Rage of Eagles Read Online Free

Rage of Eagles
Book: Rage of Eagles Read Online Free
Author: William W. Johnstone
Pages:
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replied.
    â€œI can stick around for a few weeks,” Falcon said. “Let me settle up for my meal and I’ll follow you out to your ranch.”
    â€œNot even goin’ to ask what we pay?” Kip questioned.
    â€œNo. Three hots and a cot will do me for a few weeks.”
    â€œYou’re mighty easy to please, Mr. Mack,” John said.
    â€œOh, I’m really a very easygoing fellow,” Falcon replied with a smile.
    â€œSo’s a grizzly,” Kip said very drily. “Till you mess with it.”
    Falcon chuckled. “Oddly enough, that’s what some folks used to say about my pa.”
    â€œHe must have been an interestin’ man,” John said.
    â€œOh, I think you’d be safe in saying that. Yes, sir. A real interesting man.”
    * * *
    John Bailey’s ranch was not small by anyone’s standards, and he was running a pretty good sized head. Problem was, as John had explained on the ride out, he couldn’t get them to market ’cause he couldn’t hire hands.... Miles Gilman had put out the word and that was that in this part of the country.
    Falcon smiled when he first saw the brand: the Rockingchair. John watched the smile form on Falcon’s lips and chuckled.
    â€œYou like that brand, Val?”
    â€œI do. That’ll be difficult to change into anything else.”
    â€œYou seen the Gilman brand?” Kip asked.
    â€œNo.”
    â€œStriking snake. A really ugly brand.”
    â€œAnother unusual one.”
    â€œIt fits him just right,” John said. “Miles is a human rattlesnake.”
    The ranch house came into view, and it was a nice, strongly built home, plain, but practical. The bunkhouse sat off to one side. There was smoke coming from the ranch house chimney.
    â€œCookie,” Kip explained. “He’s too crippled up to ride much, but he’s a good cook. And he hates Miles Gilman.”
    â€œToo many broncs bust him up?”
    â€œNo,” John said. “Miles Gilman crippled him with a shotgun. Shot him in the legs. Cookie can get around, but he limps badly. And he’s got a touch of old age comin’ on him, too. But he’s a damn good man. He wouldn’t back up from a puma.”
    â€œYou real particular about your hands, John?” Falcon asked.
    The rancher gave him a quizzical look. “I don’t follow you, Val.”
    â€œWell, I know some old boys who don’t scare worth a damn. But they aren’t really cowboys.”
    â€œCan they sit a horse?”
    â€œThey can ride anything with hair on it. Including a grizzly bear.”
    John gave him another funny look and nodded his head. “But they would ride for the brand?”
    â€œOne hundred and ten percent.”
    â€œHow long would it take for you to get them here?”
    â€œWhere’s the nearest telegraph office?”
    â€œIn town. But town is dangerous.”
    â€œWhat’s the name of this town?”
    â€œGilman.”
    Falcon laughed. He should have guessed. “Oh . . . I can have them here in a couple of weeks. Give us a couple of weeks to round up the cattle, and we can have them on the trail to the railhead.”
    â€œHow many of these men can you get?” Kip asked.
    â€œOh ... six, maybe seven. But I have to warn you, they’re not spring chickens. They’ll be men mostly in their late fifties and early sixties. Maybe a couple older than that.”
    John gave him another very curious glance as they rode up to the ranch house. “You’re sure they can stand up to a cattle drive, Val?”
    â€œI’m sure.”
    â€œWell,” the rancher said. “Hell, get them. I sure ain’t got nothin’ to lose.”
    â€œI’ll ride into town first thing in the morning. I’ll leave early and get there just as the telegraph office is opening.”
    â€œSon,” John said, “that town is a death trap.”
    â€œWe’ll see,”
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