Gone to Dallas by Laurie Moore-Moore

Author:Laurie Moore-Moore
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Laurie Moore-Moore
Published: 2021-09-21T19:40:29+00:00

Early one afternoon, Sara heard pounding hoofs, and the entire store began to vibrate. She and Daniel ran to the door in time to see the first few steers as they barreled down the street past the courthouse. “Doggone! This is a big herd,” Daniel hollered over the sound of the bellowing herd. “I bet it belongs to Mr. Adams.”

Sure enough, through the dust Sara could see one of the cow-chaser Wensel twins—Jellie?—acting as lead rider and steering the herd from near the front of the mass of beeves. It seemed to take a very long time for the herd to pass the store. She had not seen Whit Wainwright and assumed he was working as a swing or flank rider along the opposite side in an attempt to keep the mass together. She had spotted two other cow chasers she didn’t recognize riding swing and flank on the store side of the herd. The other Wensel twin twin— Zollie?—was riding drag at the back to keep cattle from straying and to nudge the slower calves along. Sara was pleased that she remembered the positions Whit had told her, when they talked at the soirée, and what each position was responsible for.

Steers dominated the herd, and Sara was again amazed at the immense size of the animals. Whit had explained that a four- to eight-year-old steer could weigh as much as eight hundred pounds, and at age ten one could weigh as much as eighteen hundred pounds. Sara thought John Henry and Whit would be pleased with this herd—a great many large bulls and lots of calves for the future. Come August, after they fatten over the summer, there will be many more steers to sell than last year. My goodness, I’m beginning to think like a rancher.

Two days after the T-Lazy-R herd came through, Sara heard the blast of the stage horn, and a dusty stagecoach limped into town with a damaged wheel. Sara propped her door open with a rock in hopes of attracting customers while the stage was in town. Looking up, she saw Whit Wainwright step down from inside and turn to place his hands on the tiny waist of a young blonde woman and swing her gently out of the stage. As the girl turned, Sara saw a heart-shaped face with large round eyes, and a deeply dimpled chin. Sara heard her exclaim, “So this is Dallas, darlin’? I can’t wait to see our ranch.”

Our ranch? Whit married? Sara was surprised to feel a sudden wave of disappointment. Heat rose in her face and tears formed in her eyes. Quickly stepping back into the store, she hurried past Daniel and into one of the storerooms, closing the door behind her and leaning against it. She had been nurturing expectations that in the future she and Whit might evolve into being more than friends. Once she had composed herself, she left the storeroom.

“Oh, here she is,” she heard Daniel say as he, Whit, and the girl came around the end of a shelf.

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