Rose(91)
The brush next to her rustled, and she nearly screamed with fright when George appeared at her side. She fell into his arms.
“It’s some Mexicans stealing several hundred head of cattle,” he told her.
“Do they have any of ours?” she asked fearfully.
“Our ranch is too far away.”
“Are they Cortina’s men?”
“I don’t know, but I didn’t ask. There were forty or fifty of them.”
“Will they come after our herd?” she asked.
“Probably,” George answered.
“What will you do?”
“Fight.”
“But how can you fight so many?”
“If we don’t, they’ll take everything we have.”
Rose had almost forgotten that the frontier wasn’t as safe as Austin. She had forgotten that George and his brothers might have to fight and die for their land.
“Get everything loaded up. We’re moving out.”
George’s order terrified her. “Why? Do they know we’re here?”
“No. We’re going to scatter the herd.”
Panic seized Rose. “What can you do against so many?”
“Nothing much, but I can’t watch them steal those cattle and not try to do something about it. There aren’t enough of us to steal them back, but if we can turn the herd, start them stampeding back toward their home ground, maybe their owners will have time to catch up.”
“I want to go with you.”
“No. You and Silas will take the wagon and start toward the ranch. The rest of us will catch up with you before dawn.”
“But you don’t even have a horse.”
“I’m hoping Silas will lend me his.”
Silas nodded his agreement.
Rose knew there was no use arguing with George, not about fighting.
“They’re coming,” Salty said, racing up to the thicket where George had set up his ambush.
“How many are in front?”
“Just two. Alex and I already took out the lookouts.”
George grinned. “I wish I’d had you in my command during the war. We could have given them some sleepless nights.”
“You sure all you want to do is turn the herd?” Salty asked.
“It’s all we can do,” George said. “If we try killing as many as we can, we’ll have half the outlaws in Mexico on our backs. I won’t endanger Rose’s life, not for somebody else’s longhorns. Now take your position. When you hear my yell, come out shooting.”
Salty grinned. “You think the Rebel yell will put the fear of God into these bandits?”
“It always worked on the Yankees. It ought to scare the hell out of this rabble.”
George’s whole body trembled with excitement. Like a wild stallion with the smell of a rival in his nostrils, he could hardly wait to signal the attack. It felt good to be back in command. He only wished he had enough support to wipe out every bandit who dared cross the Rio Grande. He’d even be willing to take the fight to Cortina’s own backyard.
Now if he only had command of one of the Texas forts…
George didn’t complete the thought. The lead steer emerged from the brush. Digging his heels into his mount’s side, George let out a blood curdling Rebel yell and directed a fusillade of bullets just over the heads of the oncoming longhorns. It was followed immediately by a similar outburst from four other points in the brush. The point riders were swept out of their saddles before they had time to unholster their guns.
Staring wild-eyed at the onrushing men, the lead steer threw up his head, gave out a bellow of fear, and turned on the longhorns immediately behind him. In seconds the whole herd was racing back down the trail and toward their familiar feeding grounds.
Knowing the other bandits had to run with the herd or be trampled, George and his men followed behind, filling the night with enough yells and gunshots to keep the herd running at full speed for twenty or thirty miles.
Rose had never had anything to do with a stampede, and she didn’t know how to interpret the succession of sounds: first the eerie silence, next an awe-inspiring eruption of sound followed by the thunder of thousands of feet, then the gradual return of silence.
She didn’t ask Silas what was happening. She didn’t want to know. She only wanted George at her side and those bandits as far away as possible. She didn’t even want to think of what it would be like if they attacked the ranch.
She concentrated on the things she needed to do when they reached home. As uninspiring as that was, it was better than wondering if she would ever see George again.
The sound of hoofbeats in the distance caused the muscles in her stomach to relax.
“That’ll be my husband,” she said.