Wyoming Wildfire by Greenwood Leigh

Author:Greenwood, Leigh [Greenwood, Leigh]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Ten Talents Press
Published: 2011-12-02T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

“You should see the goings-on in the bunkhouse, ma’am,” Jesse informed Augusta. “You might mistake it for the Laramie Hotel before the spring dance. The boys are washing clothes, shaving, and scrubbing places that only get wet if they fall in the creek. I never knew them to get so excited over any party. It’s a good thing the weather is holding, or they’d be offering a month’s pay to anyone willing to take their place on the line.”

“It has been nice all day,” Augusta agreed, torn between wondering which was better for Sibyl: being kept inside and forced to endure the Strattons’ company, or knowing that Burch had spent the enure day riding over the ranch with Emma and her brother. “Thank heavens the snow has melted. At least it will make it easier for people to get here.”

“Some of the hands are here already. There’s plenty of room for them to bunk in with our men,” he said, answering Augusta’s questioning glance. “There’s a year’s worth of gossip to catch up on.”

Sibyl took no part in the conversation, just as she had taken no part in any since Emma blithely waltzed in and took command of Burch, much as a mother hen would an errant chick. Emma had not left his side for the whole of the previous evening. She had sat next to him at dinner and then pulled him down beside her on the sofa, keeping him there with childhood reminiscences long after everyone else had gone to bed. Augusta had expected Sibyl to make one of her caustic remarks, but she had been uncharacteristically quiet, rarely speaking, and devoting her energies to dinner and seeing that the guests were comfortable.

Emma did not relinquish her hold the next day. She was up before Burch and invaded his bedroom, smiling brightly and teasing him about lying in bed till all hours. “I don’t see how you get anything done like that,” she say coyly. “You need someone to get you started on your way each day. A man can’t be expected to greet the day without a proper beginning.” The discovery that Sibyl was up before any of them, preparing a huge breakfast, took the steam out of her engine, but only for a moment.

“I never saw anything like this in my life,” observed Auggie, awed at the feast set before them. With heroic determination, he plowed his way through more food than Sibyl though any one man could put away without having to go back to bed to sleep it off. A confidential wink from Burch sent Sibyl’s spirits soaring, but Emma saw it and dug in with even greater determination.

“Let’s go for a ride,” she said with overflowing enthusiasm. “I can’t bear to be cooped up for very long. And I haven’t seen any of the improvements you’ve made since last year.”

“There’s not much to see except for what Sibyl’s done around the ranch,” said Burch. “I’ve had all I could do to keep the cows alive this year.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.