Westward the Tide (1950) by L'amour Louis

Author:L'amour, Louis [L'amour, Louis]
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2010-12-12T06:26:11.781000+00:00

Chapter VII

Back in the wagon after her exciting ride through the lashing rain, Jacquine changed into dry clothing, but while she changed her mind was not at rest, nor had it been at rest for some days.

She understood herself quite well, and she was perfectly aware that something had happened that day when she got down from the stagecoach and looked up to see Matt Bardoul leaning against the awning post in front of the IXL.

Just what had happened or how much she did not know. There had been little further contact to allow them to know each other, and on the other hand, there had been the obvious dislike on the part of Colonel Pearson as well as Clive's subtle but biting comments. The stories she heard of Bardoul in Deadwood were not favourable, nor were those after she left Deadwood until Barney became interested.

Barney was very little older than she, but Jacquine, although she never said as much, had come to entertain a high respect for his judgment. She saw, too, that what Matt had said was true, that Barney was growing, that he was becoming a man in balance and judgment. Had he remained in the relatively safe and even tempered eastern atmosphere, he might have been eight or ten years acquiring the manhood he had acquired in eight or ten months.

At first she had dismissed Matt's warning as sheer nonsense. She shared her father's anger and irritation that he should go so far as to make such veiled accusations of men they knew and liked. Also, she felt it was a reflection on her father's judgment if not his honesty. Yet the thought was planted, and her eyes, opened. She began to look for evidence to refute his warning, to prove him wrong, and scarcely had she begun this observation than she became aware of a vague, but increasing doubt within her.

The incident of Abel Bain's attempted assault on Sary Stark she could dismiss. In the rough, new western world all kinds and types of men came together, and such things might happen. The fact that Matt Bardoul had warned of his presence in the wagon train and that Clive had dismissed his charge as unfounded, stayed in her mind.

Yet this was but one thing. Riding about as she was, she soon became aware of the subtle differences between the three companies of men commanded by Reutz, Bardoul and her father as compared with that commanded by Massey. The men of the latter group were an untidy, sullen, hard drinking crowd, and no women among them. It was from this group that Clive had chosen his law enforcement group.

She heard of all the disputes in the wagon train, for her father often discussed or complained about them. Barney brought her the rest of the news, and she was usually present when any discussion came up. She knew that Matt had warned them about the trail, and that this warning had proved correct. She noticed also that his wagons reached the bottom fastest and with less trouble than the others.

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