The Diary of Jerrod Bently - J.W. Osborn (mobi ebook reader TXT) 📗

rifle.” Victoria got her friend a glass of cold water and sat down with her. “What happened to Alex?”, she asked.
“The robber hit him in the head with the butt of his rifle,” Fran replied worriedly “The doctor says I can take him home in a little while.” Victoria looked up at Jake Titus and then at Doc. “I hope you find the man who did this,” she said.
Doc tipped his hat. “Don’t worry , ma’am,” he said confidently “We will get him.” She watched after the two men as they left her shop and then turned back to Fran.
“Who was that man with Jake?”, Fran asked as she took a drink of the water Victoria had given her.
“Says his name is Elliot Stevens,” Victoria replied “Just rode into town this morning. He sure is a handsome fellow.”
“I’ll say,” Fran replied wickedly. Victoria smiled as she rose from her seat. “Let me get my shawl and I will go over to Doc O’Brien’s with you.” she said. “Poor Alex. I am sure he is upset.”
“He has been on the job for a month and never missed a day of work, and was never late coming in, “ Fran replied “Now he says he is done with it and will go back to punching cattle.”

In the dusty sherif’s office, Doc raised his right hand and agreed to up hold the laws , such as they were, of the Oklahoma territory. Jake Titus rummaged through the desk drawer and found a silver star badge.
“You’ll be needin’ this,” he said as he handed it to Doc. Doc looked at it for a moment as it lay in the palm of his hand, thinking of past. The law had been his calling and now he would own it again. “Well, lets get after it,” he said as he pinned the star to the breast pocket of his black shirt..
“Yup,” Titus replied as he reached for his gun belt which hung in its place within reach on the wall just behind the desk. “Can’t have Miss Frances all upset over her little brother like that.” As Doc watched out the window he saw a man on a big sorrel ride up to the hitching post and dismount. “Well. I’ll be a monkey’s butt,” he said “That’s Nate Travis. I haven’t seen him in while.”
Now, a few new folks had ridden into the city limits of Portersville , one of them was Ranger Travis. He had trailed his brother for quite some time, but Ned was crafty and had been able to evade him.


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“You WHAT!!”, Sam shouted at Scrub Pot. The old man withstood his grand daughter’s rage. “I made the best decision,” he replied stoically. “You will have to accept what I have arranged.”
She was furious. “You have no right to make plans behind my back,” she spit “Especially when it comes to such things as who I may or may not marry one day. Little Fox is in need of a wife and I tell you flat out, Grandfather, that woman is NOT ME.”
“I know,” Scrub Pot replied calmly.
“What?”
“You heard me, Samantha Ann.” he said “Little Fox is not for you.”
“But you sent him off looking for horses to buy me with,” she stated “Needless to say, I am not for sale.”
“That is what I did,” Scrub Pot replied “And as he looks for them, his fire will cool and he will meet someone else. What I did, I have done for your future.”
“I can only imagine,” she said sarcastically.
“Come,” Scrub Pot said “I will show you.” Sam was burning with anger and feeling that her grandfather had threatened her independence as she followed him back to the wagons. There standing next to Wakeeze was the mare, Deseret Rose.
She stopped short, staring at her as though she could not believe she was real. “That mare and Trouble are your future, Sam,” he said “The moment I saw her I knew that she matched him in every way. She is young and will breed well. “ Sam never cried, even when she was a little girl. She was Indian stubborn and never gave in, even when it hurt, but as she walked over to the mare, tears were in her eyes. “How did you?”, she started to say as the mare nickered and raised her head from the grass to sniff her out stretched hand.
“Some things are meant to be, Granddaughter,” Scrub Pot said “The mare is one of them.”
“But you cheated Little Fox,” she said.
“No,” Scrub Pot replied “Wolf Standing has owed me for a filly he took last year. I took Deseret Rose as payment of the debt. He will understand and honor it.”
“Little Fox has been my friend for a long time,” Sam said quietly “as she watched the mare grazing peacefully next to the wagon. She could almost see a foal standing next to her. “I can’t wait to get this job done and get her and Trouble back to my ranch.”, she said. “But I am not marrying Little Fox.”
“I do not expect you will, Grand daughter,” Scrub Pot replied “Now go on , I have work to do.”

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Scrub Pot set about organizing his wagon , taking note that he was down on all his supplies. He hoped that Doc would not be too long collecting all the things he had sent him on ahead for. Humming to himself, he turned from the back of his wagon and run smack into Bird That Talks. How long had she been standing there? He did not like the look in her eyes as she gazed up at him. “Hello,” she said “I have not been able to visit you lately. My, that is a beautiful mare you have! Is she yours? I must ride her sometime. She is just like a mare I had years ago and...” Scrub Pot threw his hands over his ears. “Why are you here, woman!”, he demanded “I told you to go back to your people and leave me alone.”
She acted a though she had never heard him. “Who was that you were talking to,” she said , a sting of jealousy in her voice. “You have no respect for me at all, as you did not introduce me.” Scrub Pot glared at her, his patience growing thinner by the second, but then, he remembered Angus Watson.
”I did not mean to be rude,” he said to her, speaking in their native language “ I have had a bad day. That was the ram rod you saw. Dodge is his name.”
“Oh,” Bird That Talks replied. “I thought I saw a girl.”
“No girl., “ he growled “Just Sam Dodge. Do you have a moment, so we could talk?”, he asked trying to keep his annoyance to himself.
“Of course,” the fat squaw replied “I have all the time in the world. Why the other night, we came upon a man. My two sons took his horse and everything. I talked to him for a while, but by morning he had disappeared. I still have his boots. “ Scrub Pot wished he could disappear too, but he had a job to do. Sam was the only person capable of bringing the herd into Abilene and there was no doubt in his mind that she could do it on her own. Watson was dragging them down and had proved to be totally ineffective in his job as trail boss. The men were getting disgusted with him and were starting to rally around Sam. Scrub Pot knew what he had to do since there was no way an Indian cook could fire the trail boss. They had a long way to go and bad weather was sure to come and he did not want anything to stand between Sam and her success. “There is someone I would like you to meet,” he said to the rotund woman, who was now wearing a man’s boots instead of the moccasins he’d seen her in earlier. Bird That Talks batted her dark eyes. “Who?”, she chirped “A friend of yours? She followed him to the front of the wagon and took note of the red stains all over the front of the canvas cover. “What happened?” she asked as she touched the sticky mess. “Don’t ask,” Scrub Pot growled “Sit down here by the wagon and watch Wakeeze and that mare for me. I will go find my friend