The Listening Sky Read Online Free Page A

God had allowed such a perfect
     man to descend to earth.
    “Known T.C. since he was a pup. Knowed Colin too. Colin’ll be in in a day or two.”
    “Is he one of the owners?” Jane asked.
    “Naw. Colin’s a cattleman. His pa is John Tallman; guess ya heard a him.”
    Jane had not heard of the man, but gave no indication. She listened to the cook tell about how he first met Colin Tallman.
     He was cook for John Tallman’s freight outfit crossing Indian Territory.
    “Smart as a whip an’ soaked up ever’thin’ John taught him. Turned out to be ‘bout as good a scout as his pa and grandpa, Rain
     Tallman.
    “Lumber company’s owned by a feller named Rowe over at Trinity. Colin and T.C.’s got a interest. T.C.’s logged most a his
     life but he’d rather ranch. Gonna do it soon’s he gets the town goin’ again.”
    Now, as she lay in the dark listening to the snores, it became clear in her mind. After mulling over the events of the day
     she came to the conclusion that Kilkenny would not immediately, perhaps would never, have full employment for
all
the women he had brought here.
    The conniving jackass!
    He had brought them here as prospective wives for the single men. That was the reason why the street back of the town had
     been marked off, and building sites prepared. A dozen cabins had already been built, cabins that with additions could house
     large families.
    To advertise for brides was not unusual. Notices were routinely placed in public places. The women who answered the advertisements
     went into the arrangement with their eyes wide open. Not so here!
The honorable Mister Kilkenny had brought them here on the pretext of giving them jobs.
The jobs were waiting on and servicing some of his dirty, foul-mouthed lumberjacks.
    Well, she had news for him!
    She would give him an earful and demand to be sent back to Denver at once. She would rather be in Denver with hundreds of
     people who hated her than be here in this small place with one who was determined to make her life miserable, that is if he
     allowed her to keep it.
    Thank God she had carefully hung onto the pitifully small hoard of money her Aunt Alice had left her five years earlier. The
     poke and the painting of her mother were securely locked in her valise.
    Jane would
never
forget the day her curiosity had prodded her to remove the wooden back of the picture frame; she had hoped to find a date
     on the back of the canvas that would tell her mother’s age at the time of the painting. What she had found hidden between
     the canvas and the back of the frame had changed her life forever.
    At age ten it had been hard to understand all Mrs. Gillis had told her on that summer day long ago. From that day on, she
     had not been allowed to forget who she was, why she was there, and why more than any of the others she must study and work
     to redeem herself.
    During the years that followed, Jane had lived in constant fear of discovery. Then gradually, her common sense had taken over
     and she had come to realize she was a person in her own right, and not responsible for the deeds of another.
    Long ago Jane’s orphanage records had mysteriously disappeared from the file. Jane had seen to that. Now someone had discovered
     her secret and held her responsible. Mrs. Gillis must have been the source. As she had grown older the woman had begun to
     guard her position as headmistress of the school with a zeal that bordered on desperation. Jane suspected she was secretly
     glad to see the last of one who had the qualifications to assume her job.
    Jane’s mind continued to mull over her immediate problem until gradually the demands of her exhausted body took over and she
     dropped into a deep sleep. She dreamed of being chased through the woods by an Indian warrior, tomahawk lifted for the kill.
     She awoke to the sound of a rooster announcing the start of another day.
    Kilkenny dreaded the task ahead and wished that Colin were back in town. Colin didn’t know