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father."
    "How many head you run?"
    "Several hundred."
    "Where are they now?"
    "In another pasture. Across the river."
    "Herefords?"
    "And a few Angus. Prime beef. The hell of it is..." He grunted with the effort of stretching the wire.
    "Want me to do that?"
    "I can get it."
    Jack noticed that the older man's face was turning red from the effort, but he let it pass. "Hell of it is?" he prompted.
    "Too many vegetarians these days." He hammered the last nail into place.
    "The scourge of a beef cattle rancher." Jack let go of the cedar post, removed his hat, and fanned his face with it.
    Corbett reached for a thermal jug that he'd previously stowed in the notch of a cottonwood tree. Before taking a drink himself, he offered it to Jack. "Go ahead," Jack told him. Corbett drank directly from the spout, then handed the thermos to Jack.
    "Where'd you get your experience?" Corbett asked, once again using his handkerchief to blot his face.
    Jack recapped the thermos and put it back in the tree. "Everywhere."
    "You've worked ranches?"
    "I've done a little of everything."
    "Then you must come with plenty of references."
    "No, sir. None."
    Corbett came as close to a smile as he ever got, Jack thought. "You've got gall, Mr. Sawyer. I'll hand you that."
    "Call me Jack. Why do you say that?"
    "You ask me for a job, but you have no references."
    "Guess you'll just have to trust me."
    "Guess again," Corbett returned curtly as he bent down to gather his tools. After neatly replacing them in a metal box, he came to his full height, retrieved his thermos, then faced Jack. "I appreciate you helping Anna with her car if it was giving her trouble. And thanks for your help with the fence. But I won't be hiring you."
    As he headed across the pasture, Jack fell into step with him. "Mind if I ask why not?"
    "No, I don't mind you asking. And I don't mind telling you. I don't know you from Adam. You could rob me blind."
    "That would be pretty stupid. If I was going to do that, I wouldn't have introduced myself first."
    "I've got David and Anna's safety to think about."
    "Hiring me isn't going to endanger you or them."
    "I don't know that, do I?"
    Jack placed his hand on the other man's arm, halting him. Corbett glanced down at his hand and Jack immediately removed it. "All right, you don't know me. I'm a stranger that dropped out of nowhere. Yesterday I left a job in Corpus. If you want a reference you can call my boss there."
    "How come you left?"
    "I got ready to."
    "Just like that?"
    "That's the way I live."
    "Doesn't make you sound very reliable, does it, Mr. Sawyer?"
    He started moving again. Jack, undeterred, went with him. "As long as I'm here, I'll give you a full day's effort, every day. I have experience in all types of work because I've paid my way doing just about anything that was legal.
    "I've been a short-order cook and a fishing guide. I've worked in oil fields and assembly plants. I've broken horses, milked goats, washed dishes, cleaned toilets, and once, when I was real hungry, I pimped for a five-dollar whore."
    Corbett stopped walking and turned to him.
    "That's right, Mr. Corbett, I've done a lot of things I'm not too proud of. Show me a man who hasn't. But I swear to God there's one thing I'm not, and that's a thief. I won't steal from you. And I would never hurt you, your daughter-in-law, or her boy. In fact, it might give you some peace of mind to have another man around, keeping an eye on the place."
    That was the ace that Jack had been waiting to play, and it worked. He had Corbett's attention and could sense his resolve weakening. So it came as a mild surprise and a huge disappointment when Corbett shook his head no. "I'm sorry, Mr. Sawyer. The answer is still no."
    "What can I say that'll change your mind?"
    "Nothing. Fact is, I can't afford you."
    Jack grinned. "Probably not. I'm fairly expensive. But I think we can work something out."
    "Like what?"
    "I need a place to live."
    Corbett actually uttered a sound that could pass