[Texas Rangers 05] - Texas Vendetta Read Online Free PDF Page A

Shannon that anytime he wants to be a Ranger again, he just needs to let me know. He’s welcome in this company.”
    “I’ll tell him, but he’s had more than his share of trouble. I think now he just wants to be a farmer.”
    Scooter was carrying wood and dropping it into a pile near the cook’s fire pit. Andy pitched in to help him. Scooter did not thank him verbally, but his eyes showed he was pleased. He said, “Soon as I get done fetchin’ wood, I’m goin’ fishin’. I never got to do no fishin’ till I come to this camp.”
    “You like fishin’, do you?”
    “It’s about the most fun thing I ever done.” The boy had never been given much chance for fun, riding with a criminal father and his father’s lawless companions. When he tried to read he followed the lines with his finger, mouthed the words slowly, and often gave up in frustration. What little writing he could do was in block letters, the words so badly misspelled that it was a struggle to decipher their meaning.
    Andy said, “I never did any fishin’ either before I went to live with Rusty Shannon. The Comanches leaned to buffalo meat.”
    “Somethin’ else I’d like to do someday is hunt buffalo. I’ll bet that’d be fun.”
    “I was too young to ride with the hunters. They made me stay with the women and children. We skinned out the meat after the hunters got through. That was the work part, not the fun part.”
    “I ever get the chance, I’m goin’ to kill me a buffalo.”
    Andy shook his head. “You may never get the chance. They say hunters have scattered all over the Plains, killin’ for nothin’ but the hides. Pretty soon there won’t be any buffalo left.”
    “How come the Indians don’t stop them?”
    “They’ve tried, but there’s too many hunters. The army has driven most of the Indians to reservations. Tryin’ to teach them to farm and eat beef.” Sadness fell over him. “The ones I knew are too proud to take to the plow. I don’t know what’ll become of them.”
    “You ever think about goin’ up yonder to see them?”
    Andy dropped an armful of wood and looked northward past the river. “Sometimes. I’ve got lots of friends there. But I’ve got a few enemies, too.”
    “Take me with you. I’ll help you fight your enemies.”
    “Maybe someday.” Andy dusted himself off. “I’d best go see after my horse.”
    Scooter grinned. “I’ll catch a fish for your supper.”
    Andy tousled the boy’s unkempt hair. “Just what I’ve been hopin’ for.”
    Farley was brushing his horse’s back. He frowned as Andy approached. “You’re wastin’ your time tryin’ to reform that dogie kid. He’s got a taint in his blood. It’s waitin’ for a chance to bust out like a boil on the butt.”
    “It doesn’t have to. If we treat him right …”
    “I knew some folks who tried to make a pet out of a coyote pup. The wild blood always showed through. They finally had to shoot it.”
    “People told Rusty the same thing about me.”
     
     
    Escorting prisoners carried a degree of risk. The more severe the crime and the probable punishment, the more the risk. Andy had little concern over Bransford, who had shown his fearsome reputation to be all smoke and no fire. However, he had misgivings about Landon. The captain’s information was that Landon and his kin were carrying on a blood feud with a family named Hopper. Family feuds in Texas could be long-lasting, and deadly as a den of snakes. Landon had waited for and shot one Ned Hopper on a lonely country road. Cornered by the Hopper-controlled law, he had wounded a deputy sheriff and made his escape, traveling west to seek help from his brother Dick. He had not considered that the telegraph was faster than the horse.
    “You-all watch him,” the captain warned as they prepared to leave early the next morning. “Don’t give him any slack just because he’s Dick Landon’s brother.”
    Farley showed no concern. “If he makes a false move, it’ll be his