Where the Long Grass Blows (1976) Read Online Free Page B

again."
    Tom Venable had never backed down for any man. From the east, he had come west to the cow country. He had made a place for himself by drive, energy, decision and his own youthful strength. Yet suddenly he realized he had never met such a man as the one he faced now. As he met Canavan's level gaze, he felt something turn over inside him. It was as though he had parted the brush and looked into the eyes of a lion.
    He dropped his hand. "I'm sorry. My sister can't come into a place like this."
    The two men measured each other, and the suddenly alert audience in the Bit and Bridle let their eyes go from Tom Venable to the stranger. Tom they knew well enough to know he was afraid of nothing that walked. They also knew his normal manner was polite to a degree rarely encountered in the west, where manners were apt to be brusque and friendly, but lacking in formality. Yet something else was happening now. There was something intangible between these two, and the men sensed the sudden hesitation in Venable, a wariness that made them look again, very carefully, at the stranger.
    The bat-wing doors parted suddenly, and Dixie Venable stepped into the room.
    First, Canavan was aware of shock that such a girl would come into such a place, and secondly of shame that he had been the cause. Then he felt admiration for her courage.
    Beautiful in a gray tailored riding outfit, her head lifted proudly, she crossed the room and walked up to Canavan, her face very stiff, her eyes bright.
    Bill Canavan was aware that never in his life had he looked into eyes so fine, so filled with feeling.
    "Sir," and her voice could be heard clearly in the silent room, "I do not know what your name may be, but I have come to pay you your money. Your horse beat Flame today, and beat her fairly. I regret the way I acted, but it was such a shock to have Flame beaten that I behaved very rudely and then allowed you to leave without being paid. You won fairly, and I am very sorry."
    She paused only a moment, then added; "However, if you would like to run your horse against Flame again, I'll double the bet."
    "Thank you, Miss Venable," Canavan bowed slightly, from the hips. It was only your comment about my horse that made me run him at all. As no doubt know, horses have feelings, and I couldn't allow you to make a slighting remark about my horse, not right to his face, thataway."
    Her eyes were on his and suddenly they crinkled at the corners and her lips rippled with a little smile, "Now, if you'll allow me-was He took her arm and escorted her from the room. Inside they heard a burst of applause, and he smiled as he held her stirrup for her. She swung to the saddle, and he looked up at her.
    "I am sorry you had to go in there, but your brother was kind of abrupt"
    "That's quite all right," she said quickly, almost too quickly. "Now our business is complete."
    Tom Venable had come out of the saloon. And during their brief exchange he had stood back, listening.
    Now he, too, mounted and they rode away.
    Canavan turned back to the saloon and almost ran into a tall, carefully dressed man who had come up behind him. A man equally as large as Pogue.
    Pale blue eyes looked out from a handsome, perfectly cut face of city white. The man was trim, neat and precise, and only the guns at his hips struck a discordant note. A pair of guns that gave every indication of use.
    That," said the tall man gesturing after Dixie Venable, "is a staked claim."
    Bill Canavan was irritated. Men who were bigger than he was always irritated him anyway, if their attitude was aggressive. "It is?" His tone was cutting.
    "If you think you can stake a claim on any woman, you've got a lot to learn."
    Canavan shoved by him toward the doors of the saloon.
    Behind him the voice said, "But that one's staked.
    You hear me?"
    Soledad by night was a thin scattering of lights along the dark river of the street. Music from the tinny piano in the Bit and Bridle drifted along the street and into the