What'll It Be? (Halliday 14) by Adam Brady

Author:Adam Brady [Brady, Adam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Cowboy fiction, Western ebook, the old west, Piccadilly Publishing, Pulp fiction, Wild West fiction
Publisher: Piccadilly
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six – All Trails South

FOR FOUR MORE days they kept the herd moving, despite the attempts by some to break away from the main herd. The days were long and the heat was intense, and when the first of the good grazing land appeared up ahead, and the leaders got the smell of water in their nostrils, they began to run and the men let them go.

Clarence Beebe managed a tired grin when Buck Halliday, Jim Sweeney and Lee Trent joined him on the right flank.

“We’ll just let them water, feed and rest for a whole week if need be,” he said. “You men can do what you like, but Pebble Ridge is out of bounds.”

Sweeney and Trent looked disappointed but didn’t make any comment. Halliday looked at Beebe for a moment, and nodded.

On the other side of the herd, Clay Horden had joined Ella Beebe and they sat their horses watching the cattle run. It was midafternoon and the breeze was cooler than it had been for the past week.

Beebe rode off to speak to his daughter and Halliday and the two youngsters sat their saddles in weary silence. Finally, Sweeney wiped dust from his face and said;

“The herd’s headed for water but I don’t reckon they should get all of it.”

“I didn’t know you could swim,” Trent joked.

“Better’n you, I’ll wager,” Sweeney joked back, trying to relieve the tension. “What do you think I am, a tenderfoot?”

“Somethin’ like that,” Trent said, moving off.

Halliday let them ride ahead and took his time following. As far as he was concerned, there was still work to do, mainly keeping the cattle together in one section of whatever river, creek, or waterhole lay ahead. Only then did he feel his leisure time would begin, and as he rode, he thought of the many ways he was going to use that time.

Firstly, like Sweeney and Trent, he was going to take a swim, then he was going to wash every piece of clothing he possessed, rub down his horse, then wash his blanket and saddle and even soak his boots. When he was clean, and for the first time in a week, he meant to just stretch out under the stars.

If he had a drink, he reckoned he’d be at peace with the world.

Beebe joined him as soon as Sweeney and Trent had gone on ahead, and together they kept the stragglers moving. Within the hour, they had rounded up all the strays and driven them back into the herd. Only then did Beebe give Halliday a nod of thanks before riding away.

Halliday wearily dismounted, stripped the saddle from his sorrel and let it make its own way to the river. Then he carried his blanket, two shirts and a spare pair of pants to the water, threw them into the shallows, and sat down to remove his boots and the sweat-stiff shirt he had worn for the last two days. Throwing the boots and shirt in with the rest of his gear, he waded in to thigh depth and just stood there, letting the slow-moving stream cool his body.

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