Riding For The Brand: Sage Country Book Three by Dan Arnold Read Free Book Online Page B

Jake?” I asked him.
    He looked at me with his hands on his hips and then pointed a finger at me.
    “You don’t go to no stinkin’ school.”
    Now I understood. He wanted to be like me. I was flattered and a little bit stunned.
    “Jake, buddy, I already went to school. I know how to read and write, I can do figures, and I’ve learned all kinds of useful things. If you don’t go to school, you won’t ever learn any of the things I know how to do.
    He thought about it for a moment.
    “You could teach me.”
    “I could, but I have a job of work to do. I’m the Sheriff of the county and folks expect me to do the Sheriff‘s job. You have to go to school. That’s your job. You’re going, and that’s all there is to it.”
    “OK, I’ll go, but I won’t like it.”
    I chuckled at that.
    “I don’t think you should make up your mind until you’ve tried it.”
    Lora smiled at me with a twinkle in her eye.
    “I’ll tell you what, Jake, how about you and I hike up into town, and then we can ride Dusty back down here to the house together?” I suggested.
    “OK, let’s go! Come on, what’re you waitin’ for?” He began tugging on my hand.
    ***
    At the livery stable, after we got Dusty all groomed and saddled, we said goodbye to Al and rode down to the house. Jake sat behind the cantle and held on to me. We trotted occasionally and I could feel Jake trying not to bounce off from behind me. Dusty has a pretty nice and smooth trot, but Jacob wasn’t used to riding yet. At the house, we left Dusty standing at the hitching rail while we went inside to gather my things.
    As I shoved my rifle into the scabbard, I looked across the saddle at Lora and the kids standing under the arbor over the front gate. It wasn’t easy to just ride off and leave them.
    “Now, I’ll be gone for a few days. You kids be good and do what Lora tells you, OK?”
    Sarah nodded her head earnestly.
    Jacob spoke clearly. “Yes sir.”
    Stepping around Dusty, I wrapped Lora in my arms and we locked eyes for a moment, then I kissed her.
    “John, not in front of the children!” She scolded me playfully.
    The kids were giggling.
    “Baby, I’ll kiss you in front of God and everybody. I’m off, but I shouldn’t be gone more than a week.”
    “Becky will be here later today, and Tom will join us for supper. They’ll stay with us till you get back. Stay safe and hurry home, darling.”
    “I always hurry home to you, Baby.”
    I turned and mounted Dusty. With a final wave, I turned him and we trotted away across the bridge over Bear Creek.

The Rocking M ~ Buttercups and Old Bill
10.
     
    The wagon road we followed south wasn’t really a road at all. It had never been graded and was basically just the ruts made by years of wagon traffic across ground that was the easiest way to travel to and from Bear Creek, from farms and ranches to the south. I suspected the road was situated across land which was technically all private property and none of this land belonged to the state or the county.
    Just south of Bear Creek, within two or three miles, we passed a few small farms, after that the country became much more sparsely populated. I noted there was no barbed wire down this way.
    Occasionally I would see a stack of rocks, like trail sign, at one or the other edge of the road. I figured the stacked rocks probably marked a boundary of someone’s land.
    The road wound around, twisting and turning to avoid the steep hills and deep water crossings. It also had to meander to avoid rock outcroppings and precipitous arroyos. Dusty covered the distance in about three hours. In all that time, we didn’t meet a single wagon or any people coming north.
    As we approached the back side of Yellow Butte, I was enthralled by how pretty this country was. The buttes and mesas rose up here and there like flat topped mountains. Most were only a few hundred feet higher than the surrounding country. It was as if they were mountains in training, or mountains