Lone Star Ranger : A Ranger to Ride With (9781310568404) Read Online Free Page A

cloth and did as
told. He clamped his teeth down hard. Jim picked up his scalpel,
doused it with whiskey, then the wound again. He used the scalpel
to trim the slash’s ragged edges. Nathaniel bit down so hard on the
cloth he was certain his jaw would bust or his teeth would shatter.
His eyes watered with the pain.
    “You’re doin’ just fine, Nate,” Jim assured
him. “That was the worst of it.” He picked up the needle and
thread, soaked them with whiskey, and efficiently sewed up the
wound. Once done, he coated it thickly with salve, placed a clean
strip of cloth over it, and tied another strip of cloth over that
and around Nathaniel’s head to hold it in place.
    “I’m all done, Nate,” Jim said. “You can let
go of the bandanna now. That wasn’t all that bad, was it?”
    Nathaniel pulled the cloth from his
mouth.
    “No, not too bad,” he half-whispered.
    “You don’t need to lie, Nate,” Jeb said. “I
know that hurt like the devil. But you took it like a grown man,
son. You can be proud of yourself.”
    “Thanks, sir,” Nathaniel said.
    “Whoa. Enough of that ‘sir’ stuff. Like Jim
said, none of us in this outfit are named sir. My name’s Jeb.
Reckon I’d better introduce you to the rest of the boys. This
here’s Lieutenant Robert Berkeley, although everyone generally
calls him Bob. We’re pretty informal in the Rangers, not like the
Army. Next to him’s Henry Harrison, better known as Hoot. Alongside
him’s Ed Jennings, then we have Dan Morton, and finally those two
ugly look-alike hombres are Tom and Tim Tomlinson. We branded Tim
with that scar on his cheek so we can tell which is which. Boys,
any of you didn’t catch his name this here’s Nathaniel Stewart…
only we’re gonna call him Nate.”
    “Don’t listen to one word this ring-tailed
liar says,” Tim said. “Jeb’s always tellin’ whoppers. I got this
scar from a Comanche’s arrow.”
    Tim and his brother were identical twins,
with blonde hair and blue eyes.
    “Don’t believe my brother, either,” Tom
said. “He gave himself that scar when his razor slipped while he
was shavin’.”
    “Way I heard it, a senorita at Rosa’s
Cantina in El Paso give it to you, Tim,” Hoot said, laughing.
    “That’s enough out of all of you,” Bob
ordered. “Start settin’ up camp. Nate,” he continued. “Before we
realized there was anyone left alive we decided to spend the night
here, then start after those renegades first thing in the morning.
It’s almost dusk, so it’ll be too late to keep after ’em tonight.
Since we’ve found you still in one piece, I reckon I need to ask
your permission to use your place.”
    “Sure,” Nathaniel agreed. “I guess it’ll be
okay, but shouldn’t you ask…” He stopped short, his voice cracking
and his eyes filling with tears.
    The lieutenant put a comforting hand on
Nathaniel’s shoulder.
    “It’s all right, Nate. Go ahead and cry if
you need to. Won’t be any of us here think any less of you. We’ve
all lost loved ones or friends. Unless you’d like things done
different, we’d planned on buryin’ your folks at sunup.”
    Nathaniel sniffled and ran an arm under his
nose.
    “No. I think I’m all right,” he said. “And I
know my pa’d sure like to stay right here. I guess my ma and
Jonathan would like that too. We’ll… we’ll bury them here, on the
ranch.”
    “Good. Mind if I ask you another
question?”
    “What’s that?”
    “The reason Jeb opened that root cellar is
to find any food which might be in there that we could use. We’ve
been on the trail for weeks now, and bacon, beans, and biscuits
every day sure gets tiresome. We were hopin’ to find some
vegetables or maybe even some preserves your ma might’ve put up. Is
it all right if we still do that? I’d imagine you’re gettin’ mighty
hungry yourself.”
    “Sure, sure, that’d be okay.”
    “We’re much obliged. Tim, you and Tom round
up any grub you can find. Tim, you’ll be cook tonight.