War on the Cimarron (25 page)

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Authors: Luke; Short

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She heard footsteps behind her, and Frank swung in alongside them.

“You think you'd trust Luvie to walk around the parade grounds with me, Mr. Barnes?” he asked.

Barnes laughed and said, “Let her answer that, Frank.”

“Good night, Dad,” Luvie murmured.

She and Frank started out across the parade grounds, heading instinctively for a spot where the street lamps were not so bright.

Frank didn't say anything for a long time, until they were in the shaded street where the married officers' quarters were.

Suddenly he said, “Major Corning said somethin' there tonight I didn't rightly understand.”

“What was that?”

“He said you held off the troopers with a gun.” He looked sideways at her. “Did you?”

“Yes,” Luvie said softly.

“Butâwhy?”

“I owed it to you,” Luvie said, and then her voice was gentle with quiet pride. “You didn't believe me when I said I was sorry, Frank. IâI had to show you the only way I could.”

Frank didn't speak for a moment, and then he said, “I reckon I see,” and there was disappointment in his voice.

“No, you don't, Frank,” Luvie said. They stopped and faced each other. “Frank, are you going to make me say it?”

“Wait a minute, Luvie,” Frank said huskily. “I'm takin' a chance on what you mean, and I'm goin' to say it. You've been my woman ever since I saw you, fightin' or no fightin', and you can go away and I'll never see you again and you'll still be my woman. Mine! Do you understand?”

“Understand?” Luvie echoed. She laughed shakily. “It's what I've known before you knew it, Frank.”

And Frank took her in his arms and held her close to him, knowing they had both been fools and a little glad of it and not caring.

When, hand in hand, they came back to the hotel much later Otey and Milabel were seated on the porch steps under the light.

At their approach Otey said truculently, “Frank, make this damn jughead see sense. We can't put out no five men on a roundup wagon to separate our herds!”

Milabel laughed and said, “Listen, runt. You can if I loan you the five men, can't you?”

About the Author

Luke Short is the pen name of Frederick Dilley Glidden (1908â1975), the bestselling, award-winning author of over fifty classic western novels and hundreds of short stories. Renowned for their action-packed story lines, multidimensional characters, and vibrant dialogue, Glidden's novels sold over thirty million copies. Ten of his novels, including
Blood on the Moon
,
Coroner Creek
, and
Ramrod
, were adapted for the screen. Glidden was the winner of a special Western Heritage Trustees Award and the Levi Strauss Golden Saddleman Award from the Western Writers of America.

Born in Kewanee, Illinois, Glidden graduated in 1930 from the University of Missouri where he studied journalism. After working for several newspapers, he became a trapper in Canada and, later, an archaeologist's assistant in New Mexico. His first story, “Six-Gun Lawyer,” was published in
Cowboy Stories
magazine in 1935 under the name F. D. Glidden. At the suggestion of his publisher, he used the pseudonym Luke Short, not realizing it was the name of a real gunman and gambler who was a friend of Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. In addition to his prolific writing career, Glidden worked for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. He moved to Aspen, Colorado, in 1946, and became an active member of the Aspen Town Council, where he initiated the zoning laws that helped preserve the town.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover design by Andy Ross

ISBN: 978-1-5040-4092-1

This edition published in 2016 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

180 Maiden Lane

New York, NY 10038

www.openroadmedia.com