Dashing Druid (Texas Druids) Read Online Free PDF Page B

away.
    “Come on, we’ll find you a horse first,” Smith declared, steering Tye toward the corral. “I seen the sorry nag you rode in on last night. Rented him in town, I expect.” Before Tye could confirm his guess, he continued, “Well, we’ll get yuh fixed up, don’t worry. And the name’s Sul. Only one calls me Mister Smith is the preacher when he comes calling.”
    Tye realized he’d passed a test by standing up to the old geezer. Glad of it, he was also well satisfied with the glossy brown mare Sul chose for him. She was a vast improvement over the old plug Tye had rented, to be returned while they were in town. However, any pleasure Tye derived from his new mount vanished the moment he climbed into the saddle. Jessie’s wintergreen oil hadn’t helped; he was sore as hell from yesterday.
    “Boy, you can’t even set a horse proper,” Sul complained as they started out. “Settle your rump and quit bouncing around thataway, or pretty soon you won’t be good for anything.”
    “I’ll do my job, don’t worry,” Tye snapped, attempting not to bounce. Damned if he’d admit how miserable he already was.
    Later, outfitted with denim pants, cotton shirt, thick-heeled boots, and a wide-brimmed Stetson hat, Tye felt briefly like a real cowboy. However, his keeper made sure the feeling didn’t last long. As soon as they returned to the ranch, Sul put him to work mucking out stalls in the barn. Then there was fresh hay to fork, wood to chop, water to tote, harnesses to clean – in short, every dirty job the man could think of.
    Tye also got a thorough taste of the hazing David had warned him to expect from the other hands, who took pleasure in taunting a greenhorn. He suspected being the boss’s brother-in-law made him an even riper target. Gritting his teeth, he put on a good-natured front and that night, over Jessie’s objections, he moved into the bunkhouse. He was determined to prove he would not curry favor from his relatives. Why the other men’s approval had become so important, he couldn’t say. Since when did he want to be a cowboy, he asked himself, falling onto his bunk, exhausted and hurting all over.
    Tom Pearce’s face flashed into his mind. Again, he heard his friend scream, saw him collapse beneath tons of falling rock. The image brought a tide of grief and guilt, followed by a panicky sense of suffocation. Ashamed of his fear, yet unable to rid himself of it, Tye knew anything, mucking stalls included, was better than going back down into that black hell.
    He threw a bare forearm over his eyes and sought a more pleasant subject for his thoughts. Instantly, he conjured an image of Lil Crawford. Aye, she was a pleasant subject indeed.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER THREE
     
    The intense August sun was beginning its climb across the sky when Lil and her family arrived at the Rocking B Ranch. They’d come to help Morgan Bayliss put up a new barn to replace the one destroyed by a recent cyclone. Since his spread lay a fair distance from theirs, they’d left home long before dawn in order to make it here for the start of the barn raising.
    Lil stifled a yawn as her father reined the buckboard team to a halt. Shaking off her drowsiness, she snatched up her skirts and jumped awkwardly from the wagon box where she’d ridden with her uncle. She’d donned a dress today at her mother’s insistence and, as always, she felt ridiculous in a skirt and petticoats.
    “Quite a few folks here already,” Uncle Jeb said, joining her with the basket of food they’d brought to share. Up front, Pa was just helping her mother climb down.
    Glancing around, Lil saw several families gathered near the Bayliss homestead. “I expect more will be riding in soon.”
    “Yup, cuz it might be them needing help next time. The storm that tore down Morg’s barn could’ve just as easy hit somebody else’s place.”
    Lil nodded, knowing he was right. Morg dealt mainly in horses and he’d lost not only his barn but