Heart Of Texas (Historical Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page A

we have to make those repairs?"
    She nodded at Jenny, who was scrambling over
the side of the wagon. When she dropped to the
ground and ran toward the house as fast as her
little legs would take her, Casey answered her
brother. "I have in my possession forty-seven dollars. In the letter Papa got from that attorney, Mr.
Murdock, he wrote that we were to come to his
office as soon as we arrived. The letter was mailed
from a town called Mariposa Springs. I think it's
possible that Uncle Bob may have left us in debt,
and there may even be back taxes to pay on the
ranch."
    Sam looked around. "It certainly doesn't appear to have been a prosperous ranch."
    "No, it doesn't."
    jenny came running back, laughing with delight. "This is the best house I have ever seen!
And you will never guess what! We get to live with
chickens!" She was so excited, she was jumping
up and down. "I saw them right there in the
house!"

    Casey and Sam exchanged glances as Sam lifted
Jenny up in his arms.
    "Our welcoming committee," Sam observed
with irony.
    "Chickens," Casey said in a stunned voice.

     

Casey stepped over broken glass and scattered debris to reach the rickety porch step. A slight
breeze caught the door, and it creaked back and
forth with only one good hinge to hold it in place.
Her heart plummeted as she stepped into the
dark interior. There was no furniture at all, and
she could not identify the awful odor that permeated the air, making her want to gag.
    She moved cautiously through the first room,
holding her hand over her nose. She didn't take
a deep breath until she moved into the kitchen.
She rushed for the window, which was stuck. She
pushed and tugged until she was finally able to
shove it open, letting in fresh air.
    She hung herself out the window for a moment.
Then she glanced about the kitchen. Mercifully,
there was a large cookstove and an open hearth.
It must have once been a nice kitchen. There
even appeared to have been water at one time, because there was a broken pump handle on the
floor.

    She backtracked through the front room and
found what must have been her uncle's bedroom.
It was now dreary, dismal, and empty. With a
heavy heart, she returned to the main room and
almost stumbled over a ladder that led up to a
loft, which must have served as a second bedroom. At the moment it seemed to be serving as
a chicken roost.
    Jenny had been right. Huddled in the rafters,
clucking their annoyance at being disturbed, was
a flock of chickens! She closed her eyes and tried
not to think about what she had just stepped in
that squished beneath her shoe. She tried to
imagine the house as it might once have been,
but she could think only about the work it would
take to make it livable once more.
    Sam stood in the doorway, holding jenny's
hand. "The barn is in bad shape and will need a
lot of repairing. The corrals are not too bad,
though-they just need a few boards replaced.
And, Casey, there is a small two-room cabin on
the other side of the bunkhouse, and someone is
living in it. There was a pot of coffee on the back
of the stove, and it was still hot. But no one
seemed to be around at the moment."
    "I wanted to wait for them. Sam wouldn't let
me," Jenny said, jerking her hand from her
brother's.
    "It's probably someone who worked for Uncle Bob." Casey tried to gather her wits about her.
"It's too late to do anything tonight, so it looks
like we'll be spending another night under the
stars."

    Jenny had broken away from Sam and was
headed for the ladder. "I'm going to sleep with
the chickens."
    Sam caught up with her and swung her into his
arms, but not before she had stepped in chicken
droppings.
    Casey groaned as she untied her sister's shoes
and held them away from her nose. "The first
thing I want you to do tomorrow is to fix that
door. I'll be evicting the chickens."
    Jenny seemed to be the only one who was
happy about their situation. This was certainly not
the