Blue Bonnet Read Free Page B

want
to tempt one of them savages.” Hannah studied her sister-in-law
long and hard. “Maybe ya should consider wearing yer bonnet, too. I
think that chief would like yer curly, blond locks just as well as
he would my red hair.”
    Billie brushed a blond curl away
that pasted to her sweaty cheek. “You really think so? Maybe we
should stay hold up in the house until the men get back. We can
defend ourselves better in here.”
    “That's for sure. We've got guns,
and we know how to use them. I vowed to myself when I moved this
close to Indian territory with yer brother I’d fight to my death if
those savages caught me. I mean to do just that. Don’t figure on
being trapped in this house or taken alive by savage redskins
without giving them a fight.” Hannah stood up. “Except for one
small problem. If we're going to hold up in here, we need to fill
the water buckets and every kettle we have. We've got to have water
to drink, wash dishes in and cook with for the
duration.”
    Billie gathered all the kettles
and pans in the cupboards and put them on the end of the table. “It
might take a couple trips to get enough water to fill these
kettles.”
    “Maybe three trips before we're
done.” Hannah grabbed her rifle propped in the corner by the door
and picked up the water bucket and the milk bucket in her left
hand.
    “I agree, and I'm already worrying
about how many trips we might make before we make one too many. We
just might get caught by Chief Skinny.” Billie’s complexion turned
pasty, but she followed her sister-in-law’s lead. She picked up her
gun from the corner and another bucket.
    “Stay put until I look around,”
Hannah said.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter Three
     
     
     
    Hannah eased outside and stood
with her back against the rough logs on the porch wall. She wanted
to stay close to the door opening for a minute in case she had to
duck inside quick if she didn't like what she saw or
heard.
    The spring air smelled fresh and
crispy cool. Just the way, she liked it when she needed all her
senses awake and alert to danger.
    Red and pink sky colored the
eastern horizon. The sun was up enough to brighten Hannah's
surroundings and carried the promise of a nice day.
    Dew sparkled grass blades in the
sunlight as far as Hannah could see. Usually, she liked seeing
twinkling glitter even though dew soaked up her skirt hem as fast
as kerosene did a wick. This morning she had too much to worry
about to enjoy her surroundings.
    It did seem way too peaceful
outside. Quiet sometimes was a warning, but she might be wrong.
Hannah hoped she was making a mountain out of a mole hill. She
wanted to be wrong. She hated to have anything spoil a day as nice
as this one had started out. If the Indians had to cause trouble,
she prayed they waited until Billie and her had plenty of water
stored in the cabin.
    Cautiously, Hannah scanned the
underbrush at the edge of the clearing for any kind of movement. On
the back side the garden, she didn't see any Indians darting behind
the trees and underbrush. That was usually where the redskins watch
the house while Billie hoed.
    Now that the first shafts of pale
sunlight had broken over the area, the birds woke up and flapped
their wings, ready to fly off their tree roosts. A redwing
blackbird's thrill stood out among the repetitive cheeps of song
sparrows. In the distance, a quail called his bobwhite tune, and
another answered. At least, Hannah thought she heard real quails.
Indians were experts at bird calls as signals so she knew she
couldn't trust her hearing.
    A mourning dove cooed in the
brush, and one answered down by the creek. Most mornings as they
walked toward the creek, they heard mourning doves. That was always
a good sign when the birds weren't afraid to sing.
    The rooster crowed in the chicken
coop back of the cabin. He upset the laying hens, causing them to
cackle and caw. The rooster didn't have a reason to be quiet. What
did that old cock know about