Beneath The Texas Sky Read Online Free PDF

sleeping. San Antonio had suffered many times and always seemed to be able to rebuild. Great men may have died here, like Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett, but the townspeople, like ants after a windstorm, rebuilt their homes with unlimited diligence. These nameless settlers were the ones who would eventually tame this wild land, not with guns, but with hammers and plows.
    It seemed as if all his life Josh had been riding into troubled weather. If it weren’t Indian raids or Mexican bandits crossing the border, there were always a few men like Wilbur Brewer out to make quick money at others’ expense. Josh was bone-tired. The war had knocked all the fight out of him, and now he longed to settle down in peace. He removed his hat and shook his hair in the wind. Peace had never seemed farther away to him than it did at this moment.
    Josh stepped cautiously into the darkened stable. Except for a filthy stable boy curled asleep in an empty stall, the barn was deserted. Josh nudged the boy lightly with his boot. “Hey, kid, wake up.”
    The boy rolled over and rubbed his eyes with dirty fists. “Yeah, whata you want?” He thrashed amid the straw to his feet as if he could, in his small way, defend the stable.
    “I need to buy a couple of horses, tonight,” Josh answered, wishing he had a washtub handy to throw the boy into. The kid smelled more like a horse than a boy.
    “What’s wrong with them two you rode in with awhile ago?” the boy asked.
    “Nothing, I just need another for a friend. One that’s gentle, if you’ve got one, and another for supplies. About dawn I’ll want my extra saddle put on the horse I led in.”
    The filth-covered child shook his head. “I can saddle your horses, but I ain’t got any for sale. Fact is, the only horses I got in this place besides yours and my own nag are three that belong to the hotel keeper. He already told me he’ll be usin’ two of ’em tomorrow.”
    Josh thought for a minute. “Saddle all three of his. I’ll make arrangements with the hotel owner.” If they traveled light, they could make do without a packhorse. He knew Wilbur would plan to keep the third horse here in case he needed it. Well, Wilbur would find himselfafoot after tomorrow. He couldn’t accuse his own niece of being a horse thief.
    The boy straightened to his full five-foot height. “I’ll have ’em ready at five, mister, but there be one question,” the kid asserted.
    “What is it?” Josh asked, fishing in his pocket for a coin to give the lad.
    “I’d like to trail along with you.” The boy stood tall. “My family’s all gone, and I’d just as soon not be in town when trouble blows in. I’ve been watching the past few days, and something’s gettin’ ready to happen.”
    “Sorry, son,” Josh answered, feeling regretful about the kid. “You’ll be better off here than with me.”
    “Beggin’ your pardon, mister, but my best chances are with you.” The kid slung his brown hair out of his eyes. “And that priest,” he added with a glint of intelligence in his light brown eyes.
    “What makes you think I have anything to do with a priest?” Josh tilted his head in interest. If this boy had put him and Mike together, who else would have?
    “Simple, mister.” The kid scratched his dirty hair. “I seen him go over to the hotel an hour or so ago, and I know you’re the only stranger in town stayin’ there. The fat old toad who runs the place has never been the religious sort.”
    “You’re a smart kid. Why do you want to travel with me?” Josh smiled at the dirty suntanned face. Nature had been monotonous in his coloring, for face, eyes, and hair were all a sandy brown. Josh wondered, if clean, the boy’s hair might have golden lines as did his eyes when they turned to the light.
    “I’ve been waiting for you.” The kid smiled slyly. “My brother was a Ranger. He showed me somethin’ once.” The kid moved to where Josh had stacked his two-saddles. He slipped his first two