Santa Fe Woman by Gilbert Morris Read Free Book Online Page A

some influential friends. If you go see Sheriff Oswalt and explain it all, I think he’d be willin’ to put Rocklin on probation.”
    That was the essence of Blanchard’s visit. He had offered to write a letter to the man called Rocklin if someone decided to go look into the matter, and just before he left, he cautioned them. “I’m warnin’ you, the Staked Plains ain’t like Little Rock.”
    As soon as Blanchard was gone, Jori said, “My head’s swimming. I don’t know how to think.”
    “Well, I do,” Kate said. “I still believe God wants us to go.”
    “You may be right, Kate,” Leland said. “It’s a big thing, and it’s so—so unorganized.”
    Kate suddenly laughed. “You think like a stockbroker, that everything has to be organized.”
    “Well, someone has to make plans.”
    “Of course they do, and that’s what we’re doing. But it’s not going to be like a trip to Central Park,” Kate said. She thought for a moment and said, “You know, I imagine when Moses struck the rock and the water poured out; some folks were complaining because he didn’t use a fancier stick.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean, Aunt Kate?” Mark asked with irritation.
    “It means we’re gonna have to use any kind of stick we can get to keep this family together, and this is the one that I see is in front of us.”
    The talk went on for over an hour, and finally Leland shook his head. “Remember the preacher last week preached on Moses, how that he prayed for his people when they were in battle. He held his hands up, and as long as he held them up, Joshua and the soldiers won. But when his arms grew tired and he dropped them, the army of Israel failed. Well,” he said in a weary voice, “I’m like Moses, only it’s my thoughts that are so tired that I can’t seem to hold them up.”
    At that instant Jori Hayden knew she had to step to her father’s aid. Mark was too unstable. She was the oldest child and the strongest in many ways. She said strongly, “I think Aunt Kate’s right. We’ve got to do this. I’ll go to Fort Smith at once and talk to the sheriff there about getting this man Rocklin.”
    “But he’s an outlaw, or an almost outlaw,” Mark protested.
    “I’d use Blackbeard if I had to to make a new life for ourselves, Mark,” Jori said. “I’m leaving first thing in the morning!”

Chapter Four
    THE NARROW-GAUGED, WOOD-BURNING ENGINE that had pulled the four cars from Little Rock to Fort Smith had passed out of the flatlands into mountain country. Jori ignored the cinders that came in from the window that some of the passengers opened despite the cold and enjoyed the green forest of firs and pines that covered the sides of the Ozarks.
    The train pulled into Fort Smith emitting a shrill banshee scream, and when Jori saw Fort Smith itself she was disappointed. The town was a rough collection of false wooden fronts, and a wide central street had been churned to a sea of brown mud by late rains. Getting up from her seat, Jori moved stiffly down the aisle, thinking grimly How could anything good come out of this mudhole? The conductor, a bulky, red-faced individual with a pair of piercing blue eyes, reached up to take her hand, grunting, “Watch your step, miss.” She took his hand, placed her foot on the steel portable step, and gave him a brief smile of thanks as she stepped down.
    A quick look revealed a shabby building that had once been painted a brilliant turkey red, but time had weathered it to a faded brown. She waited until her suitcase was tossed off by a tall brakeman, then looked around to find someone to carry it,but there was no one. Only two people had gotten off the train, an elderly woman who was greeted by a younger couple and a short, rotund soldier wearing a rumpled private’s uniform. He gave her a careless glance, then headed for town.
    “Can I help you, miss?”
    Jori turned to see a tall individual who was bundled up in a heavy overcoat. His Adam’s apple was