The Only Way Out - Book Two of the Western Girls Trilogy

Chapter 13

Morgan was sitting atop her horse when Jake rode over. "Is that San Fransisco?" she asked.

"That's it," he said. "Looks like it's grown a bit since last year, but it's still fairly small. I'd guess you won't have too much trouble locating your aunt."

She nodded. She was so close and yet she felt more nervous at that moment than she had walking up the the Double HH Ranch all those months ago. She glanced at Jake, wondering if he could sense it.

"We're heading to a ranch just outside city limits," he said. "From there, we'll auction them off and most times we have to take them into town and load them onto the train, about two or three hundred at a time. It takes a few days, but once that's done, it's over and we head back home."

"So that's it?" she asked.

He nodded. "That's it."

"Monroe, I-,"

Ted rode up. "They're already about halfway down the gulch," he said, interrupting her. "We should be done by early afternoon."

Jake turned to look at Ted. "I guess we'd best get to it,"

Morgan followed them. They were on top of a bluff and off to their right was a deep chasm that looked like it had been carved into the side of the hill. It made it fairly easy for the herd to get down the side of the hill into town, while also keeping them contained. Most of the crew had gone on ahead and the three of them brought up the rear, making sure every head made it down.

When Morgan reached the bottom, she realized the ranch Jake had mentioned was fenced right up to the side of the bluff and the whole herd was now locked inside a large pasture. The hard part of the job was over and she hoped they were able to sell them quickly. She was starting to feel anxious about finding her aunt as soon as possible. 

Jake and Ted rode into town to arrange for the auction while the rest of them made camp near the chuck wagon where Cliff was already making an early supper. In the meantime, he'd made some strong coffee and built a fire.

Morgan had just spent twenty minutes talking to Cliff and getting a cup of coffee when Grady appeared out of nowhere as she walked towards the fire. She stopped so suddenly that she nearly sloshed her hot coffee over her hand.

"I just wanted to apologize for my behavior,  Miss Russell," he said, clearing his throat. "I had no idea......I understand now why you had to defend yourself against Conrad and I'm sorry you had to do that. I'm sorry he did what he did."

She was stunned. "Thank you, Grady," she said. "I wish things had been different. I didn't want to kill him."

"I know." he said. "I just wanted to make sure you knew how I felt before we all go our separate ways. You did a good job. You're one of the hardest workers I've seen."

"Thank you."

He tipped his hat and continued on his way to get coffee. Morgan turned to watch him for a moment as if she couldn't believe what had just happened, but finally turned and walked to the fire where she found a good seat, out of the smoke.

Turner plunked himself down next to her. "Can you believe it's almost over?" he asked.

"I know," she replied. "It feels so strange to actually be here."

"Well, we still have a few more days, but they always seem to just fly by in a blur and then it's all over! What are you going to do once you're free? Just look for your aunt? Or are you going to go see the ocean?"

"I saw the ocean from the bluff before we came down." she said. "It's big. I've never seen anything quite like it, that's for sure."

He laughed. "Yeah. You should see it up close. At least once."