Read Arizona Territory for Free Online Page B

fish.”
    â€œI’ll do that. Where is your brother?”
    â€œHe’s treeing coons with a hound tonight.”
    â€œHe treeing very many?”
    â€œNo. But he sells their fur for a quarter when he gets one.”
    â€œI’ll find out if she fishes.”
    â€œThanks. I like her.”
    When he caught up with Liz, Susie had her cornered.
    â€œYou know this is my sister, Liz?”
    â€œOh, we met earlier.”
    â€œWhere’s your husband?”
    â€œGallup, New Mexico, with a herd. In snowy weather, he and Victor team up to make the monthly cattle drive.”
    â€œWe sell cattle each month to the Navajos. Susie and Sarge have the ranch about sixty miles northeast of here,” he explained.
    â€œYou didn’t drive over here?” Chet asked Susie.
    She shook her head. “No, a cowboy brought me and the baby over in a buckboard. The boy is asleep. I’ll show him off in the morning.”
    Liz shook her head. “You all are so busy up here. I met Robert and Betty who do the logging up on the mountain. And there is Reg and Lucy who have another ranch up higher than here. They have a baby girl?”
    â€œYes, Carla. And you met May and Hampt.”
    â€œOh, Chet, you have such a large family. My poor head is swimming.”
    He hugged her. “You see why I had to bring you back here?”
    She quickly nodded. “Your man, Jesus, is coming in on the stage tomorrow night. Anita asked if she could go meet him. She is a very nice young lady. He obviously impressed her quite a bit in Nogales.”
    â€œIf she wants to stay up that late tomorrow night, I can arrange it.”
    She hugged his arm tight. “Your people are so nice to me, and I feared the very worst.” She wagged her head from side to side. “They might think, what is this brassy girl from Mexico doing here? I know Marge has not been gone very long, and they might not like me.”
    â€œI know. I wondered, too. But she would have wanted this for me. She was such a bighearted woman. This would please her, that I don’t have to raise our son alone. And that I won’t be alone. But you don’t have to compete with her. Be the butterfly that I met on the river. The woman I sealed this deal with in the hay. Damn, oh, damn, that had to be witchcraft. I haven’t passed a haystack since that you don’t come into mind.”
    She squeezed her eyes shut hard. “That is so funny. I wanted to impress you and I did. Good. I recall thinking once—If he thinks I will love him for the price of a damn horse, I will go home and let him break my heart.”
    â€œYes, you shocked me with those words. I knew at once what you meant. Someday, you’ll meet JD’s wife, Bonnie. She’s the one I rescued with those horses. I told her what you said and she said you were a special person, and she hasn’t even met you.”
    â€œYou’ve lived in my mind the last four weeks. Oh, I have rehearsed that day over and over. I saw you take your hat off when I stepped out of that coach and I . . .” She cupped her hands to his ear. “This is terrible to say. I about peed in my underwear.”
    He smiled. “Really?”
    She laughed. “Oh, yes. Have you ever seen a horse for the first time and that minute you had to buy him?”
    â€œRegardless of the price?”
    â€œRegardless.”
    Susie came up to them. “Excuse me, Liz. He’s our leader and, at such gatherings, we ask him to bless us all. He isn’t real long winded, but we count on him to find the words. Chet, would you pray for all of us, and for your future wife, here tonight?”
    The room quieted.
    â€œLord, we wish to thank you for once again bringing us together to meet and greet Elizabeth and Anita into our fold. Since Texas, we have expanded with several newborns and new members. Lord, we appreciate your grace you have on all of us. We are grateful for your forgiveness