Beneath The Texas Sky Read Online Free PDF Page B

fingers between the leather of the saddle on the right side. Slowly he drew out asilver badge, the emblem of the Texas Rangers. The metal shone brightly between the boy’s muddy fingers. “My brother told me if a Ranger wants to travel unnoticed he slides his badge in here. He said all Rangers do this from time to time, but nobody else knows this hidin’ place. He only told me because he knew I would be a Ranger as soon as I got big enough.” The boy seemed certain of his ambition.
    Josh smiled easily. “What makes you think you have any proof? Maybe I bought the saddle or stole it.”
    “Maybe you did, mister.” The boy seemed to already have thought of that angle. “Or maybe you, or that priest, is really a Ranger. You both got beards, and I ain’t seen many Rangers without beards. I figure I’ll take my chances. If I don’t cotton to riding with you, I can always take out on my own. I know the country as well as any man.”
    “How old are you?” Josh asked, wondering how many years this child thought it took to make a man.
    “Fourteen, almost fifteen.” The boy kicked at the straw, obviously trying to distract from his lie.
    Josh knew the little fellow could be no more than ten or eleven at the most, but he figured a man had a right to his secrets, even if the man was only half grown. “What’s your name, son?” Josh questioned.
    “Dustin Barfield, but folks call me Dusty.”
    Josh remembered Sam Barfield who was killed at an Indian battle along the Pease River in 1860. Colonel Ross had called Sam a fine man and an asset to the Rangers, but Josh made no comment about it to the boy.
    “Don’t you have any family around here, Dusty?” Josh asked, knowing he must not or he couldn’t possibly look so unkempt.
    “No.” The boy smiled, knowing this stranger was considering taking him along. “But I got a horse, a gun, and even a watch with initials on it.”
    Josh almost laughed out loud. The child wanted him to know he was no street bum by telling of a treasured watch. “I must be losing my mind, but you can tag along. If we make it across the open country, I know a ranch that could use a good man.” Josh put the emphasis on man. “Have the horses saddled early, and I’ll be over an hour before dawn.
    “Yes, sir.” Dusty smiled, spreading white teeth from ear to ear.
    “And put that badge back where you found it. You’d better forget you ever saw it,” Josh snapped, with as much sternness as he could muster. “You know the Rangers are inactive now.”
    “Yes, sir.” Dusty muttered again. “But not for long.”
    Josh turned and started back to the hotel shaking his head. The kid was right; a Ranger didn’t do the jobs that needed doing just for the pay. If Texas hadn’t had the Rangers during the war, there might not be a settler left in the whole state.
    Josh decided he must be getting soft in the head. First, he was trapped into taking two women into the wildest country in Texas, then the redhead, and now a boy. This trip might not be the easiest he’d ever tried, but it certainly promised to be the most interesting. And maybe the most dangerous.

Chapter Three
    True to her word, Bethanie said nothing about her plans to accompany the other women and Josh Weston out of San Antonio. She packed for Allison, while her cousin rattled incessantly with excitement. The tiny blonde was unaware of any danger in traveling, seeing her adventure only as an outing. Bethanie decided in Allison’s case ignorance was probably a blessing and she wouldn’t frighten her cousin with reality.
    With Allison finally settled in for a few hours’ sleep, Bethanie began preparing for her own journey. Tiptoeing down to the kitchen, she rummaged through a load of clean clothes she’d just washed for a man and his three sons. Though the garments were worn, she managed to find two pairs of pants and a shirt that looked close to her size. She crossed the darkened kitchen to a ghostly white jar on the top shelf of a