Texas Free by Janet Dailey

Author:Janet Dailey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2018-06-17T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE NEXT MORNING, ROSE PULLED ON HER OLDEST WORK CLOTHES, breakfasted on the last of the cheese and crackers, and went outside to organize her day.

The storm had passed in the night, leaving behind the freshness of rain-scented earth. Rose took deep breaths, filling her lungs with the scented air. Petrichor, that was what her grandfather had called the wonderful smell she’d always loved. Maybe it was a good omen for a day that held so much promise.

The canvas tarpaulin had kept her gear dry. Rose studied the heap of tools, wondering what to start first. She’d planned to dig a latrine back in the trees, but last night’s visit from the wandering cow had brought home the need for a secure fence. Enclosing the entire thirty acres would take more time and materials than she could spare right now. But at least she could fence off the area around her planned house and garden.

Crouching beside the creek, she splashed her hands and face and slicked back her hair. Unbidden, her eyes scanned the willows on the opposite bank and the trees beyond. She couldn’t help hoping that Tanner might show up, but she saw no sign of him. Tanner had his own work to do, she reminded herself. And it wasn’t as if she needed his protection. She had her pistol in the truck in case she needed it. But so far, her most dangerous intruder had been that silly cow.

Since she’d already made some progress on digging up the old fence, she took up the task again. The rusty barbed wire from her grandfather’s fence line had long since been trampled into the ground. But much of it came free as she dug under it with her shovel. Unfortunately, she was going to need new fence posts. Either she would have to cut them from the small trees that were growing on the property or she would have to dig into her precious cash reserves and buy some in town.

She would need to buy other things as well—lumber, hardware, pipe fittings, windows and doors for her cabin . . . and she couldn’t work without food.

How did one go about building a cabin, anyway? To start with, she would need to draw up some kind of plan and make some decisions about materials. She’d always loved the idea of logs. But where would she get logs around here? And how would she move them by herself? Logs were heavy. Maybe she should think about something easier to move. Bricks were at least small. Or rocks—at least rocks were free if she could find enough. Or maybe adobes. She’d learned how to make adobe bricks out of mud and straw in Mexico. But would adobe hold up in heavy rain?

Once she had her materials, she would have to start by laying a foundation. That would mean digging a trench and filling it with cement to anchor the supports for the walls. And after that . . .

Rose sighed. What had she been thinking?

She gazed at her rig in dismay.

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