Maude March on the Run! Read Online Free PDF

unseat their riders.
    I ran outside, only to have Marion yank me back by my shirt collar.
    “Don't go running over there, Sallie.”
    “My sister,” I cried, near wild. “Maude!”
    She came out of the door across the street, her arms pulled behind her, a burly man pushing her ahead of him. My head swam at the sight; I might could have fainted. He was the law, I had no doubt.
    Maude's face looked burned from the sun, but I knew better. It was hard not to care when people you talked to every day watched you get arrested.
    I drew breath to yell again, but Marion put a hand over my mouth and hauled me back into the dim of the livery. From there we watched the surge of the midday dinner crowd as they spilled into the street, making Maude the head of her own parade.
    Behind us, the anvil rang like a warning bell come late.
    “Marion,” I said behind his hand, and he loosened me somewhat. “What will we do?”
    “I'm thinking, Sallie.”
    “Well, what are you thinking?”
    “Saddle me a horse.” He hurried off after the crowd following Maude.
    I was shaking as I brought out Marion's horse and mine, the only horse that belonged to me and Maude free and clear. By the time I had those horses tied to a rail so I could throw a saddle on them, the shaking had left me and I was thinking.
    I brought out the horse Uncle Arlen let Maude ride, the big sorrel with a blaze on its face. Most of the lawmen who came to town for Black Hankie's trial were still in town. It didn't take much of a leap for me to figure on those fellows agreeing to hang my sister just as quick. Save themselves another trip.
    There was no question of leaving her in there.
    Beef came to the front of the barn, wondering what the gunshot meant. “You all going for a ride?” he said, seeing what I was about.
    He had to give me a hand with the saddles. The horses weren't bothered by gunshots when we rode out to hunt, but they had been in the stalls all morning and so were in high spirits as well as somewhat startled.
    “I couldn't stop in the midst of fixing that plow blade,” Beef said, still talking about the gunshot, “but it sure got my curiosity up.”
    “Probably some fellow working off a drink or two,” I said to him. He was a sweet fellow, and I didn't like to lie to him. Ididn't care to tell him Maude had been arrested. He would find out sooner or later, but later was better.
    I hoped he wouldn't think too poorly of us for keeping our secrets. He'd liked Maude a great deal.
    “Where did Marion go?”
    “To get Maude,” I said. “We've been meaning to tell you. We're planning to follow Uncle Arlen.”
    “There's a good idea,” Beef said. “I didn't want to say nothing, but I'm afraid Arlen used up a cat's nine lives on his last trip.”
    As we saddled the horses, I said, “Should anyone come looking for Marion or me, don't tell them which direction we took. If they ask after Uncle Arlen, say he told you he wanted to see his sister, Ruthie, back east.”
    “How long ago did you leave?” Beef said to me. He was a sharper nail than he looked.
    I didn't want him to get into trouble unnecessarily. “Today will do well enough,” I said.
    As I tied my sack to the saddle horn, I noticed the jar of bean soup, which would soon grow cold. I pointed it out to Beef. “Maude brought you dinner. It smelled good to me.”
    “Much obliged.”
    I ran to the closet at the back of the livery for my shotgun, then snatched up the sack of Maude's own molasses cookies I'd put there early in the morning to keep them safe from the chipmunk. I didn't know how long Marion planned to sit outside the jail, but I didn't like going without a meal.
    Seeing I didn't need any further help, Beef went back to fixing the plow. His fire had died down some, and he had no sooner started to work the bellows than Marion came in.
    Beef kept his back turned to us, I noticed. What he didn't know he couldn't tell. My appreciation for him was growing by the moment.
    Marion knew