Mountain Woman Snake River Blizzard Read Free Page B

smiled.  “That’s always nice to hear.  I’m doing my best since their father died.”
    They made small talk about the weather and how much longer it would be before the first snow came.  “With Roy and Dan’s help, we hope to get the porch enclosed and then my husband has two other jobs in mind.”
    “My two boys enjoy working for Man, as they call him.  I told them to say Mr. Manchester, but they said he insisted they use only Man.”
    “That’ s all anybody calls him, including me,” Kate said.  “He picked that nickname up on the Oregon Trail.”
    “That’s h ow we got here,” Lucille said. “I came with my parents.  We were on one of the first trains coming west.”
    “I came onl y three years ago,” Kate said.
    She decided to get into the reason for the visit.  “ Roy and Dan told us an alarming account about a man named Robert Engledow.”
    Lucille spilled a little coffee on her hand as she jerked at that statement or hearing the name Engledow.
    “I didn’t mean to alarm you,” Kate said.  “I need to hear it first hand from you .  W e can put a stop to him bothering you. ”
    “They said they told you the whole sordid story,” she said.  She clutched the cup with both hands.  “Bob comes to our home once or twice a week and does horrible things to me.  If I try to refuse, he hits me.”
    “That will stop as of today,” Kate said.  “That I assure you.  I want to be there when he visits the next time.”
    “If he sees our mule and I’m sure if he saw any other animal there, he wouldn’t barge in.”
    “When was the last time?” Kate asked.
    “Monday, the day the boys started to work for you.  He may come today, but I won’t be there.  He gets off work at daylight and sleeps until mid-afternoon, and then comes to see me before going to work.”
    “Tomorrow may be a good day for me to be there waiting ,” Kate said.
    “I don’t know,” L ucille said.  “Bob is a big man.  H e’s awful strong.  I would hate for you to get hurt and there’ s no telling what he would do to us. ”
    Kate smiled.  “Let me worry about that .  I have something that’ s stronger and more powerful than Mr. Bob Engledow.”
    “But he’s over six foot tall and must weigh two hundred pounds.  You’re tall for a woman, but you can’t weigh more than one twenty-five.”
    Kate stood and went to the bedroom .  She came back with her twin Walker Colt pistols on her hips and her Winchester rifle over her shoulder.  “ The four of us can handle Mr. Engledow.”   She gestured to the weapons.

 
     
     
    Chapter 2
     
    As soon as Lucille left with her sons, Man came in the house.  “How did it go?”
    Lucille said he was blackmailing her over the debt.  He comes to her home in the afternoon before he goes to work.  The two boys wer e accurate on what’ s happening.  I told her I would put a stop to it.”
    “What are you planning?” Man asked.
    “She said if he sees their mule in the barn or any other animals there he won’t come.  Can you take me and drop me off?   We could go while he’ s asleep. I would think soon after noontime .  The last time he came was Monda y, so he may be eager today with the weekend coming , when the boys will be at home.  I think today is the ideal time.”
    “We can do that .  I’l l bring your horse back here a nd then come get you when the boys go home.”
    “ That’ ll work,” she said.  “Mr. Engledow has to go to work about then.  If he goes to her home, it will be before then.”
    Roy and Dan were nervous the nex t morning.  “Mom told us Kate i s going to our house this afternoo n to confront Mr. Engledow,” Roy said.   “Mom’s worried about her and what he’ ll do to them.”
    “Kate has taken down a lot tougher men than Bob Engledow,” Man said.
    “Will she shoot him?” Roy asked.
    “Only as a last resort, but if he attacks her, yes, she’ll shoot and she won’t miss.”
    Kate wore her case buck skins , as