The Gunslinger (Barnett Ranch) by Pamela Ladner Read Free Book Online

it felt like to accomplish something you’ve always dreamed about.

Chapter Eight
     
    Virginia rode out to the ranch.  She needed to get away from town. She felt cooped up like she couldn’t breathe.  She inhaled the smells of the ranch.  The cattle grazing and the horses running was the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen.  She rode through the cattle until she came to the house.  She was so happy, to have the day off from her granny’s restaurant. 
    The house was empty, as expected, since her pa and her brothers were gone.  Her pa hadn’t had to take a herd up to Montana since he was a young man, but since he lost his trail boss and couldn’t find one on such short notice he had to take care of things himself.  Her brothers were old enough to do it but neither of them had done so before, so he intended to train them on the way.  He left his foreman in charge of the ranch while he was gone. 
    Virginia dismounted and walked her mare over to the barn.  She found the foreman, and asked him if he had some work she could do.  “I need something to do, Martinez.  I’m so sick of housework and the restaurant.  Well, Miss Virginia I’ve got to check on the cattle and then I’ve got to clean these stalls and work with the horses.  You can do any of those, if you want.”  “Thanks, Martinez, I think I might like to work with the horses, and later I’ll help you clean stalls.”  “That’ll be fine, Miss.  I’ll see you when I get back.” 
    Virginia had always been good with the horses.  From an early age, she understood them better than most.   She learned everything she knew from Martinez, who was the best horseman she’d ever known.  She’d always heard tales that her mother was good with the horses.  She wouldn’t know though, because her mother passed on just shortly after giving birth to her.  It would have been nice to know her, Virginia thought.
    There was a painting, hanging above the fireplace in the house, of her mother with a big black horse, much like the horse that Jax owned.  She lay across the horse’s back, with her head laying on the horse’s neck and her arms encircling his neck.  There was no saddle.  Her brothers swore their mother always rode bareback.  
    Her mother had black hair and dark skin, which spoke volumes of her Indian roots.  Virginia stalled her mare in the empty stall that was, reserved for her.  She took one of the horses out to work with it.  He was a big grey stallion named Captain.  He’d been a gift from a cattleman named Goodnight, who was a good friend of her fathers.  They’d become friends many years before when Goodnight brought a herd through Cheyenne and her father let him water them on their ranch.  The following year, Goodnight brought him the horse. 
    Her father made many friends over the years, through cattle trade and she couldn’t even begin to know half of them.  He corresponded by letter with most of them, as they had all been pretty much from anywhere and everywhere. 
    She longed the horse in a wide circle around her, and thought about her father.  He was a strong quiet man, always thoughtful, but he was not one to mess with.  He earned the respect of many a good man, that way, and she didn’t question it.  She loved her pa and she missed him along with her brothers.  Most of all she missed being on the ranch.  She hated town. 
    She popped the whip and clucked her tongue for the stallion to pick up pace.  She knew cattle but she had a passion for horses, especially horses like Captain.  He was as good as Jax’s stallion any day .  If her father would ever let her breed him, he’d sire some fine colts. 
    She worked with him a while then put him up and worked with a couple of others.  Most of their horses were accompanying her father to Montana.  The ones left behind were those that they would keep for ranch or work or breeding, plus the young colts that weren’t old enough to go yet.  She especially