Desert Angel Read Online Free PDF Page B

today?”
    “This youn’en of yores will be makin‘ me deef, if’en I gotta listen to him much longer. You got to get someone to take care of him, boy. Me and Hank is too old for this none-such.” Jim threw his hat on the table and took the child into his arms. The pitifully crying baby blinked deep blue eyes up at his father, and Jim grimaced at the wetness dripping onto his hand. “When’s the last time you changed his towel?”
    “I ain’t changing no dirty towel, that’s Hank’s job. I feed him his slop and beat him ‘til he spits, but Hank does the towels.”
    Shaking his head, hiding a grin, Jim carried the baby up to his room. He discovered that the baby’s towel, gown, and blanket were wet, and it was necessary to change everything. The stack of clean towels was vanishing at an alarming rate, and he knew that neither Woods or Hank would volunteer for the job of washerwoman.
    Picking up the now dry baby, Jim walked back down the stairs and headed toward the kitchen. A row of dirty baby bottles lined the dry sink, like bottles set up for target practice.
    Balancing the baby on his shoulder, Jim opened a tin can of Murdock’s Liquid Food, and poured it into one of the remaining clean bottles. Prying the rubber nipple onto the bottle was a two-handed job that he managed to do with one hand, an elbow, and the corner of the sink.
    “We got problems coming, boy.” Jim sat in the rocker in the corner of the kitchen and held the baby in the crook of his arm. The infant grasped greedily at the nipple placed in his mouth, sucking hungrily. “I got you to worry about and roundup going on. Pretty soon there’s going to be branding, worming, culling. How am I supposed to do it all?”
    Looking up with big, blue eyes, the baby blinked as if in response. “Breed says those nesters are still down in the south line shack, a whole family staking a claim to my land. I’m going to have to go tomorrow and convince them to move on.”
    The baby squeaked in protest when Jim pulled the nipple from his mouth and raised him to his shoulder. Patting him gently as the doctor had instructed, Jim waited until the child had burped. Jim had found out the hard way, with a night spent walking the floor while the baby screamed in his ear, what would happen if he failed to accomplish this task.
    “You’re not in danger of starving, youn’en,” Jim muttered, returning the crying baby to the crook of his arm. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say that this is as close to magic as it comes. All I got to do to stop your noise is shove this nipple in your mouth.”
    The baby sucked noisily, smacking his lips as he gulped. “So, what am I going to do? Doc’s had the announcement posted in town for a housekeeper since the day you were born, but nobody’s interested in coming way out here. You’re about out of clean drawers, roundup is going on, the nesters are nesting, and Hank and Woods are threatening to find another place to sit around all day. We got us a real problem, and all you can do is gulp your dinner.”
    The blue eyes batted with sleep. “That’s right, boy, sleep on it. Maybe a solution will come about midnight, when you decide it’s time to eat again. You’ve been here for ten days, and I haven’t had a decent night’s sleep since then. How one little bitty boy can cause such a ruckus is beyond me.”
    Jim set the bottle on the table and put his son against his shoulder. He lightly patted the tiny back as he made his way up the stairs. Satisfied that the child had expelled the built-up gas, Jim laid him on his stomach as the doctor had instructed. He watched indulgently as the baby squirmed until his knees were beneath him, his padded bottom in the air. Placing a light blanket over him, Jim left the room.
    Exhaustion had become a part of his life since the night of Melanie’s disappearance. It had him dragging his feet by bedtime each night, and still dragging them when he got up in the morning. He knew that