Santa Fe Woman by Gilbert Morris Read Free Book Online

rough, honey.”
    The argument went back and forth with only Kate and Carleen in favor. Finally Leland stared at his sister-in-law. “Are you telling me we need to move to Santa Fe?”
    “Why not? If we stay here, we’ll soon run out of money,” Kate said. “Besides, if Al Blanchard is right, we can make enough money to live there comfortably. Once we make the trip, we can send somebody back and make another trip, and there’s bound to be something to haul from Santa Fe back on the return journey.”
    “But we’re city people!” Leland protested.
    “So was Abraham—from the city Ur of the Chaldees.”
    Mark threw up his hands. “It’s crazy!”
    Finally Leland said, “I don’t know what to say.”
    “The least you can do, Leland, is to ask Al Blanchard what he thinks about it.”
    “All right. We’ll do that, but I can tell you right now he’ll think we’re as crazy as I do.”
    * * *
    AL BLANCHARD LISTENED AS Leland explained their proposal. He lifted his eyebrows with surprise, but he was not in shock. “Why, I never thought about you takin’ your family, Leland.”
    “I never thought of it either, but we’ve got to do something,” Leland said. His face was tense, and he faced his friend squarely. “Can it be done, Al?”
    “Well, shore, with the right man I believe you could make it.”
    “What’s the country like around Santa Fe, Al?” Jori asked.
    “Why, ma’am, it’s the finest country you ever seen. Air is clear as any you’ll ever breathe.”
    “But it’s in the backwoods!” Mark protested.
    “Well, it’s not Little Rock, but if you establish a freight line, you can move back here and run it from this end or else you could move to San Francisco. That’s citified enough for you.”
    The talk went on for a long time, and finally Al shook his head. “One thing is shore. Whether you make it or not depends on the man who runs the train, the wagon master.”
    “Do you know anyone you could recommend, Al?” Leland asked.
    Blanchard shrugged his shoulders and seemed to be running through something in his mind. Finally he said, “Well, if I was gonna go into this myself, I reckon the man I’d want for my wagon master would be Rocklin.”
    “Rocklin? Who is he?”
    “Well, he’s all sorts of a fella.” Blanchard shrugged and turned to face Jori, who had asked the question. “The thing about him is he knows the country better than any man in the West, I reckon, and he’s tough. He’s done some mule skinnin’ himself, and he knows how to boss men. But you can’t get him.”
    “Why not?” Jori asked. “Would he be too expensive?”
    “No, it ain’t that, ma’am. See the thing is, he’s in jail in Fort Smith.”
    “Is he an outlaw?” Carleen cried at once, her eyes brightening.
    “Well,” Blanchard grinned and faced the young girl, “that ain’t quite been settled yet, missy. Rocklin’s kind of on the edge of a razor. If he falls off on the left side, he might be an outlaw. If hefalls off the other side, he won’t be. He’s been kind of waverin’ between the two, don’t you see? But the thing is, he ain’t never killed nobody that didn’t deserve it.”
    Jori straightened up and stared at Blanchard with incomprehension. “He’s a killer?”
    “I reckon you see things different here, ma’am. You’ve lived in a civilized place all your life, but Rocklin, like lots of other fellas, has lived among the Indians and the worst men you can even think of. He’s had a rough life, ma’am, and he’s had to fight to save his own skin.”
    “I think we need a tough man,” Kate put in. “But if he’s in jail, he couldn’t lead the train.”
    “Oh, he ain’t charged with anything serious, Miss Johnson. He’s just in the city jail there in Fort Smith. It ain’t like he’s in the federal pen or nothin’.”
    “What’s he in jail for?”
    “There was some liquor involved and a fight, and a man got shot. I ain’t sayin’ he didn’t deserve it, but he had