Texas Born by Kerry Newcomb

Author:Kerry Newcomb
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group
Published: 2001-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

16

John Anthem didn’t have to go to San Antonio. On a cold day in mid-November, San Antonio came to him. Ten days passed, and Rex Colby, at the head of a column of Texas Rangers, rode into Luminaria Canyon around noon on a Wednesday.

John Anthem heard the warning bells sound from the east rim as the rangers first trailed into view. He and Cole shoved away from the table just as Rose was filling their coffeecups. As the men hurried out of the house, Rose set the pot on the table near the platter of doughnuts she had just made. She walked to one of the unshuttered windows at the front of the house and waited to see who would arrive.

Father and son stood on the porch, waiting. John leaned on his cane; Cole stood ready, his rifle at hand. Across the yard, Prometheus stepped out of the back of the bunkhouse. The trail cook wore a flour-covered apron over his jeans and carried a revolver in one hand, a meat cleaver in the other. Several of the ranch hands had just ridden in for grub. Soon all five men, leather-tough and loyal to the brand, sauntered outside into the cold light to lounge against the walls of the bunkhouse. Although the very picture of inactivity, each man held a Winchester.

“Rangers,” John Anthem whispered, and then called out to his men in a much louder voice, “Rangers!” He waved the ranch hands back inside to their meals. Prometheus, the last to leave, looked almost regretful that there wasn’t to be trouble.

“Captain Colby,” Cole said. He cradled the Winchester ’66 in the crook of his arm and shaded his eyes. “Who’s that with him, a preacher?”

“Everett Cotter,” John replied. “The adjutant general himself.”

And more, Cole Anthem silently added, remembering the stories his father had told him. There had been bad blood between the Anthems and Cotters and blood shed between the familes. What had once been strong family-like ties between Everett and John had turned to hatred and jealousy, betrayal and revenge. Cole wondered if time had healed the wounds. This was the first time Everett Cotter had visited Luminaria.

Capt. Rex Colby led his men up from the tree-lined creek onto the road to the hacienda, which crowned a knoll between the steep walls of the canyon. The captain fished in his coat pocket for his pipe, brought it out, and clamped the stem between his lips. He cupped a match over the bowl and soon had the tobacco lit.

Cole noticed changes in Rex Colby. A patch over his left eye was the legacy of a gallant charge at Shiloh. The thinning gray hair could be attributed to age He was a man of small stature like Cotter, but reedy and thin, not barrel-chested like the adjutant general. And the elderly Cotter had his hair, a thick white mane. As the men walked their horses into the yard, John strode down the steps and waved to the rangers. There were six men in all.

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