Jodi's Journey Read Online Free PDF Page A

for the night.
    He shook himself. He didn't dry off. Instead,
he held his head for a minute as the sun filtered through the
room.
    He thought seriously about the little lady
that had offered him a job. She had startled him with her sharp
tongue and offer of work. The last thing he thought he'd hear, a
job…driving cattle!
    She was one tough little hombre. Any woman
agreeing to marry him had to be flat out of their mind, though. And
him too. Why had he made such an offer? The answer was clear. She
wouldn't survive two nights on the trail. They'd have her for
supper. Not that drovers were obliged to treat a woman badly on the
trail. It was the opposite, in fact, but an unmarried lady, with no
man appointed to protect her, well, it just wasn't done. The men
would be all over themselves trying to please her and forget they
were herding cows. What a calamity that would be. What had she been
thinking, driving a herd up north? She was a woman, for goodness
sake...and men of any worth knew that a woman on a cattle drive was
asking for trouble.
    But despite it all, he admired her spunk. Her
courage hadn't failed her. He remembered that look on her face, as
though it pained her to ask him. He hadn't seen pride like that
since before the war.
    He knew how much courage it took to come and
talk to him. He wasn't blind to his reputation. So why had the
woman bothered?
    The stench of whiskey wafted through the room
and Hunter glanced about for the bottle someone had left in the
room the night before. There was no place to put it, though, so he
left it sitting on the dresser by the bed. He hated smelling
whiskey, wondered why anyone would want to poison themselves with
it. But he knew it wasn't his business.
    Jodi Parker thought he was a drunk. Probably
most people in Esser Crossing thought that, but they didn't know
him. No one in this town knew Hunter Johnson.
    His mind was running rampant this morning,
flitting from one thing to the next. Yet, he had to admit, he was
excited.
    He was dead broke and he'd taken a job to
herd cattle of all things. If Bonnie hadn't made the trade, he
wouldn't have gotten a good night's sleep.
    The trip to Round Rock would be long and
hard, but not half as long as the herd would make. Jodi Parker had
no idea what she was in for. Storms, Indians, mean-hearted towns,
and cattle. Dang cattle were enough to contend with.
    Still, he'd taken the job, and he'd see it
through. He needed the money.
    He missed his deer hide jacket, but a good
night's sleep was more important if a man had to work, and sleeping
in the hay sometimes didn't cut it.
    After washing up as best he could, he went to
the livery stable for his horse.
    The blacksmith had shoed his horse. He owed
him. He couldn't pay. Surely he could work something out.
    “I'm driving a herd through to Kansas. I'll
pay you when I get back,” Hunter said as he brushed aside the
blacksmith and went straight to his horse.
    “I am not running a credit store, friend.
You'll pay before you leave,” the big man said with a strong
accent, and eyed Hunter with every intention of that promise.
    “Can't. I don't have it.” Hunter figured his
honest candor was the only way to solve the issue.
    “Then you'll work it off,” the man insisted,
coming to stand beside him and the horse, his mere physical
presence speaking for him.
    “Can't, I tell you. I've got to be in Round
Rock in two days,” he insisted, trying to side-step the man.
    “You'll work it off or you won't be riding.”
The man grabbed the reins and pushed Hunter to the other side of
the stall.
    Hunter sized the man up. He was much bigger,
but he had tackled such before and it seemed logical that he could
do it again. He made the first swing and was cut quickly to the
ground with a right hook. Hunter never saw it coming. He'd
misjudged his opponent.
    He saw stars before he was able to stand on
his feet again. “Reckon I'll work it off. Think a day would do
it?”
    The Swede looked him up and down, sent him