Twilight in Texas Read Online Free PDF

kid down in Mexico. Wolf wouldn’t put it past the brothers to sell Callie Ann if they thought she’d bring a few dollars.
    Wolf shook his head. He didn’t even want to let the Digger brothers know they had a relative in town. Somehow they’d use the knowledge for their own purposes.
    He glanced at the clock. In thirty minutes, they were due to hang.
    A mass of blond curls poked out from beneath his coat. Round blue eyes blinked away sleep.
    “Morning,” he said, thinking she was cute as a shiny new button, but whoever taught the kid to talk pumped the churn a few too many times. “Are you hungry?”
    She nodded and slid down from the bench. “But I have to go to the privy first, then wash up and comb my hair.”
    “Can you do that by yourself?”
    She shook her head.
    “Well, who usually helps?”
    “Grandma.” Callie Ann looked like she was about to cry. “But they put her in a box and planted it in the ground. The next morning the sheriff talked a couple into taking me on a train to a big city. I can’t remember what their names were.”
    Wolf stood and motioned for her to lead the way out the door. “And…?” he encouraged as they walked along the street.
    Callie Ann thought for a minute. “And…when we got to a city, they walked with me to the stage place. They asked a woman named Mrs. Murphy to ride beside me to Austin since she was going the same way. She did, too. Even gave me apples and bread stuffed with butter and honey whenever I told her I was hungry.”
    She hurried ahead of him. “I didn’t talk to her much, though. Uncle Orson told me not to. He said she was Sunday honest.”
    “Uncle Orson?” Wolf tried to piece together what she’d said about the man last night. “Where did you say he was?”
    “I didn’t.” She peeked behind Wolf. “But he’s following us. You can’t see him because he’s in the shadows now. He doesn’t like to walk in the sun.”
    They reached the door to Molly’s store. Wolf tried the knob then pounded. By the time Molly answered, Callie Ann was doing a one-legged dance beside him.
    Molly’s gaze met his for a moment, then lowered to the child.
    “I…We…” He had no idea how to ask for her help in such a matter. He had no one else to turn to.
    Molly took Callie Ann’s hand and smiled down at her. “I understand. Come along, child.”
    Just before they disappeared upstairs, Molly glanced back at him and winked.
    He grumbled as if finding the child a great bother, but grinned once Molly was out of sight. He couldn’t help but wonder if the woman always woke up competing with the sun. She was so beautiful he didn’t understand why there weren’t suitors sleeping on her doorstep every night just to see her at dawn.
    Following his nose to the coffeepot in the kitchen, Wolf stepped behind the curtain. The bony old man Molly referred to as Ephraim sat at a table for two. He was so slim his clothes hung on him like a scarecrow’s. He held his head in his long spider-thin hands with blue veins as wide as his fingers.
    “Mornin’.” Wolf saw no sign he’d surprised the man and wondered if anything had in years.
    “Welcome. Want a cup?” Ephraim stood one joint at a time.
    “Thanks.” Wolf glanced at the kitchen chair and doubted it would hold his weight. “Sorry to bust in on you this early.”
    “I’ve spent my life in the service of the Donivans. Callers have always been welcome at any hour. Or at least they have been until recently. We’ve been having a few late at night that I’d like to wallop with my cane.”
    The ranger waited. He knew the old man had something he needed to say. Ephraim seemed to chewon the words before he spoke.
    A shaky hand poured coffee. When Ephraim returned to his chair, he looked up at Wolf with eyes as clear as fresh water.
    “She won’t tell you rangers, or anyone else, but Molly’s in trouble. Bad trouble, and for the life of me I can’t figure where it’s coming from.”
    Wolf cradled the cup and