For the Roses by Julie Garwood Read Free Book Online Page A

Dooley nodded. "She only takes to the bumbling ones and the weaklings. Seems to think it's her duty to look out for them. It's because she's so sweet-natured."
    "I already told him that," Henry said.
    "She drives her brothers crazy the way she drags home the pitiful ones. Still, they got to put up with it," Billie said.
    "She likes us, and we ain't weaklings." Dooley obviously wanted to set the record straight.
    "No, of course we ain't," Henry agreed. "We wouldn't want you to get the wrong idea, mister. Miss Mary likes us because we've been around so long. She's used to us. You can get yourself a gander at her in a couple of hours. We like to line up in front of the store around noon so we can get a good, close look at her. She's always got something real nice to say to each one of us. I'm hoping her brother Douglas rides shotgun with her today."
    "Why's that?" Billie asked.
    "My mare's acting fussy again. I need the doc to take a look at her."
    "If you're in need of a good horse, Douglas has a stable full," Dooley told Harrison. "He tames the wild ones and sells them every now and then. He's got to like you though. He's peculiar about who gets hold of his horses. He ain't a real doctor, but we like to call him such."
    "He don't like it none, Dooley. Says he ain't a doctor and we shouldn't be calling him one," Ghost called out.
    "I know that," Dooley shouted back. His exasperation was apparent in his tone of voice. "That's why we never call him Doc to his face. He's got a special way with animals though, and he's good with his remedies."
    "What kind of business are you in?" Billie asked Harrison. "I'm just being neighborly, mister," he added.
    "Legal work," Harrison answered.
    "That won't make you enough money to put food in your belly, at least not on a regular basis. You do anything else?"
    "I hunt."
     
    "Then you're a trapper," Henry decreed.
    Harrison shook his head. "Not exactly," he hedged. He was on a hunt now, but he wasn't about to tell these men he was searching for a stolen child. She would be a fully grown woman by now.
    "You're either a trapper or you ain't," Henry said. "You got any equipment to trap with?"
    "No."
    'Then you ain't a trapper," Henry told him. "What about ranching? You ever try your hand at ranching?
    You've got the build for it. I don't recall ever seeing anyone as big as you are, or as wide across the shoulders. A couple of the Clayborne brothers come to mind, and Johnny Simpson, of course, but I think you might be a half a head taller than any of them."
    "You willing to tell us your name?" Henry asked.
    "Harrison," he answered. "My name's Harrison MacDonald."
    "You got a last name for a first name, don't you?" Dooley remarked. "Will you take offense if I call you Harrison, or do you want to be called MacDonald?"
    "Call me Harrison."
    "Guess I should if you're gonna be settling here. You got yourself a real different-sounding twang in there with your words," he added. He hastily put his hands up. "I don't mean you no insult. I'm just wondering now where you come from."
    "California?" Henry guessed.
    "I'm thinking Kentucky," Ghost called out.
    Harrison shook his head. "I was born in Scotland and raised in England," he answered. "Across the ocean," he added in case they didn't know where those countries were located.
    "The town could use a lawyer," Billie interjected. "We don't have any around these parts. If Adam Clayborne doesn't know the answer, then we got to go all the way to Hammond to get the help we need. Hanging Judge Burns will be happy to have you around. He gets upset when he has to work with… what does he call us?" he asked Dooley.
    "Ignorant."
    "That's the word. If you ask me, the law's gotten mighty tricky. There are too many papers to file with the government."
    "Ain't that the truth," Ghost called out. "Getting a piece of land used to be easy. You just squatted there and it was yours. Now you got to pay money and fill out papers."
    "So you going to settle here then? I'll bet