Ride the Savage Land by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone [Johnstone, William W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2018-03-01T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

By the next morning, the flames in the two burned wagons were all out. The families who had lost everything had spent the night inside the trading post. At least two men had stood guard all the time, with Ace and Chance splitting up the duty along with Blanchard’s stepsons.

With the coming of a cloudy dawn, Ace walked to the river to see how it looked. The Brazos was down considerably from the day before, and the current was slower. Sandbars poked through the muddy water here and there.

A footstep behind him made him half-turn as his hand moved to the Colt on his hip. Dingus Blanchard raised a hand to forestall Ace’s draw. “No need for that hogleg, son. I see we done had the same idea.”

“What do you think?” Ace asked. “Will we be able to ford the river today?”

“I reckon so. As long as you know the way to avoid all the snags and sinkholes and quicksand . . . which I happen to know, o’ course, since I’ve lived on this here river for so long. I’ll ride on the wagon with you and guide you. One o’ my Injun boys can come along behind on his mule, and then he can carry me back across once you folks are on the other side.”

“We’ll be obliged to you for your help. How much will all that cost?”

Blanchard waved a hand. “Shoot, won’t be no charge for that. Nor for anything ’cept the grub y’all and your horses et. I’m feelin’ . . . what’s the word? . . . generous . . . today.” He cackled. “First time I been able to say that in a spell. And all it took was gettin’ shot at by a bunch o’ loco hillbillies.”

Ace wasn’t going to argue with the man’s generosity. The ladies didn’t have enough extra cash to spend when it wasn’t necessary.

They returned to the trading post where everyone was enjoying a simple but filling breakfast prepared by Blanchard’s Indian wife. Ace and Chance washed down the food with cups of steaming black coffee, then went around the building to fetch the team and hitch the horses to the wagon.

Not surprisingly, Agnes tagged along. “I don’t mind driving the wagon across the ford.”

“I figured I’d do that,” Ace said. “No offense.”

“None taken, but if you do that and I ride in the back with the others, there’ll be that much more weight in the wagon. Wouldn’t that increase the chances of it bogging down?”

“Mr. Blanchard says he knows where it’s safe to cross. He’s riding with us to make sure everything goes all right.”

“He can tell me the same as he can tell you,” Agnes insisted.

Chance said, “Agnes has a point, Ace. It’s not like you’re all that fat—”

“Thanks a lot,” Ace said dryly.

“But extra weight is extra weight,” Chance went on. “Why not let her give it a try?”

Agnes smiled brightly at him. “Thank you for standing up for me.”

“Just trying to be reasonable,” Chance said, but he returned the smile, and that made Agnes beam even more.

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