Pale Horse, Robert L. Ross [beach read book .TXT] 📗

a Texas sized welcoming hand. “Hello Ben, How are you”?, he asked as he stepped down from his saddle.
“Fine, Fine, its good to see you”, answered Ben with a kind smile and sun weathered brow.
“Marla”, he shouted, as they made their way into the house. Marla, was Ben's housekeeper, the very lady that kept everything running smooth on the ranch, and very dear to him as well.
“Yes Sir”?, she asked upon entering the den, where they had now positioned themselves comfortably in front of the grand fireplace that was the center attraction in the room.
“Would you see that the Appaloosa out front is taken to the stalls and seen after proper”?, “My friend will be here for as many days as I can talk him into”, said Ben, as he looked over at his friend and chuckled.
“Yes Sir, I shall see to it at once,”, she said as she pulled the great doors shut behind her.
After a couple of shots of “Irish Jack's,” not only the preferred liquor by himself, but by his friend as well, curious, he spoke up and said, “Ben, I'm here because I got a telegram from John when I was in Big Bear, saying you needed my help”.
“I kinda figured that was the reason for your visit”, he said, as he poured the two of them another shot and went on to explain.
“About a month ago, I was having trouble in town with Snake Head Walters and a bunch of his men, but John and Colt came here, and handled the matter rather efficiently.” Pale Horse couldn't help but think back on the last time he dealt with Snake Head Walters, and how he had wished to himself many times after, that he had killed that lowlife vermin, rather than letting him off the hook, due to the women and children he had surrounded himself with, making his escape possible.
“So, everything has been handled”?, he asked, realizing by his casual demeanor that everything must be fine.
“Yeah, it has, and I'm sorry you had to come all this way, though, I must admit, for selfish reasons, I'm glad you did”, he answered, with the guilt for the long trip his friend had taken evident in his voice.
“There's no need for apologies, I've been wanting to see you, and you're my darling sister too. Speaking of, Where is Temperance July”?
Temperance July Merriweather was Ben's 24yr. old daughter, and very dear friend to Pale Horse, and especially close to Winter Crow, his sister, as the two were the same age, and practically inseparable when they spent their past summer's together.
“Temperance has been attending college in Boston, but as luck would have it, she's home for the entire summer, though presently, she and Larry, my ranch foreman, have ridden into town to pick up a few things”, he responded.
“That's great” remarked Pale Horse, “I cant wait to see her.” “Any idea of when she'll be back?” he asked, anxious to see his “adopted sister” again. Ben kinda chuckled as he replied,
“Well, as you know, she's never been one to diddle-daddle, and they left about an hour ago, I'd say maybe another hour or so”.
The afternoon wore on as the two spoke of the checkered past they shared between them, the great times as well as the bad, and of how John and Colt had come out of retirement and re-entered the world of bounty hunting, something that not only surprised Pale Horse, but delighted him as well.
“Colt lives in Rifle Stock now, since the recent trouble with Snake Head and all”, said Ben, knowing that Pale Horse would welcome the news and want to see him.
“Colt has been courting my lovely Temperance for a couple of weeks now too,” he added, knowing that his friend would be happy with the news.
“You don't say”, he replied, surprised, but delighted as well.
“Well, that's great for the both of them, Colt is a good man. I'll have to ride into town tomorrow and look him up before I head into the Nations”, he said as he stepped out onto the palatial terrace that overlooked the rolling countryside known as the Double R Ranch.
“I'm guessing John still lives in Dallas?” he asked.
“Yeah, still in Dallas at the same ol' place, don't think he'll ever live anywhere else”, he answered as he walked out on the terrace and joined his friend. While looking out over the lush green landscape, sun golden horizon and remarking of it's spectacular beauty, Ben pointed, interrupted his friend to tell him,
“That buggy pulling through the gates at the South entrance is Temperance”. Just as excited to see her, for she was nothing less than another younger sister that he loved dearly, he immediately walked back into the house and quickly found his way to the front door to greet her.
Pulling up in front of the ranch, Larry, always the gentleman, and very fond of Temperance as well, stepped off the buggy to give her a hand as she stepped down.
“You know you don't have to do that, Larry,” she said as she took his hand and jumped out of the buggy.
“I know, Miss Temperance, but it wouldn't be very gentlemanly if I didn't,” he retorted, shaking his head of the tomboy he knew her very well to be. She was just 15 when he had started working for her father, and more than once did he warn her that she could get hurt when she insisted on helping round-up the many cattle, mend a barbed-wire fence, or hunt down the coyotes that preyed upon the many livestock that were part of the everyday chores around the Double R.
“So, I see that you haven't changed Sunflower,” Pale Horse said to her, as she was still unaware of his presence. She immediately knew it was him by the name that he had called her since she was a just a child.
“Pale Horse!”, she exclaimed, as she immediately looked up on the porch and dropped the bags she was carrying. She ran up the stairs to embrace him.
“Oh my dearest brother”!, she cried, as tears of absolute joy formed in her eyes of emerald green and she was hoisted feet off the ground by a big brother who's heart was just as glad to see her.
“What are you doing here”? she asked, as he set her softly back to her feet.
“I was on my way into the Nations to see my family, and I thought I'd come by here to see you and your father on the way,” failing to mention the real reason that seemed unimportant now.
“How is Winter Crow, I miss her so much”?, asked Temperance, as they made their way into the house.
“She's fine I assume, being that it's been a little over a year since I've seen her,” he said reluctantly, knowing that she would quickly have something to say about it. Just as Temperance was about to chastise him for staying away from them for as long as he had, Ben, sensing that his friend was in need of rescue, spoke up and said, “Dinner will be ready in 10 minutes,” “Temperance, why don't you get freshened up, and we'll meet you in the dining room.” Pale Horse bent down and kissed her lovingly on her cheek, and turned to follow Ben into the dining room. “Thank you,” he said, without elaborating as to why.
“You're quite welcome,” he replied, and then added,
“She hasn't changed a bit, huh”? Laughing together as they approached the luxurious dining room, Ben turned to his friend and asked him if he would like a refresher on the drink he had just handed him.
“My very thoughts,” he said, as he topped of his drink and they both toasted to their beloved Temperance.
While speaking of times past over a thick and juicy T-bone steak, big baked potatoes, garden fresh vegetables, a crisp green salad and sweet southern buttered cornbread, Temperance began to tell her father how she wanted to accompany her brother into the Nations to see her dear friend and sister, Winter Crow, asking in her coy and lovable way, “If it was alright with him”? Knowing the dangers of the prairie, such as bandits, renegade Indians, bears and the like, a resounding “No” was spoken by not only her father, but by her brother as well.
“I'm a big girl now,” she said with her pretty green eyes and daddy's pout, and I can take care of myself”! “Besides father, who on earth would you rather trust my safety and well being to, more than Pale Horse”? She had a point, and Ben knew it too. It was time for Pale Horse to come to the rescue, and he did so by saying, “Sunflower, you will not accompany me into the Nations, but in return for your patience, I will get Winter Crow to return with me on my trip back, and she will surely want to spend the rest of the summer here with you, as you did when you were younger, if that's alright with you, Ben.”
“Will you”? she asked, the excitement obvious in her voice.
“Yes, I will,” he said, as Ben nodded his approval and they continued on with their meals. As the evening wore on, they laughed and reminisced of days gone by, until the hour was late, and each of them reluctantly said goodnight and retired for the evening.

Rifle Stock, Texas


The next day, Pale Horse told them he was headed for Rifle Stock, to see Colt, and then from there, he was heading into the Nations, and should return with Winter Crow within a week or so. After several embraces and well wishes for a safe journey, he was on his way. Noticing that Jack was following him once again, he told him “Stay,” and that he would take him with him once he was returning home. Jack, with ears drooping, seemed to understand his new friend and master, and returned to the underside of the steps where he had spent the night before. Pale Horse 'clicked' at Spirit, again said goodbye and headed for Rifle Stock. It seemed though a half a mile away, he could still hear Temperance shouting “I love you.”
He rode casually into Rifle Stock, and immediately went into the saloon, searching for some refreshment, and his friend Colt Mathews. As luck would have it, Colt was sitting at the rear of the saloon, with his back to the wall, in position to see everything and everyone around him, who went out, and more importantly, who came in. Being a bounty hunter, enemies were around every corner it seemed, and you never knew who might walk in at any given moment. This time, he couldn't believe his eyes. While turning up the bottom of his recent beer, just over the length of the emptied glass, he spotted him. The one and only Buck “Pale Horse” Rankin had just walked through the batwings, and looked him right in the eye the moment he stepped through the