by Jane Corrie
1^0 THE TEXAN RANCHER
that she could not dance, and knew that it had worried him. 'Dan's got a woman that goes in and cleans up for him twice a week.' He cleared his throat. 'Been thinking of getting someone for us� take the polishing work off your hands, anyway.' He looked up at Josie, who was watching him with a wary look in her eyes, and coughed again. 'Anyway, we'll keep it in mind.'
At her, 'Very well, Gramps,' he shot her a suspicious look, and Josie went on quickly to say, 'I'll have to get a few more dresses in, I suppose, for these social occasions you seem to think I ought to attend. I was thinking of doing some shopping in Dallas,' she added idly, and shot her grandfather a surreptitious look to see how he took this.
His reply quite startled her. 'Now that's more like it!' he said briskly. 'And don't you worry about getting back early to fix me a meal. I managed okay on my own before, and it won't
hurt me to get myself something.' It was Josie's turn to look suspicious. Kade must have laid it on thick, she thought furiously, to produce this sort of response from her grandfather. He was so pleased that she was spending the day on what he called a 'shopping spree' that Josie felt downright mean about the scheme she had in
mind, and as she sat in the State bus that she was
able to pick up outside the township, she found
herself hoping her quest was unsuccessful, for this
trip anyway! Dallas was forty miles from the township, and while she gazed out at the passing landscape, Josie reflected that it wasn't all that tar to travel, and she might, she thought, even be able to stay at
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Carella if she could get a job in Dallas itself� always providing, she told herself darkly, that her grandfather didn't conclude the deal with ICade.
As the bus neared its destination and they entered the intersections leading off the main highway, Josie stared in consternation at the swiftly moving lanes ahead of them. She would never negotiate her way through that! It was bus or nothing, she thought bleakly, and even a large sign that categorically stated, 'DALLAS IS BEAUTL FUL' failed to raise her crestfallen spirits, tor she had a sudden vision of Blue Mount, and the practically deserted byroads that led to the ranch, and the wonderful feeling of space that she would get as she drove there each morning.
For one fleeting moment she was tempted to forget her well-intentioned scheme and leave her fate in the hands of Kade, to do as he wished with her, and her eyes pricked at the thought. If she hadn't fallen in love with him then perhaps it might have been possible�but not now, not after the wa) he had gone about obtaining Carella, using her to gain his objective. Her pride alone wouldn't allow her to accept this, and she would far rather be out of his vicinity altogether, even though, she mused. it meant joining that thick stream of traffic that rushed along as if the occupants of the cars hadn't a moment to live�even that was preferable.
Before leaving the bus terminal Josie checked on the return trips and found they were not as frequent as she had thought they would be, for there were two-hourly intervals between each bus, and she decided to catch the eight o'clock one back. Not that she wanted to wait that long before her
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return, but she had to humour her grandfather, although she couldn't think how he expected her to fill her time after the stores had closed. Perhaps he had thought she might take in a movie, she shrugged lightly; his main concern had been that if she was in Dallas, or anywhere else come to that, she wouldn't be doing the endless chores she fillecTher weekends with, catching up on the week's housework.
After negotiating her way to the main shopping areas, where she hoped to find the agencies she was seeking, Josie ruminated that her grandfather hadn't been all that far off the mark when he had suggested she made a day of it, for it was almost lunch time before she had found what looked as if it might be a promising start to her* job quest, and although the agency advertised office vacancies, she felt it was worth a try.
However, a few minutes later she found that office vacancies were all they had, but she did have some success, for the helpful manager gave her an address of an agency to try on the other side of the city.
Worried that the firm might close for the lunch period, Josie caught a cab to take her to her destination, and was devoutly glad that she did, for on arrival at the given address she found that the firm had moved their premises�back to where she had just come from!�and just managed to stop the cab taking off again, and got the cheery cab driver to make the return journey.
Paying the cabby off, she started the foot-weary tramp down a narrow side street, to the number given on the board outside the old premises, with a
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nasty feeling that fate was ganging up on her and try as she might she would be unsuccessful in her quest. At this thought she squared her slim shoulders. Getting despondent wouldn't help, and at least this agency handled the type of post "she was seeking.
Five minutes later, however, her lightened spirits received a severe-setback as she gazed at a 'closed' sign hung up in the window of the agency.
'Wouldn't you know it!' exclaimed an exasperated voice behind her, and Josie turned to meet the rueful eyes of a youngish-looking girl with a pony-style hairdo thar swung from side to side as she spoke. 'I guess it never occurs to them that some of us have to work during the week, and this is the only time we can get to visit,' she said in a soft Southern drawl. 'You on the same rounds?' she queried.
Josie nodded slowly. 'I was told they handled my work' she said wearily, her voice showing her disappointment.
The girl started at Josie's accent. 'You're English?' she enquired.
Josie smiled at her. 'American,' she answered, 'brought up in England, I've only been home a few months.'
The girl held out her hand. 'Patsy Hather,' she said. 'I guess I can take it we're both teachers?'
Josie took her hand and gave her name, adding, 'Pleased to meet you, Patsy, and I suppose I can take it that you're looking tor a job too?' she tacked on dryly.
Patsy nodded, making the ponytail bounce even higher, and sighed as she looked back at the Closed
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sign. 'I've been looking for two months now� writing off to various colleges, but had no luck so far.' She looked back at Josie and wrinkled her nose. 'No experience, you see,' she sighed again,
'I'm ready for them, but they're not ready for me,
I guess,' she complained.
As if mutually agreed, the girls started walking back to the main town area, and when they passed a drugstore. Patsy suggested they had a milk shake, unless Josie had another appointment, of course.
Josie hadn't, and was quite willing to dally away the time with her new-found friend, for it turned out that Patsy's situation was much the same as hers, in that she too had come from a small town, and like Josie had had to seek work in a city, although in her case there was no nearby school.
The children were on 'bussing' schedules, and some. Patsy told her, went as far as thirty miles, according to their grade.
It was natural that the two girls should team up for the rest of the day. Patsy, like Josie, hadn't . fancied a day on her own in the city, yet hadn't
wanted to go home early.
To salve her conscience, Josie did buy a dress,
one that could be worn for special occasions, but .
not too fancy, although she had no idea what occa- 3
sion the dress would eventually be used for. ^|
It was through Patsy that Josie missed her bus, j|
not only the one she had meant to catch, but the |
following one too. In their tour of the city, they |j
had come across a movie house that was showing a ||
film that had received wide acclamation, and bothjl
girls had felt that it was a chance not to be missed, IjJ
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now that they were in what they referred to
as
'civilisation'.
Emerging from a dimly-lit foyer a few hours
later, and blinking hard to accustom their eyes to
the glare of the afternoon sun, the girls walked down the steps leading to the exit and Patsy missed the last step. Before Josie could prevent-her falling, she had sprawled on to the sidewalk.
Seeing her wince as she helped her up, Josie inquired anxiously if she had hurt herself, and Patsy, trying to make light of the accident, gave a wry grimace as she shifted the weight of her left leg and examined the badly grazed'knee and hopelessly torn tights.
'I think we'd better have that seen to,' commented Josie, keeping a supporting arm around Patsy's waist, and hailing a cruising taxi, she got the driver to take them to the nearest casualty
centre. Within a remarkably short time. Patsy's knee had been attended to, and she was given a tetanus injection for good measure. Her right arm, too, had come under medical scrutiny as she had sprained her wrist as she had attempted to break her fall. By the time the girls had left the casualty centre, Josie found herself accompanying not only a limping Patsy, but a one-armed Patsy, tor her right arm had been enclosed in a sling. When Patsy asked Josie what time her bus was due to leave, Josie countermanded the question by wanting to know when Patsy's bus left. This query forced a grin from Patsy, who was in no doubt of Josie's intentions. 'Honestly, Josie, I'll be okay. I'm
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sure your bus leaves before mine. Mine are few and far between, and I'll not get one now until
after ten.'
'How long after ten?' persisted Josie, determined not to leave Patsy until she had seen her safely on the bus.
'Thirty after,' answered Patsy, 'and I don't know where that leaves you. For all we know, your connections might fold after ten, and there's no need for you to stay with me.'
'I'm staying,' replied Josie firmly, not failing to notice the other girl's pallor and guessing she must have been in a certain amount of pain, not to mention discomfort, with her arm in a sling. 'There's such a thing as trains, I presume?' she queried with a lift of her finely arched eyebrows.
Patsy's good arm came round Josie's slim waist. 'You're a brick, Josie, but I've my doubts. I think vou'll find they're trucking rails, and you'd get stuck in the middle of nowhere. Tell you what,' she suggested brightly, 'we'll make enquiries at the depot, and if you've a bus that leaves shortly after mine, then I'd be surely grateful for your company� if not, then it's no go.'
Josie knew full well that her next bus after Patsy's connection would leave at midnight, but did not say so. Somehow she had to prevent this fact from coming to Patsy's notice, and when they arrived at the depot and saw the long line of people waiting to be attended to at the information kiosk, Josie breathed a sigh of relief. Patsy was in no state to stand in that line, and seeing her comfortably seated in one of the chairs that were
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provided for waiting passengers, Josie took her place in the line.
'It's all right,' she assured Patsy later when she rejoined her, 'there's a bus that leaves fifteen minutes after yours. How's that?' she said triumphantly.
'Are you sure?' demanded Patsy suspiciously. 'You're not kidding me, are you?'
Opening her blue eyes in feigned indignation, Josie replied, 'Of course not!' asking for the lie to be forgiven.
That settled, the girls made their way to the refreshment bay, and over a light meal Patsy told Josie about her home background.
'It's not been easy for Mother, you know,' she
confided. 'Dad walked out on us when we were young, and she had to fend for us. It couldn't have been easy tor her letting, me stay on for graduation, but she wouldn't hear of me giving up and helping
out with the income by getting a job of some sort. I'm the eldest, you-see.' She sighed. 'I guess it's going to come to that yet, in spite of Mom's hopes for me. She works in a store and comes home dead beat, and it kinda hurts seeing her like that, and me not able to help out. It wouldn't matter so much if I could get some kind of vacation job, and if there's one listed, I always seem to get there either just after the job's been taken, or there are ten or more in front of me, and I never even get to the interview,' she added despondently, then looked at Josie. 'How about you?' she asked.
Josie told her about her background, passing lightly over the years she had spent in England, and explained how she had been fortunate in
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finding a job soon after coming home, and when she mentioned the job she had been given at Blue Mount, Patsy gave a sigh of pure envy. 'Gosh, Josie, you sure fell on your feet 1' Then it suddenly occurred to her that Josie was seeking a job. 'Did it fold up?' she asked.
Josie shook her head, 'No, it didn't told up. I
suppose I just wanted a change,' she lied, and seeing the look of incredulity this produced on Patsy, went on to say, "Well, things were a bit complicated,' leaving Patsy to draw her own conclusions, and this she apparently did by giving Josie a long appraisal and summing up her conelusions by a dry, 'I guess with your looks you'll always have some sort of problem, the men go for
dewy-eyed blondes,' she tacked on with a grin.
'It was nothing like that,' protested Josie indignantly, and shrugged. 'I just wasn't happy,' she ended lamely, thinking that it was the' truth, not the whole truth, but near enough to satisfy Patsy.,
Patsy sighed again. 'Well, I hope you haven't made a mistake by throwing the job up, that's all.
They don't grow on trees, Josie.' ^
This time Josie echoed her sigh. 'I'm beginning to find that out,' she agreed dolefully.
The girls stayed at the bus depot, for there was now only an hour to go before Patsy's bus de parted, and Patsy was only too happy to stay put. , At least there was somewhere to sit down, and it . was obvious that if they moved they would soon ; lose their seats, for the waiting rooms were gradually filling up with fellow passengers. ^
At Patsy's instigation, Josie rang her grandfather | and explained that she would be late home, telling |
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him not to worry, and that she had had a lovely day. She had thought of doing this earlier, but had been afraid that Patsy would be suspicious again, and hadn't wanted to risk it; but as Patsy had rung her mother and put her into the picture, Josie had no choice but to follow her example.
There were just ten minutes to go before Patsy's bus departed when Josie, idly watching the continual stream of outgoing and incoming human traffic, stiffened in her seat as her eyes met. Kade's grey ones as he stood surveying her from the other side of the crowded room, and she watched in a kind of stupefied fascination as he covered the distance between them in a matter of seconds, and was collecting her one and only package and all but lifting her out of her seat before she had fully recovered her aplomb.
Resisting his hold on her arm, Josie turned to Patsy and took full note of the 'Wow 1' expression in her eyes as she studied Kade. 'Patsy, this is Mr Boston,' she introduced hastily. 'Er ... a friend of my grandfather's,' she added lamely, not wanting to say 'my employer', and did not miss the sardonic look this brought from Kade, and felt the familiar surge of temper towards him. What right had he got to just sweep in and pick her up as if she were his property? 'Patsy's bus doesn't go until tenthirty,' she said coldly, 'and although I presume you're offering me a lift back home, I'm afraid I'm not leaving until I've seen her Off.'
Kade gave his lazy grin at this, making Patsy's eyes open yet wider. 'Hi, Patsy,' he drawled, then nodded towards her arm. 'Had an argument with someone?' he queried, his eyes taking in the thick
l8o THE TEXAN RANCHER
strip of plaster over her knee and the torn stocking.
Patsy grinned and tossed her ponytail back in an arch movement, and Josie felt exasperated. He apparently had that effect on all the girls. 'Not quite,' supplied Patsy. 'I guess I'm accident-prone,' she added sadly, then looked from Kade to Josie. 'Go ahead,
Josie, I'll be okay�honest.'
Josie shook her head firmly and stared at Kade. 'I'm staying. The bus might be late, and as you can see she's in no state to be left on her own.'
Kade's thoughtful glance went from Josie back to Patsy again. 'Where are you heading. Patsy?' he asked.
Patsy gave the name of the small town, and her eyes opened to their full extent when Kade casually remarked, 'I know of it. We'll do a round trip and drop you off,' and without waiting for either girl's comments on this bald statement, he had rounded them up and was ushering them out of the bus terminal.
To Patsy's awed whisper of, 'Does he always act like this?' to Josie as they found themselves shep
" herded towards a gleaming Jaguar drawn up outside the depot, Josie gave a short, 'Always!' the exasperation she felt plainly showing by the vehement answer. Patsy gave her a curious glance. It was like being in the wake of a hurricane, Josie mused furiously, as the car glided smoothly out on to the highway. She didn't understand how Kade came to be in Dallas or how he knew that she was there, or where to find her. Her smouldering eyes rested on his thick hair, noticing almost absently how it curled slightly at the ends, not too long, yet not too short. As she had elected to sit in the back