Providence by Karen Noland Read Free Book Online Page A

the young man,
chattering at him and sharing with him her few valued possessions and toys.
Nocona seemed to take an interest in the small red-haired vision, reaching out
occasionally to touch her soft hair or take a proffered toy.
     Tochoway watched the pair
silently for a while then turned to Kate, “Your girl has healing spirit, like
mother.”
    “Thank you,” she said simply,
also enjoying the sight of the children.
    “Hallo in there! Kate?” Came a
deep masculine voice. Starting, Kate stared at Tochoway, afraid for him and the
others. Tochoway, realizing her fear, motioned to Mahseet and Nocona, the three
retreating to the furthest corner of the kitchen. He nodded silently to her.
    She took a deep breath and opened
the door. Stepping into the bright afternoon sun, she closed the door quickly
and strode to the edge of the porch. There before her sitting on a large bay
colt was Matt Johnson. “Matt! What are you doing around these parts?” She asked
in disbelief, trying to mask the fear in her voice.
    “On my way to Fallis for a spell.
I can see why you are reluctant to part with this place, Kate. You’ve a fine
ranch here.”
    “Yes.” She said tersely, seeing
the avaricious glint in his hazel eyes.
    “Kate, I know how hard the last
few months have been for you, and I realized just the other night that I’d made
a mistake in the money I gave your man last week.”
     “His name is Jake. You know
he’s not my hired man!” She fairly bristled at the inference in Matt’s voice.
Just then she noticed two other men, and a string of horses in the distance.
    “My men,” Matt said following her
gaze. “I really only wanted to stop by and give you the money you’re due,” he
continued.
    Matt’s
words brought Kate back to him abruptly. “What?” She asked wonderingly.
    “Here.”
    She stepped down from the porch
and approached the man on horseback. Only then did she recognize the bay colt
that she had sent with Jake just last week. The horse seemed spiritless, almost
dull. She wondered briefly what had happened to the fire and vigor she
remembered. Taking the envelope he held out, she slowly opened it, finding two
hundred dollars within.
    “Matt, I.....”
    “I know. I can’t imagine how you
must have felt, thinking I’d cheated you on those steers I took to market for
you. I do hope this sets things to rights between us?” His hard eyes belied the
words of atonement as he gazed down upon her.
    She smiled uneasily, tucking the
envelope safely into a pocket. “Well, thank you,” she said hoping he would
leave.
    Matt sat silently watching her,
his scrutiny raising new fears within her.
     “I’d ask you in to coffee,
but - uh - well, Jo isn’t feeling well, and ...” she hesitated searching for something to
say. Her eyes strayed again to the waiting cowboys near the barn, widening in
surprise as she recognized the ponies matching Tochoway’s description.
    “Those are some nice looking horses,
there. Where’re they from?” She asked.
    Surprised, Matt looked over his
shoulder at his men. “Oh, here and there. Taking them to Fallis, thought I’d
sell them there.”
    “You know I’m always looking for
good stock. Mind if I have a look?” She didn’t wait for an answer but started
towards the barn. Matt, turning the colt, followed her.
    There were six horses tied
loosely together. The three belonging to the Comanche, by far the best of the
lot. Kate looked at each horse with a practiced eye, as though evaluating each
individual. Finally she turned to face Matt who had dismounted and stood
watching her with the same calculating appraisal she had used on the ponies.
“I’d give you sixty dollars for those three,” she said indicating the three
Comanche ponies.
    He frowned, “I couldn’t take less
than a hundred.”
    “Matt, you and I both know you
wouldn’t get more than twenty apiece for them in Fallis. Look how skinny they
are, and that one there has an abscess in her left rear, if