Trail to Abilene: Circle R

By Lachlan Hazelton

Nate and Casey get more than they bargained for heading back to the Circle R Ranch. A bandit has a hostage. All they want is to get home. They can't just leave her. Trouble is the last thing they need.. Lucy finds herself on the way to The Circle R Ranch for a change of clothes and a hot meal... She's hoping for a fresh start too. There's only a crooked Sheriff between her and that reward money. With the help of Nate, Casey and the Colonel she might just get it too. Who knows? Thanks to the family on the Circle R Ranch, Lucy may have finally found a place to call home.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lachlan Hazelton
• Release date: Dec 31, 2017
• ISBN: 9780994589330

Lachlan Hazelton

Lachlan has been writing about anything and everything since he was given his Mum’s old Royal typewriter as a gift when he was 13. Now he tries to balance his energy between his writing and his family. It is a work in progress. When he’s not writing or spending time with his family, he’s probably trying to catch up on all the reading or movies he has been missing.

Book preview

The Circle R

by

Lachlan Hazelton

Smashwords Edition

* * * * *

Published by Lachlan Hazelton at Smashwords

The Circle R

© 2016 by Lachlan Hazelton

Chapter One

I'm tellin' you, I ain't ridin' drag again this year and that's that, Nate grumbled to his adopted brother, Casey, as they guided their mounts towards the ramshackle old barn. The destination had been chosen because it promised to offer them all a modicum of very welcome shade from the glaringly white sun and the oppressive 100-degree Texas summer heat. If Nate's protest was heard at all, it didn't register a jot with Casey who had a reputation for being monosyllabic at the best of times - not something that made him the most ideal of companions for riding trail with. In fact, rumor had it that when Miss Felicity, the town schoolmistress that Ma had insisted he had lessons with for a while, once asked him to write a letter, he'd answered with a curt 'What letter d'you want me to write?'

I'm fed up with everythin' tastin' o' dirt. Hey, you even listenin' to me? Nate demanded irritably.

Casey simply cocked his head in the strange way that he was prone to doing from time to time - a bit like a rooster does. It was a mannerism that had earned him his nickname of 'Cluck' although few dared to suggest to his face that he had any chicken tendencies. Although he was slow to anger - Nate had only see him fly off the handle on a few occasions - he was more than capable of being a thoroughly ornery son-of-a-gun if the occasion demanded it.

You hear that? Casey replied eventually. They were now about a hundred feet from the barn and the scrub was thinning out.

Nate couldn't hear anything but then again Casey had the reputation of being able to pick up on a rattler farting during a twister. We got a rustler, d'ya reckon? Nate hissed.

It couldn't be an ordinary thief, that was for sure, as there was nothing worth stealing in the old barn - just a few tools, some rope, and a little dry feed for the horses. They'd only come that way in the first place in order to rest a while from the midday sun and to check up on the longhorn in that part of the ranch. If asked, they'd sell their detour to Ma on the grounds that they'd wanted to see if the barn roof had any need of repairing. She'd probably see straight through it but, heck, it'd be something to say when she asked why they was late for supper.

Casey didn't respond. He just nimbly dismounted, slipped his horse's reins into his brother's outstretched hand and raced off in the direction of the rear of the barn, gesticulating for Nate to carry on riding towards the front. Casey moved swiftly but quietly over the sun-baked and parched soil, as always with one eye on the ground - it didn't do to stomp on a snake, least of all this far from any medical help.

Glancing cautiously around for any clues as to what