Jodi's Journey by Rita Hestand Read Free Book Online

shook his head.
    “He's askin' for a fight. Let 'em have at it.
Git it over with. If he wins, I'll take my orders from him.” Concho
nodded.
    Jodi stared at Concho in disbelief that they
could accept this stranger so easily. But she saw in all their
faces disbelief that the stranger could hold his own in a fair
fight. Maybe they were right. Perhaps it was time to see what
manner of man Hunter Johnson was. Although she abhorred violence,
there was a time and place for it. And this obviously was the place
for it.
    She backed away slowly, hoping it would be
settled quickly.
    Josh took the first two punches. He was wiry
and fast. One to Hunter's eye, one to his jaw as blood gushed from
his eyebrow. Josh got in another good swing. But Hunter followed
with a right punch and knocked Josh to the ground. One punch. Josh
rolled over quickly and got up. It went on and on until Jodi could
hardly stand it. Both men were given out and neither seemed to be
winning until Hunter hit him with a left hook.
    Josh hit the dirt hard and didn't get up.
Jodi ran to him, thinking him dead.
    “Look what you've done!” she spat at
Hunter.
    Hunter staggered on his feet, and then turned
away from her.
    She took Josh in her arms and wiped away the
blood from his mouth with the sleeve of her shirt.
    Hunter fell to the ground with a thud, wiping
the blood with the back of his hand. He watched Jodi and Josh.

    ≈≈≈

    “Have we settled who the boss is?” Hunter
asked, still breathing heavy from the fight that had taken more out
of him than he was willing to admit.
    The others nodded.
    “Good, I want Concho and Jose working swing,
Josh and Sam on flank, and Brady and Dutch on drag till we get some
more men. Understood? Until we do, we'll keep the remuda in back
for a while. They start getting restless, we'll take them up front
and let them lead.”
    The men nodded without resistance.
    “You'll call me Hunt, or boss,” he added.
They nodded. “There will be no drinking, no skirt chasing, no gun
play. You got a quarrel with someone, take it away from this herd.
I won't lose cattle for men's foolishness. We'll put twelve hours
in the saddle on good days, eighteen of twenty-four on bad. We'll
use hand signals, and everybody better learn to sing. When there is
trouble from the outside, keep your guns cocked and ready. Stay
alert for Indians, but don't go shooting the first one you see. We
don't want trouble with them, and like as not, they'll only want a
cow or two to satisfy them long enough for us to get out of their
way. So if you've got a grudge with the Indians, keep it to
yourself till we are through to Kansas, then it's your
business.
    “We won't be hitting many towns. And anyone
looking to cut themselves into our beeves is asking for trouble.
Not that I like a fight, but when it's needed, I will. If the
rivers are too full from rain, we'll graze them if we can. If we
can't, we'll swim them over unless it's a swift current or too
deep. In that case, we'll wait a few days more then take them over.
Sometimes cattle don't take to water. Keep your eye out for prairie
dog holes, rattlesnakes, and thieves. You want to cuss and raise
Cain, save it for after the trip. We'll run a decent camp, and
we'll get this herd to market, understood?”
    The men nodded, some with a little
surprise.
    Jodi watched him take over as though control
was totally out of her hands now. In one regard, she seemed
pleased, but she still wore a frown. It wasn't easy handing over
the controls to a man like Hunter.
    “You'll ride point with me, Jodi. You'll have
to pull the wagon, but we aren't going at break neck speed. We'll
get ten or twelve miles a day on good days, maybe eight on bad.
Less if the grazing is good.”
    The men nodded agreement and scattered.
    Jodi tried to nurse Josh, but he was having
none of it when he came to and saw that a woman was working on
him.
    He stood up, dusted his chaps, and walked
off, giving Hunt a slight nod.
    It was settled.
    Jodi knew she