Dorothy Garlock Read Online Free PDF Page A

he was sure he had their attention. “The last of our party arrived today, and we’ll be heading out in the morning. Some of you have heard this before, but I’ll say it all again. This is going to be a hard, fast trip. I’m hoping to make it to California in fifty to sixty days. I’m thinking if the Butterfield stage can make it in thirty, we can do it in fifty. We’ll be going over a well-traveled trail and will have army escort for part of the way. Now I don’t reckon anybody has gone across country before with twenty-two unmarried women. We would’ve had twenty-four, but two have been sent back. I’ll not put up with cat fights, shirking, or whoring. I want that understood right now. If
any of you get the notion to make eyes at the Army, you better forget that, too. The men in Coopertown raised the money to send me back here to fetch you. They paid to outfit this train to bring you back and, by God, that’s what I’m going to do. They’ll at least get a chance to see you and to court you. The rest will be up to you and to them.” He put his hat back on his head and pulled the brim down over his eyes. He was facing in Tucker’s direction, and she could almost feel the impact of his sharp, gray eyes.
    “This trip will be no picnic. It’s the middle of April, and we need to get going before the water holes dry up. It’s going to take guts and grit to get there. We’ll cross the Pecos at Fort Lancaster, then move on to Fort Stockton. We’ll travel through a dreary, desolate country, where nothing lives but Indians, snakes, and renegade traders usually called comancheros. You can expect to see some dreadful things. We might not all make it. You’ll never go to bed without a thorough search for a snake, a tarantula, or a scorpion. The wind will blow, the sun will cook your skin. We may run into a cyclone or a hailstorm. For certain we’ll run into hostiles.”
    For the first time a nagging doubt, or rather apprehension, clouded Tucker’s mind. What had she brought Laura into? Lucas gave her no time to think; he was speaking again.
    “I know I’m painting a grim picture, but I want you all to know what to expect. If any of you want to back out, now is the time to do it.” He stood with his arms folded, his feet spread. “I’ve put together a good
bunch of experienced men. We’ll have the best scout west of the Pecos. I’ve ridden many a trail with Buck Garrett and would trust him with my life. Mustang will lead out each day in the grub wagon. The rest of the wagons will rotate so one isn’t eating the dust all the time. Chores have been divided up. Some of you will cook. Those of you who are going to drive a team will not be expected to cook or gather firewood. Later we’ll put a couple of slings under the wagons and firewood can be picked up along the way. It’s scarcer the farther west we go. There’s no need for any of you to be sprucing yourselves up to look pretty. Save that until you get to California. If any of you have britches, wear ’em. Those of you who don’t have britches, make some out of an old skirt. I want all of you in pants by the time we leave Fort McKavett. Put your hair up under a hat. I don’t want some Apache Indian or renegade comanchero finding out this is a train of women; I don’t think I need to tell you why. If any of you have anything to say, now is the time to say it.”
    For a while the scene around the campfire was suspended in silence. The people seemed to be mesmerized by the man standing before them. Tucker glanced quickly at Laura. She was facing Lucas, her lips parted, an excited look on her face.
    “We’ll be up an hour before dawn,” Lucas said, “and leave at first light. We’ll noon on cold . . . tucker.” Tucker thought he hesitated just a fraction before he said that. “We don’t stop till sundown. That’s all.”

    It was a quiet, subdued group of women that got to their feet. Each was thinking her own thoughts and wondering at the