Milo Talon (1981) by L'amour Louis - Talon-Chantry

Author:L'amour, Louis - Talon-Chantry [L'amour, Louis - Talon-Chantry]
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2010-12-12T06:26:24+00:00

Chapter Fourteen.

It was late before I found my way back to where Pablo lay. He was sleeping, looking gaunt and worn. The Shelby horses were feeding on the meadow and I roped a horse for Pablo and caught up my own horse. Leading them back to camp, I stripped the gear from the horse I'd been riding and turned him loose. Then I picketed my horse and Pablo's close by in case of need.

There were a few coals left of the fire so I added some bark and twigs, blowing up a small blaze. There was an old, beat-up coffeepot and a couple of cups in the things Anne's people had sent along, so I made coffee, fried some bacon, and sliced some bread from the loaf.

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"It is a good smell, the coffee."

When I looked around Pablo was sitting up. I forked up several slices of bacon and put them on some of the paper the food had been wrapped in. "Eat," I said, "the coffee will be ready in a minute."

Then I added, "I went down to Fisher's Hole. Do you know it?"

"Si, we call it Maes' Hole for a Mexican who lived there. Sometimes he was a bandit, but a friendly man if you came to his house. I knew him when I was a small boy."

"Something's bothering those folks down there," I said. "They acted kind of jumpy."

"Are they mixed up in your trouble?"

"Them? No, of course not. How could they be? There's no connection. Living alone like that, it's likely they'd be wary of some stranger riding up."

"You knew this Anne?"

"Well, sort of. They came by the ranch, stayed to rest up. Anne's a mighty taking girl. Beautiful. I don't know what I expected. Hell, I only talked to her a couple of times but I sort of thought . . . well, you know how it is."

"Si, I know."

"She was nice enough. About what you'd expect from a fine young lady like that. After all, that was a long time ago. I never even held her hand."

"Maybe that was the trouble, amigo. You did not try, even?"

"Tell you the truth, I was kind of scared of her. She was eastern, looked eastern, anyway, and here I was just a cowhand-"

Pablo was amused. "A cowhand, si. But you madre owns one of the finest ranches anywhere around. You are far from a simple cowboy, amigo."

Lazing by the fire, drinking coffee, I told him all that happened down below, and as I repeated it to him I began to be bothered by it. I sat up and added sticks to the fire, worrying with it a little and thinking. The fire blazed up and I added some sticks. Come to think of it they had been mighty anxious to get rid of me, and when something fell in that other room, they all jumped as if they were shot. What was going on, anyway? Well, it was none of my business. I had troubles enough.

"You get some sleep," I said to Pablo, "and I'll do the same.

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