The Cowboy and the Cossack (Nancy Pearl's Book Lust Rediscoveries) Read Online Free PDF

showed how bad he felt about the whole thing.
    “I know you can’t put the Queen ashore,” Shad said. Then one side of his mouth muscled very slightly in the half grin, half frown he showed sometimes when he was thinking. “But we can get our longhorns onto the beach just outside town.”
    “How?” I asked. “Us and five hundred head gonna fly?”
    “No.” He turned to me. “But if any of our men or cattle haven’t learned how t’ swim, they damn well better learn fast when they hit that water.”

CHAPTER THREE
    P ERSONALLY , I wasn’t all too keen about getting into that black surging water in the middle of the night and swimming to a shore you couldn’t even see from where we were. But when Shad called the men on deck together and told them about jumping off the ship, I seemed overjoyed compared to some of the others.
    “Water is only to drink,” Big Yawn said with heavy finality, “not t’ get in.”
    “Ain’t never swam a stroke in m’ life,” Rufus Hooker muttered. “Wouldn’t be much good t’ anybody if I wuz drowned an’ dead.”
    “This is the way it’s gonna be,” Shad said. “Barum’s men’ll row our supplies ashore in small boats. Any man afraid of the water can go with ’em. But we’ll need about every hand we can get t’ drive those cattle t’ land through the dark.”
    “But Christ, boss,” Rufus complained, “if a fella can’t swim—”
    “You’ll be on horseback, Rufe, and your horse can swim,” Shad told him. “Just don’t let Bobtail’s nose or eyes go under water, and don’t let him turn belly-up under you. Either way he’ll panic and likely kick your head off. And if you do get unseated, grab ahold of his tail and he’ll pull you to shore.”
    Rufus thought about this, frowning sadly.
    Crab Smith took off his hat and scratched his head. “We’d follow you most damn anywhere, Shad, but I doubt if more’n half of us can swim more’n a doggy paddle. The water’s ice-cold an’ black as hell, and the idea of goin’ into it just plain scares me shitless! Maybe you ain’t scared of it, but—” His voice trailed off.
    “I know it’s spooky.” There was a quiet understanding in Shad’s voice. “So take a boat, Crab.”
    Sammy the Kid said flatly, “I don’t know about him, but I’m damn well takin’ a boat, and that’s that.”
    Shad nodded slightly. “No fault taken, Kid. So be it.”
    I had a sneaking hunch that Slim already knew the answer to the question he asked Shad now. “Can you swim, boss?”
    Shad shook his head just once. “No.”
    “Well, that’s sure good enough for me,” Slim said. “I ain’t about t’ take no boat then if you ain’t.” He turned to Crab. “Hell, we’re both at least a year past due for a bath anyhow.”
    Crab put his hat back on. “Okay, Shad,” he said unhappily, “I’ll go. But I still don’t like it.”
    Sammy the Kid turned and went over to the railing, his back to the rest of us.
    Shiny Joe called out, “Link an’ me can swim like catfish. We can keep an eye out f’r Crab an’ some a’ them who can’t.”
    Natcho was sitting in the chair that Yakolev had been using. He looked up now and smiled, his gleaming white teeth brilliant in contrast to his deeply tanned face and blue-black hair. “In Tampico I learned to swim before I could walk. And Chakko here is a strong swimmer too.”
    Chakko nodded.
    “With luck maybe we can make shore,” Old Keats said. “The thing I’m worried about is the cold. There’s still chunks of ice in that water. And it’s a good three-hundred-yard haul. A man could freeze.”
    “I’ll be the first one in, and I’ll let you know if it can be stood,” Shad said. “Doubt it’ll kill us. But my guess is it’ll be invigoratin’ as hell.”
    “Now that you got us humans convinced about how much sheer fun this swim is gonna be,” Slim said, “what I’m wonderin’ is, just how’re we gonna convince them longhorns t’ join along with us