Antebellum BK 1 Read Online Free Page B

be a surveyor. The cattle business just happened.”
    “ When will you know?”
    “ About this land? Jesse Chisholm’s been hired to bring all the tribes together for a council at Comanche Peak next May. That won’t be the last of it, but we should know for sure what the State’s position is gonna be after that.”
    “ Who is Jesse Chisholm?”
    “ A friend of Sam Houston’s. He owns a string of trading posts between San Antonio and the Missouri River.”
    “ Ah.” She nodded. “Now I remember. Another of Sam’s wild-eyed schemes. The mythical Chisholm Trail.”
    “ It may not be a myth for much longer,” Tom said. “The price of cattle in St. Louis is three times the price in Texas. Now, with the war over, the price here is gonna drop like a rock and every rancher in Texas will be headed for Missouri to sell their beeves.”
    “ My advice is not to invest any money in Sam’s Chisholm Trail.”
    “ Yes, Mother.” He grinned.
    Marina made a face. “Does your wife know about your father?”
    Thomas turned to look at her. “Yes. I told you that I sent a message to Jane from Mexico City. She knows you’re coming, and I’ll bet she even remembers your name.”
    “ Don’t start in on me again, Thomas. I’m not going senile. I just have trouble with names sometimes.”
    “ What if you’re wrong? What if your memory’s really failing and you don’t realize it? What’ll happen to you if you’re all alone in Mexico and you suddenly forget who you are and where you’re from?”
    “ I’ll have my name and a map to your ranch tattooed across my chest. How’s that?”
    “ I’m serious, Mother.”
    “ So am I, Thomas. I’m a grown woman and if I decide to jump off a cliff it’s nobody’s business but my own.”
    He shook his head, then stood up and shaded his eyes. “I can see the stockade. Almost home. Thank God.” He whooped.
    ~
    The Two Alone Ranch headquarters was a twenty-six acre collection of houses, barns, corrals, a church, a school and numerous tents surrounded by a ten-foot tall, octagon shaped stockade. Towers at each point and at each inset of the stockade fence could provide cover fire along the nearly ten mile length of wall. Unlike a rectangular fort, there were no dead-spots. Over the years, the stockade had proven to be impervious to numerous attacks from Comanches, Kiowa and Lipan Apaches.
    In the living room of the main ranch house, Jane Van Buskirk paced nervously. “She’s never said an unkind word to me, but there’s no warmth in the woman. She’s cold as ice.”
    Jane’s father, Paul Van Winkler, lowered the book he was reading to look at her. “Marina’s had a difficult life.”
    “ I know, I know. But when Tom and I got married, I thought... Never mind.”
    “ You thought you’d regain a mother,” Paul finished for her.
    “ No.” Jane glared at him for a moment, then dropped her eyes. “Yes. Maybe I hoped… I don’t know.”
    Paul put his book aside, got up and walked to look out of the big window toward the distant silhouette of Comanche Peak. “I know how lonely it is for you since Anna left you here with only prostitutes and saloon girls for female company. With a little effort on your part, maybe Jack’s new wife could become a friend to replace Anna.”
    “ Clementine is just another whore,” Jane shot back. “I cannot believe that my straight-laced brother would marry a woman like that.”
    “ You’re not being fair, Jane. Clementine came to Texas when she a child and went to work as a saloon girl to survive,” Paul replied.
    “ There are other jobs for girls.”
    “ You shouldn’t be so judgmental. This is a hard land. You’ve had it easy, compared to what she went through.”
    “ I know,” Jane protested. “I’m no snob, Dad. It’s just… I don’t know. So different, I suppose.”
    “ You mean that it’s not New York.” He turned to face her. “If the State of Texas annexes this ranch it might be a better idea for you and Tom