The Return of Caulfield Blake Read Online Free PDF Page B

an intruder.”
    â€œIntruder?” Hannah cried. “You grew up on this ranch. You built half the house with your own hands. You owe it to the boys, to yourself to stay. And I wouldn’t have sent the letter if we didn’t need you. Marsh,” she said, turning away from Blake, “will you fetch Carter and Zach? Tell them they have a visitor.”
    Marsh frowned. Reluctantly he started back to the house.
    â€œYou have to understand, Caulie,” Hannah said quietly as she led the way to the veranda. “We’ve been very happy.”
    â€œHe seems a good man. Why did you send for me? He appears willin’ and able to deal with the problem.”
    â€œMarsh is good and kind and gentle. He’s got a natural way with growing things. But he’s never fired a shot in anger, not even at a prowling bobcat. He wouldn’t know how to answer Henry Simpson.”
    â€œAnd I would?”
    â€œYes,” she said sadly. “You did once.”
    â€œAnd it cost me everythin’ I ever held dear.”
    â€œI know,” Hannah said, looking away. “Why is it we do and say things we don’t mean, Caulie? Why do we let pride and duty get in the way of what’s really important?”
    â€œDuty is important, Hannah.”
    â€œNot that duty. If only you could have turned away. But you couldn’t. I know that. You never back down. Simpson knows that, too. He remembers. And that’s why you’ve got to stop him damming the creek.”
    â€œCan’t be done, not the way you want,” Blake said, getting to his feet and pacing back and forth beside the bench. “I saw him today. He’s older, but the hate’s still there. None of it’s mellowed. The fightin’s got to be done in a way he understands. He knows power. He respects it.”
    â€œI wish there was some other way.”
    â€œYou do, I do, Dix does, but there isn’t any other way. We’re not fightin’ some kind of crusade, Hannah. This isn’t one of your King Arthur stories. It’s real.”
    â€œI’m afraid they’ll kill you this time.”
    â€œIf they can.”
    â€œSimpson’s got a lot of men. He practically owns the town.”
    â€œAll my life someone’s been after me, Hannah. I’m still here.”
    â€œI’ve missed you,” she said. “I don’t see how we could ever have drifted apart.”
    â€œThat was Simpson’s doin’, too. Hannah, I never stopped lovin’ you.”
    â€œIt would have been better if you had,” she whispered. “I’ve got another husband now. He’s a good man, Caulie. I don’t want to hurt him.”
    â€œI understand. I’m only here to stop Simpson.”
    â€œCaulie, I’m hoping you’ll have a chance to get to know the boys again. They’re so much like you. Zach rides like a devil, and Carter’s gotten so tall. You’ll hardly recognize him.”
    â€œYou’ve done a good job with ’em then. And the little ones?” He asked, pointing to the girl in particular.
    â€œHer name’s Sally. She was five last week. The twins are Todd and Wylie. They’re almost four.”
    â€œYou always did want a big family.”
    â€œA ranch takes a lot of hands.”
    Blake laughed, remembering how she’d said the same thing years before when they’d held hands in the oak grove.
    â€œOf course five seems enough,” she said, pointing to the lines of washing hanging behind the house.
    â€œWhat you want done, Hannah, won’t be easy. It means startin’ with the dam. Simpson might deal with you on it. More likely he’ll just squeeze.”
    â€œHow?”
    â€œBlock the markets. Cut your credit.”
    â€œYou seem to know a lot about this.”
    â€œI’ve seen it before. Big ranchers never seem to be content with what they have. They want more.”
    â€œSo first we