A Cowboy Firefighter For Christmas (Smokin' Hot Cowboys 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

beneficial.
    “You want me to be your tour guide?”
    “Please, would you?”
    “Sure thing. We get enough tourists around here that we’ve all got our spiel down pretty good.”
    “Perfect.”
    “This highway was once Wildcat Trail. It leads to Wildcat Bluff, where the town looks out over the Red River Valley. The Bluff was originally founded as a ferry terminus so folks could cross the Red River between Texas and Indian Territory, or Oklahoma now. Delaware Bend and Preston Bend were wild ferry towns, too, but they got flooded to make Lake Texoma.”
    “That’s a huge, popular lake. Too bad towns had to be lost to create it.”
    “They were already pretty much ghost towns.”
    “Wildcat Bluff got lucky, didn’t it?”
    “We’ve got more than luck going for us.” He gestured toward the front window with a pointed finger. “Wildcat Bluff County is special. We’re situated in the Cross Timbers.”
    “I’ve heard the Timbers are mostly gone.”
    “Not here. We’ve got thousands of acres we’ve been riding herd on since the eighteen hundreds.”
    “Your family?” She was learning more than he realized he was telling her. He was proud of this land and the fact that they’d saved this section of the Cross Timbers. She admired him and those who’d had the foresight to save a unique land. Aunt Cami would’ve loved knowing about this, too.
    “Several clans. Plus, newcomers.”
    “I don’t see the Cross Timbers.”
    “Over there.” He pointed again. “We’re driving up the north-south corridor of prairie. Up here it’s about ten miles wide. Other places it can be as narrow as three miles or as wide as thirty miles. It’s bordered on both sides by dense trees and shrubs.”
    “I see the line on the east side. What is all that growth?”
    “Post oak, cedar elm, bois d’arc, dogwood, Virginia creeper, blackberry, and a bunch of other stuff.”
    She nodded, taking in as much as she could while she drove. She’d never seen this section of the Cross Timbers before.
    “In the old days, there’d be a brush fire every year, and the tree line grew back so dense nobody could ride through it. The Comanche used the Cross Timbers as a secret route through Numunuu Sookobitu .”
    “You speak Comanche?” She glanced at him in surprise.
    “Most folks around here know a little bit.”
    “What does that mean?” she asked, beginning to enjoy herself, as if she really was on vacation. Trey was a good tour guide. He seemed to know a lot.
    “Comanche Earth.” He looked over at her. “Comancheria is another name for the Comanche Empire that stretched from Central Kansas all the way down to Mexico.”
    “Are you a history buff in addition to all your other pursuits?”
    He grinned. “I guess you could call me that. I like to read about this area and listen to tales from the old-timers. I can’t get too excited about the kings of England or European royalty.”
    Misty laughed. “I like history, too. But give me the Alamo any day.” She liked Trey even more now that she knew he had so much in common with her and Aunt Cami. Only her aunt would’ve brought him up to speed on British, Scottish, German, and other history, too. And she’d have taught him to like it.
    “Right.” He pointed toward the prairie. “See over there? That’s a handy trail between the two lines of dense growth. Nobody could see the warriors or get to them through the timber. But we keep the wild fires under control now so it doesn’t grow as thick.”
    A twist of trees marched down the east side of the road, but Misty saw only plains on the west side. Yet she could imagine a long line of colorful Comanche warriors on horseback wearing breechclouts and carrying bows and arrows as they rode down the prairie to protect their people and homeland. She blinked, chasing away shadows of the past. No shadows. No ghosts. No sign of fire.
    “Beautiful country,” she murmured, but her mind had fixated on the Comanche. Now that she thought