Longhorn Empire by Bradford Scott

Author:Bradford Scott [SCOTT, BRADFORD]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781428506428
Publisher: Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc.
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Some of the fear left the girl’s eyes. “And—and I know you,” she said. “You’re the cowboy who had the fight there. You’re—you’re Austin Brant!”

“That’s right,” Brant replied. “And you’re Verna Loring, old Nate’s niece. Say, what in blazes is going on hereabouts? What’s the notion, skalleyhootin’ around over the prairie like you were trying to outrun your shadow, and throwin’ down on folks? And what was that shooting about over the other side of the sag?”

“If—if you’ll just let me breathe—a little—I’ll try and tell you,” Verna Loring gasped in reply.

Brant suddenly realized he was still holding her much tighter than the occasion now warranted. He colored beneath his tan, loosening his hold. Swinging down lithely from the saddle, he set her on her feet. She swayed slightly, and he slid his arm back around her slim waist to steady her. He noted absently that her curly head came barely to his shoulder.

“Feel better?” he asked anxiously. “Aren’t hurt any way, are you?”

“No, I’m not hurt,” she replied. “You just about squeezed the life out of me, that’s all.”

“Had to do something,” Brant grinned. “That is, if I wanted to keep any hide on my face. You were giving me a right smart going over.”

“I’m sorry,” Verna said contritely, “but I was so terribly frightened. I thought you were another of those men.”

“What men?”

“The men who shot at me.”

“Shot at you! You mean to tell me some sidewinder took a shot at a woman!”

“I don’t think they realized I was a woman,” Verna replied. “My hat was pulled down over my hair, and I wasn’t very close to them. It fell off when my horse ran away.”

“Uh-huh, you do look sort of like a boy in those overalls—from a distance,” Brant admitted. “Sort of cute, though.”

Verna blushed and hurried on with her story.

“I was taking a ride this morning,” she said. “I rode farther from the ranch house than I ever did before. Over the other side of that hill I saw two men beside a little fire. There was a calf or a young cow lying on the ground near them. They were doing something to it.”

“Blotting or altering a brand, the chances are,” Brant interrupted grimly.

“I don’t know,” the girl replied. “But when I rode toward them, one of them waved his hat at me.”

“Uh-huh,” Brant remarked, even more grimly, “wavin’ you ’round! When a cow thief is at a fire, working over a brand or running a brand and a jigger comes riding along, he waves his hat in a half-circle from left to right, that means ‘stay the heck away from here if you don’t want to stop hot lead!’ Then what happened?”

“I thought it was a couple of our boys,” Verna said. “I kept on riding toward them, and one of them shot at me. The bullet struck my horse. He squealed and jumped and nearly threw me. Then he whirled around and ran. I tried to stop him, but couldn’t. I couldn’t do a thing with him.

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