Glorious Read Online Free

pulled tight, McLendon could only imagine the terrain outside. His nausea resumed, more intense this time; the rancid tang of greasy bacon and sardines was thick in his throat, and he particularly regretted the lunchtime gulp of wine. “Are we going up a mountain?” he finally gasped, and LeMond laughed and replied that they were still in the foothills. He suggested that McLendon take slow, deep breaths: “That’ll help settle your belly.” Then the stage came to a lurching halt and they hopped outside. A rear wheel was caught between two rocks; while the stage and wagon drivers struggled to pry it free with metal crowbars, McLendon looked ahead and was astonished to see Picket Post Mountain looming less than a mile away, craggy and intimidating. The huge hunk of rock seemed to have exploded out of the desert floor. Even more amazing was a sprawling mountain range farther east that LeMond identified as the Pinals; compared to them, massive Picket Post was an isolated pebble. It was another two miles from Picket Post to Glorious just before the Pinals, the salesman said.
    â€œThe Army had a small camp near the Picket Post lower basebefore they closed it last year,” LeMond told McLendon. “Sometimes they climbed up near the summit and signaled with mirrors to other camps and patrols many miles away; the heights commanded a wide view.”
    â€œI suppose the residents of Glorious depended on the Army at Picket Post to protect them from the Apaches,” McLendon said. “They must have resented the closing of the camp, even if its soldiers were all as disreputable as those cavalrymen who’ve ridden with us today.”
    LeMond snorted. “In the event of an Indian attack, in the hour it would take for cavalry from Camp Picket Post to get word, saddle up, and ride to Glorious, everyone living there would already have been turned into food for buzzards. Apaches swarm in fast and lethal. I noticed you attempting to read that Fenimore Cooper book. I’m a reading man myself, and familiar with the Mohican yarn. Apaches are nothing like Cooper’s made-up Indians, who make long speeches before they strike. The savages out here prefer attacking over talk. There’s also the matter of the Army mounts. You see the cavalrymen with us on the dray draggers the government has issued them to ride. Those Morgans are probably left over from service in the war. It’s cheaper for the Army to send the surviving steeds here to be ridden during the final days before they drop instead of paying for new, fresh stock. In this region, the cavalry presence is mostly for show only, to discourage bandits riding up from Mexico and to at least give the appearance that they’re on the lookout for Apaches.”
    â€œThen what prevents the Indians from falling on a town like Glorious?”
    â€œThere’s a large ranch, the Culloden, across the valley, just on the other side of Queen Creek,” LeMond said. “Its owner employs anumber of seasoned vaqueros. I guess their presence discourages any full-scale Apache assault, though of course the savages still skulk in the area and present constant danger. To live out here is to accept their proximity. Some of them are certainly watching us now.”
    â€œMr. Billings at the Florence depot mentioned that a prospector was recently killed by the Indians just outside of Glorious.”
    â€œThat’s true. They carved him up and played with the pieces. But he was careless and went out alone. Even the Culloden vaqueros can’t be everywhere at once. Common sense is still the best defense against the Apaches.”
    When the wagon wheel was finally freed the trip continued, with the mules maintaining a methodical pace as they skirted rocky inclines and eased through gaps between piles of boulders. McLendon no longer scorned their limited speed; the beasts were amazingly sure-footed. Just southwest of Picket Post, the cavalry and Army