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alert gaze noticed the interest of the others, particularly the two boys who were nearly grown. “You’re on my land.”
    “Well now, I don’t be knowin’ ‘bout that. There waren’t no signs up sayin‘ this land be yores. We found the cabin and figured someone had done decided to move on, so we claimed it for ours.”
    The man’s family had gathered behind him, and a quick count showed two adults and eight children ranging in age from a toddler still in towels to the two boys who were in their late teens. The woman, aged beyond her years, balanced the baby on her hip.
    “The line shack is mine. You’ll have to move on.”
    The man scratched his head beneath his battered hat and stared off into the distance. “I’d be happy to oblige you, but there ain’t nowhere for us to go, nor no money to go on.”
    Jim had expected this and had already decided to give the family a little money. It was much better than the alternative, which might result in the death of the father, then he’d feel responsible for the rest of the family. He had enough problems without adding these people to them.
    “How much do you think it would take?” Jim asked.
    “Oh, a hundret, maybe a little more.” The man looked slyly beneath lowered lids.
    An idea began to brew as Jim looked at the oldest girl. She wasn’t more than thirteen, but with this family of children he had little doubt that she knew more about child care than he ever would. He reached into his shirt pocket, already aware of the amount it contained.
    “I’ll work a deal with you.” He pulled out the bills and held them in sight of the man. “I’ll give you enough to get started, if you’ll agree to leave in the morning. I’d also be interested in talking to your oldest girl about a job at my ranch.”
    “Well now, there be possibilities in that, yes,
    sir’ee, thar just might be possibilities. Name’s George Evans, git down off ‘en that horse and sit a spell, and let’s do some talkin‘.”
    The man motioned for the others to go away as Jim dismounted. In the sparse shade of a cottonwood tree, they soon struck a deal. For fifty dollars, the man would pack up his family and leave, and the oldest girl would go back to the ranch with Jim.
    “Feb, go get yore sister. Tell her to pack her belongin’s, she’s goin‘ with Mr. Travis.”
    As the boy moved toward the cabin, George turned to Jim and smiled cordially. “She’s a mite peeked right now, it bein‘ her woman’s time and such, but she’s a good hard worker. Ain’t never had me much trouble outta her, and what I did was soon beat away.”
    Jim hadn’t thought his impression of the man could have gotten much lower, but it sank further with George’s lack of concern of his oldest daughter’s welfare. What kind of a man would let his child go off with a stranger, not knowing or caring how she would be treated?
    Her few possessions in a roll beneath her arm, the girl moved slowly out of the cabin, her hand on the wall as if in support. She wasn’t the same girl Jim had seen when he rode up. This one had been in the cabin until now.
    She was so tiny that at first Jim thought she was far too young for his purposes, but as she drew closer he realized that she was older than he thought. Her badly worn dress was too small,
    ending several inches above her bare feet and pulling snugly over breasts impossibly large for such a small frame. Still young, maybe fourteen or fifteen, but old enough to be responsible for his son.
    Her bewildered gaze rested on her father. “Pa, you’re sending me off with him?”
    “Don’t give me no sass, girl,” George said harshly.
    She looked with disbelief, first at Jim and then at her father. Pa had done many shady things, some of them despicable and a few she suspected were illegal, but she couldn’t believe he was doing this to her.
    “We’ll be movin‘ on come mornin‘. Say yore goodbyes to the youn’ens and head out. If’en Mr. Travis won’t let you on