Buchanan's Seige Read Online Free PDF Page B

Buchanan has agreed to work for me. Toodle- oo, men."
    They went out through the saloon, now nearly empty. Trevor led the way to the hotel. A wizened man with one arm greeted them warmly. His name was Weevil, and he had been a wrangler until his accident.
    "Took guts to do what you folks did tonight. People's with you. But don't count on 'em. They just pore folks. They're no fighters."
    "Thank you for the kind words," said Trevor. "Put us in adjoining rooms, please."
    "Already got Mr. Buchanan fixed up in number nine. You can have number eight for the night, then. I'll have your hoss tended to." He reached beneath the counter. "Got a bottle of Monongahela here. Thought you might want a nightcap. Got some cold venison and cheese, too."
    "Excellent notion," said Trevor. "Put it on my bill."
    They went back down a narrow hall and to their rooms. Neither was ready for sleep. Weevil brought them the cold food, and they sat in Buchanan's room and ate and talked and sipped at the whiskey.
    Amanda Day slumped wearily in the wagon. It had been a long ride out to the Kovacs' place, but she could not have returned home this night. She could not help remembering Adam's face, the protruding tongue, the angry neck where the rope had bitten. They had been quarreling, she had found she did not truly love him, but the sight of him burned into her memory, and she knew she would never be rid of it.
    She had visited the Kovacs' house only once and knew little about it except that it resembled a blockhouse. It had been a fort, a small rallying ground of the mountain men, built of native stone against Indian raids. Kovacs had re built it, adding the kitchen on the back, still using stone hauled by his workhorses, patiently putting it together with skills he had brought from the Old World. It could be depressing viewed from without, but inside, Jenny had made it comfortable. It was cool in summertime and easy to heat in the winters. For now, it was a resting place.
    Kovacs put the horses in the stone barn. Raven worked with him, quick, efficient, smiling, looking often at Dan Badger as he watered and fed the tall mule.
    Badger said, "Man alone in these parts, he sees things. Them cattlemen, they're bringin' in gunmen. They'll be up to deviltry."
    "Is so," replied Kovacs. ;
    "This man Buchanan. Hang onto him if you kin."
    "Not his fight." .
    "I seen his kind. He cut Adam down, he rode with you all in the wagon. Count on him."
    "Maybe so."
    "This is a good place to make a fight. Put in grub. Don't ·o anywheres alone. Watch the womenfolk. Lemme do the scouting '. Nobody knows the country like us mountainy men ."
    "Is so."
    Badger looked long at Raven. "You know what to do."
    "Yes, Dan Badger." She had been rescued from a bat tlefield and nursed back to health by the Kovacs, and the mountain man had never been far away when he might be needed.
    Badger mounted the mule and rode out. Kovacs and Raven finished the chores together, then went into the house.
    Amanda Day was moving about as in a dream, frown ing. Kovacs touched her arm and led her into the huge front room of the house. The hall was baronial in height, the furniture heavy polished oak. Large bedrooms were off to either side. Between the kitchen and the big room, there was a hall and two closets. It was a most unusual house for this clime and time. There was a big fireplace built into one wall. The windows were narrow, but Kovacs had found glass for them.
    She said, "You have built a castle, Pieter."
    "I talk to Adam." He ignored her compliment.
    "Yes. He trusted you."
    "You talk to me."
    "I was coming back to him. But something had gone, Pieter. His mind was narrow, like those windows. He had grown hard."
    "Hard country."
    "For a fa rm er, yes. You have cattle and vegetables and wheat. You have built well."
    "No good now, mebbe."
    "You're right. I saw it coming. I told Adam. He hated me for telling."
    "Because truth."
    "Maybe. He drove me away. I couldn't stay away. It was like quitting. But