A River to Cross by Yvonne Harris

Author:Yvonne Harris
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group

Jake spurred his horse into an easy gallop and took the trail from Fort Bliss to the Annex, wondering what he’d find when he got to his office.

“Hello, Murphy,” he said to his clerk. “Got any good news for me?”

“Hello yourself, Captain. Glad to see you’re back in one piece.”

“So am I, believe me. You never know in Mexico. Anything happen I should know about?”

“Couple things.” Murphy gestured to a long, narrow wooden telephone hanging on the wall. “That came in handy. They had a jailbreak down in Ysleta last week. Prisoner took off through the back country. We got the call from Ysleta and rode out fifteen minutes later. By nightfall we had him. Report’s on your desk. And this just came from the hospital.” He handed a paper to Jake. “Private Hernandez is in the hospital with a busted leg and a busted arm. Horse threw him.”

“In C Company, isn’t he?”

Murphy nodded.

“He’s a good rider. What happened?”

“Bear jumped his horse. The horse reared and pitched Hernandez into a tree. He was hurt pretty bad, unconscious when they brought him in.”

“Tell you what, Murphy. You go on, get out of here early for a change. On your way, stick your head in at C Company and ask Sergeant Greer to come fill me in.”

“I’ll do that right now, and thank you.” Murphy swiftly cleared his desk, then passed Jake a handful of messages. “These came in while you were gone. There were more, of course, but Lieutenant Sanders handled them.” He turned and started for the door.

“Wait, Murphy—what’s the name of that store in El Paso where you got flowers for your mother?”

“Not really a store; it’s part of the Fashion Saloon. They got electric lights in there, you know. Business is booming. Don’t know where their liquor comes from, but they get fresh flowers in every day from the big cities.” Murphy then left to catch Hernandez’s sergeant.

Leafing through the messages Murphy had given him, Jake shook his head. While he was in Mexico, three problems had surfaced: Company B’s capture of the escaped prisoner, a bar fight and shooting in El Paso, and a follow-up on twenty-five stolen cattle.

Company A was out on a scheduled patrol, and his own D Company was resting and getting fat.

He smiled. Tomorrow might be a great day for a five-mile run.

Hitching his leg up, he sat on a corner of his desk. He reached for the foot-high stack of reports and read the top one. He had just finished reading it when Sergeant Greer of C Company stepped into the office to fill him in on Private Hernandez.

Jake made notes: facts, figures, dates, impersonal information necessary for him to recommend keeping Hernandez in the Rangers or to let him go.

But Hernandez the Ranger jumped off the page when Sergeant Greer said the young private burst into tears when told he might be discharged.

That had some uncomfortable similarities for Jake, who’d spent weeks in a wheeled chair with a shot-up hip and

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.