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time stand aside and there is only this, a meeting of minds and of pulsing
blood, and a joining of hands in the quiet hours.
And then we heard hoofs in the yard, the coming of horses.
Two horses ... two riders.
Chapter Thirteen
MOIRA GOT up quickly, tendrils of dark hair curled against her neck, and
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there were tiny beads of perspiration on her upper lip, for the day was very
hot.
"Matt, that's father. You'd better go."
She had stepped toward me and I took her elbows and drew her to me. She
started to draw away, but I took her chin and turned her face toward me. She
was frightened and tried to draw back, but not very hard. Her eyes were
suddenly wide and dark ... and then I kissed her.
For an instant we clung together, and then she pulled violently away from me.
She stood like that, not saying anything, and then moved quickly to kiss me
again. We were like that when we heard footsteps outside.
We stepped apart just asRudMaclaren and Morgan Park came through the door.
Park saw us, and something in Moira's manner must have given him an idea of
what had taken place. His face went dark with anger and he started toward me,
his voice hoarse with fury. "Get out! Getout , I say!"
My eyes went past him toMaclaren . "Is this your home,Maclaren , or his?"
"That'll do, Morgan!"Maclaren did not like my being there, but he liked
Morgan Park's usurping of authority even less. "I'll order people from my own
home."
Morgan Park's face was ugly. He wanted trouble, but before he could
speakCanaval appeared in the door behind them.
"Boss, Brennan said he was justvisitin ', nothuntin ', trouble. He said he
would go when I asked him and that he would make no trouble for Park.
Moira interrupted quickly. "Father, Mr. Brennan is my guest. When the time
comes he will leave. Until then, I wish him to stay."
"I won't have him in my house!"Maclaren declared angrily. "Damn you, Brennan!
You've got a gall to come here aftershootin ' my men,stealin ' range that
rightly belongs to me, andrunnin ' my cows out ofCottonwood !"
"We've no differences we can't settle peaceably," I told him quietly. "Inever
wanted trouble with you, and I think we can reach an agreement."
It took the fire out of him. He was still truculent, still ready to throw his
weight around, but mollified. Right then I sensed the truth aboutRudMaclaren .
It was not land and property he wanted so much as to be known as the biggest
man in the country. He simply knew of no way of winning respect and admiration
other than through wealth and power.
Realizing that gave me the opening I wanted. Peace I had to have, but peace
withMaclaren especially. And here it was, if I made the right moves.
"Today I had a talk with Chapin. This fighting can only be stopped through
the leadership of the right man. I think you are that man,Maclaren ."
He was listening, and he liked what he heard. He could see himself acting in
the role of peacemaker. And he was a shrewd man who could not but realize that
every day of this war was costing him men, cattle, and money. While his men
were fighting or riding the country they could not attend to ranch business.
"You're the big man around here. If you make a move, the others will follow."
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"Not the Finders. You killedRollie , and they'll not rest until you're dead.
And he hates me and all I stand for."
Morgan Park was listening, suddenly hard and watchful. This was something he
had never expected, thatMaclaren and I would actually get together and talk
peace. If we reached an agreement, any plans he had would be wasted, finished.
"If the CPtry to continue the fight," I suggested, "they would outlaw
themselves. In the eyes of everyone they would have no standing.
"Moreover, if this fight continues all the rustlers in the country will come
in here to take advantage of the situation and steal cattle."
Moira was listening with some surprise and, I thought, with respect. My own
instinct had always been toward fighting, yet I had always appreciated the
futility of it. If we could settle our difficulties, the CP would be forced to
restrainthemselves . The joker in the deck was Morgan Park. If, as I now
believed, he had reason to want to continue the fight in order to complete his
plans, then an end to hostilities would be a death blow for his arrangements
with Booker.
Rudwas impressed, that was obvious to Morgan Park as well as to me.Maclaren
rubbed his chin thoughtfully, seeing the logic of the situation as I expressed
it.
RudMaclarenwas a careful man who had come early, worked hard, and planned
well. It was only now in these later years that he had become acquisitive of
power. But he could not help but realize that he was looked upon without
affection by many of his neighbors. While he affected no interest, it was
obvious that my suggestion offered an opportunity for that. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]