son, Samuel

p. s. Stay away from St. Vyr and his womenfolk."

Samuel was gone. He had turned his back on his family. Johnson realized bitterly that he had lost two of his sons in his attempt to take out St. Vyr. Abner had been a foolish kid who took on the wrong man in a gunfight, but he had died trying to help carry out the plan. Losing Samuel was different. Over the years, despite his refusal to take part in Ira's less than legal schemes, Samuel had become a rock he depended on to handle the mundane chores of life. Now he was gone. Ira was furious. He kicked the table across the room and followed it up with the chairs.

"What's all that racket?" The noise of the breaking furniture roused Emory, and he staggered into the doorway, holding onto the jamb to keep from falling over.

"You stupid worthless drunk!" Ira roared. He backhanded his son and Emory went down on his butt. Instead of getting up, he lay there snoring.

Breathing hard, his father stared at him in impotent fury. Going to the sink, Ira pumped a bucket of water and sloshed it over his son, following it up with a kick.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.