Travis Read Online Free PDF Page B

wagon with two worn-out old horses.
    Violet hated to even ask. “Ma’am, we’re orphans and we’re all hungry. Could you spare anything? Maybe some milk for the baby?”
    The old woman looked sad. “I can give you a little bread, that’s all. If we don’t get some land in this run, I don’t know what we’re gonna do.” She held out a partial loaf, and Violet took it and divided it among the children.
    Kessie looked at her with a keen eye. “Violet, you ain’t gonna eat none?”
    “I—I’m not hungry,” Violet lied. “You four eat it. There’ll be something better along the way.”
    It was dark now as they started back down the line of campfires. They paused at another wagon and two men hunched over a campfire scowled at them. The smell of brewing coffee wafted to Violet’s nose and she wished she had a cup of it. The men appeared to be eating a hunk of beef they had roasted over the fire.
    Violet said, “Please, we’re orphans. Could you spare just enough for the little ones?”
    “Orphans, huh?” one man snarled. “Why are you begging? Why don’t you get jobs instead of asking honest citizens for handouts?”
    “Never mind,” Violet said. “Come on, kids.”
    As they walked away, Violet felt the heavy responsibility of her big, new family. Just how was she going to feed these kids? In desperation, she decided if she had to, she’d wait until the camp was asleep and try stealing food. She’d hate doing that, but these kids were hungry.
    Up ahead was another camp. There were two horses tied away from the campfire, a gray and an Appaloosa grazing contentedly. A big man lay stretched out under blankets by the fire. A black pot boiled merrily and it smelled like stew. What’s more, she could smell coffee.
    They walked up and stood by the sleeping man, who was still in shadow. A spotted dog with a stubby tail raised its head and began to bark at them. The man stirred slightly.
    Violet cleared her throat. “Please, mister, would you be willing to share your food? We’re awfully hungry.”
    “Huh? What?” The big man sat up suddenly and stared at her, evidently having trouble focusing his eyes.
    Oh, dear. Violet recognized him. It was the Texas Ranger she’d seen in the gunfight earlier this afternoon.
    The dog rose up from beside the fire and growled at them, but Violet was too hungry to be deterred. “Please, mister, we’re all orphans. Can you help me and my brothers and sisters?”
     
     
    Travis had a tremendous headache as he tried to focus his eyes. Growler ran toward the children. “Watch out,” he yelled. “Growler don’t like people much.”
    The young girl in the blue dress put the blond toddler down and the baby stopped crying and walked uncertainly toward the dog. “Puppy. My puppy.”
    As Travis watched in amazement, the old dog looked at the toddler, then began to wag his stubby tail. Growler walked over to the baby and began licking her tear-stained face.
    “Well, I’ll be damned!” Travis said.
    “Please, sir, I must insist you don’t cuss in front of the kids.”
    He took a good look at the straggly crew: an indignant brown-haired girl about thirteen, a thin crippled white boy leaning on a crutch, an Oriental kid, a homely little girl with frizzy red hair and buck teeth, and the blond toddler who now had her arms wrapped around Travis’s dog, her eyes all swollen and red.
    “What’s wrong with her?” he asked.
    “Nothing.” The oldest girl shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe she misses her mother, that’s all.”
    “Where are your parents?” His wrist was throbbing and he wished they’d all go away and let him sleep.
    “We don’t have any,” answered the oldest girl. “We’re hungry. Can we have some of your stew?”
    He hesitated. Feeding stray children might be like feeding a stray dog. That’s how he had ended up with Growler. He sure didn’t need a ready-made family.
    “Are you deaf, mister?” the girl asked.
    “No. I don’t feel like talking.