Heart of a Family (Book One of the Brides of the West Series) by Rita Hestand

Author:Rita Hestand [Hestand, Rita]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-11-05T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

The next night the herd came back. Dal and Daniel were out at the banks and waiting. He motioned for Daniel to aim low at the ground to scare the cattle.

Daniel nodded and waved back.

They waited until the cattle were close enough to smell the water then opened up with their rifles. Dust flew and the cattle began to run every which way. They heard the cowboys hollering and trying to direct them back the other way.

It took a while and they were much too busy to shoot back this time. They stayed under cover in the bushes, so no one would spot where the shots came from.

The cattle scattered in all directions, making a cloud of dust as they ran and Dal raised his rifle in the air to let Daniel know to stop firing.

Dal waited to see if Banister was going to show up, but he never did. Perhaps things had gone so smooth the first time he hadn't predicted a problem. He watched until the drovers were out of site, then he motioned for Daniel.

They stared after the cloud of dust.

"I'm surprised they didn't charge us," Daniel said his face a little pale in the moonlight.

"Yeah, me too. But they were too confident this time. They weren't expecting any trouble. Next time it won't be as easy."

"You think there will be a next time, Dal?" Daniel asked his face screwing up into a worried frown.

"Oh yeah, there will be. We'll have a confrontation sooner or later. He's too stubborn a man to give up the fight. He'll be back. And we'll be waiting." He said throwing his arm over Daniel's shoulder and they headed back to the house.

Before they reached the house, Dal glanced at Daniel. "Were you scared?"

"A little…"

"You've got a right to be." Dal assured him. "So was I."

"Why don't we just let him water them for nothing?" Daniel asked. "I mean there'd be less trouble that way."

"Can't do that Daniel. It wouldn't be fair to the others. And you can't let someone like that push you around. Once they think they got us, they won't give up until they own this land. We have to stand our ground, and we'll do it."

Daniel looked at Dal. "How come you are so confident?"

"I'm not. I'm just as stubborn as he is, though." Dal grinned. "Now, put on a smile because we don't want the girls to worry."

Daniel nodded as they headed inside the house.

Bonnie came running from the kitchen, her face a wad of frowns of concern. "I heard shots, did you have trouble?"

He glanced at Daniel. "They showed up again. We did what we planned to do, scare the cattle back, and it worked. They were so busy and surprised by us being there that no one shot back, this time. So we were lucky."

"You think they'll try it again?"

"It's possible."

"What can we do to stop them?" Bonnie cried, wringing the towel she was drying the dishes with.

"I'm not sure. Next time they will expect us so it won't be a shock.

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