GO EN RODEO EN 17

a few hours later the ranger woke up. he was a litttle rough around the edges but his eyes were open and he asked for something to drink. the hostler ran to momma amivisca s cafe and told them he was awake. joe sat there and visited with the ranger filling him in on on his problems with dutch. " dutch is bad enough here in arizona, but he had a string of roberys and assualts in other states as well. theres no telling how many more there are out there not reported."blain explained between sips of water from a tin dipper. through the door came a young woman caring a tray. she was black headed and had deep, almost black eyes. full lips that held a perpetual smile.her dress was faded but clean. her hair had a sheen as it spilled down on her shoulders. joe couldnt speak. she took his breath away. she placed the tray on a stool close to the ranger and turned to leave. "who, who are you?" joe stammered. " my name is sophie, ime mommas neice. i help her some times."sophies smille lit up the shadows in the barn. " will i see you again?"joe asked. " as she went out the door she looked back and said " i hope so!" her skirt swished side to side with her walk. " she brought me something to eat but she filled your eyes!" the ranger exclaimed. " i never expected to see some one like that here. took me by surprise." joe almost whispered as he watched sophie walk back across the street. early in the afternoon a cowboy came hikeing into town from the south. his chaps were slung over his shoulder and he strode with a purpose. he stopped and talked to a old man sitting on a porch then came on to the livery. " is there a ranger here?" he asked. blain stood up and braced himself against a stall side" thats me pard what can i do for you?" " i just been robbed before i came into town. took my horse and all my gear. big man had a slight limp. blain turned to joe," well it didnt take him long did it? how far out of town was this pard?" blain asked " close enough i could see the roof tops i guess. lend me a mount ill show ya."the cowboy said. joe and the hostler were saddling horses. joe loaned his grulla to the ranger and he rode sox. the three men rode out of town a few minutes later. at the spot where the robery had taken place the ground was stired pretty bad. it was hard to tell the tracks leaveing the sight. joe told everyone to sit still while he rode a big circle looking for tracks leaveing the site. when he reached the east side there was a manzanita thicket and he had to ride on the west side of it to get past. . out of the corner of his eye he saw the flash of sunlight on a polished steel gun barrel. he didnt show that he saw it and rode back to the other men "lets go cant find anything. lets go now!" joe was firm. the ranger stared at him in disbelief." ok, but whats the rush?" through gritted teeth joe said" ill tell you later now lets go!" when almost back to town they rode up on a small rise and could see back to where they had just come from " ok joe whats the deal?" blain asked. " that dutch man had a gun and was in that thicket. he was getting ready to shoot if we didnt leave."joe was a bit shaken. the cowboy slapped his hip where the pistol should have been " damn" was all he said."i never missed it. he could have killed all three of us!" blain nodded then pointed out across the desert. a lone horse man was rideing at a short lope to the morth east. " whats out there?"joe asked. " town of globe is up that way. the way he is going is rough and slow. if we get moveing we can beat him there." the cowboy announced he wasnt going to globe and turned into the stable. joe and blain continued out of town . just past the edge a wide , cleared trail open to the east. they took it at a long trott.