Providence Read Online Free Page A

herd
that made it to the far side, trying to keep them calm and in one place. The
old lead cow, far enough from the commotion at the ford, calmly dropped her
head and started to graze on the lush spring grass. The others, though nervous,
followed suit.
    “Stay with the herd, Joe, I’m
going back.” Luke decided.
    Joe began to protest, but
realized that his first responsibility was the safety of the herd, and most of
them were now here. He reluctantly agreed and watched as Luke rode off on the
large gray gelding.
    Arriving at the ford, Luke
assessed the situation. Two of the men had followed the cattle up the far bank and
were each working the remnants of the herd, gathering them methodically back
toward the main herd. Glancing at the river, he saw the cow still struggling
feebly in the mud.
     “Phillip?” He called. There
was no sign of the young, fresh faced cowboy that had started out with them
that morning. “Where the devil is that blasted boy?” He looked down the river
and saw a hat caught among the branches in a small eddy under the bank where a
grove of trees overhung the muddy water. Fear gripping his heart, he turned his
gelding and galloped to the spot. Swinging down and dropping the reins he
scrambled down the bank and into the swirling torrent. Reaching down into the
icy water, groping frantically, he prayed to a God he wasn’t sure existed,
“Please, Lord, let me find him.” Wading a bit further out, one hand anchored to
a low hanging branch, the other still searching blindly below the water. His
fingers passed over rough boulders, while from all around he was struck by
limbs and debris carried by in the wildly rushing deluge. His arm ached from
trying to maintain a desperate grip on the anchoring branch. He knew that if he
lost his grasp, they would both be done for.
    There! At last he felt what could
only be Phillip’s head. Grasping a handful of hair he pulled. Muscles
straining, heart pounding, still praying, he pulled. At last Phillip’s head
rose above the level of the brown swirling waters. With a last mighty effort he
heaved the unconscious boy to dry ground, following as quickly as he could.
    A fallen tree lay nearby. Draping
the limp body face down over the trunk he pushed against his back over and
over. “Come on, man, get it out, come on.” Until the water came flowing from
the boy’s lungs in a muddy rush, he gasped, and sputtered, coughing, finally
taking a ragged breath on his own. Luke fell back, drained, breathing heavily,
as Phillip fought for breath and life.
     ***
    Coming out of his reverie, Luke
found himself standing before the door of the Hotel. A sign in the window to
the right proclaimed,
    “Hot bath and shave, twenty-five
cents;
    Good home cooking, fifty cents;
    Rooms one dollar a night.”
    He opened the door and stepped
into the dim light of the lobby. His food on the trail had been free, but the smell
of bubbling stew, hot bread, and fresh coffee made it seem almost worth the
fifty cents. A tall gaunt man sat behind the desk surveying the activity in the
busy lobby. A pretty blonde girl, not more than sixteen scurried between
tables. She carried a blue ironware coffee pot in one hand, her fingers
protected from the heat by a dingy white cloth. A stack of dirty pewter bowls
and spoons in the other hand tottered precariously, threatening to tumble to
the floor at any moment.
    Just then a rough hand reached
out from one of the tables attempting to grab the girl by the waist. She deftly
side stepped the unwanted attention, but the bowls lost their fight with
balance and crashed to the floor in a jumbled mess, eliciting a coarse laugh
from the offender.
    “Sarah, what have you done now?”
called a terse voice from the open kitchen door.
     “But, mother, I...” Sarah
started, tears welling up in her bright blue eyes.
    Luke strode quickly to the girl,
scooped up the errant dishes from their resting place on the wooden floor. With
a quick wink and a conspiratorial shake