The saga of the Sackett family continues with Logan Sackett, a cynical and rootless drifter, meeting a fiery old widow, Emily Talon - who is even wilder than himself. Tall and plucky, she is determined to defend herself against the locals who are trying to take her land. And even though Logan initially intends on not getting himself involved, he can't help it when he discovers that Emily had been born a Sackett.
The old house stood on the crest of a knoll and it was three hundred yards to the main gate. No shrubbery or trees obscured the view, nor was there any cover for a half mile beyond.
The house was old, weather-beaten, wind-harried, and long unpainted. By night no light shone from any window, and by day no movement could be seen, but the watchers from the hill a half mile away were not fooled.
"She's there, all right. You lay a hand on that gate and you'll damned soon know she's there. She's setting up there in that old house and she can shoot."
Behind the house, the mountains lifted abruptly, steep, ragged slopes broken by ledges and dikes, covered with rough growth and dead-fall timber. Directly behind the house, only the top spread of its walls visible, lay the mouth of a canyon opening into the mountains beyond.
"Old Man Talon built that house to last, and when he built it, it was the finest house between New Orleans and Frisco. He had thirty tough hands then . . . a reg'lar army."
"How many's she got now?" Matthew asked.
"Not more'n two or three. The best of her land and the sources of all her water lie back of the house, and there's no way to get at it except right through the ranch yard. And that ol' devil ain't about to let anybody get by."
"She's got to sleep, ain't she?" Brewer asked.
"She sleeps, I suppose, but nobody ain't figured out when. Lay a finger on that gate and she'll part your brisket with a fifty-caliber bullet.
"The way folks tell it Old Man Talon figured someday they'd have to stand siege so he laid by enough ammunition and grub, too, to supply an army."
The three men eyed the house, irritation mixed with admiration, then turned to the coffeepot on their small fire.
"Flanner's right. The on'y way is to keep at her, every hour of every day and night. Sooner or later she's got to sleep, and then we'll get in. Behind that house in those canyons there's some of the finest land anywhere, watered by mountain streams and walled by mountains. No ol' woman's got the right to keep that land to herself, to say nothin' of the hundred thousand acres out here on the plains that they lay claim to."
"How come they got so much?"
"Talon was the first white man to settle in this country. When he and his partner came out here there was nothing but Indians and wild game. His partner was after fur, but not Talon. He seen this place and latched onto it, knowing that a hundred thousand acres out here was no good without water from the mountains.
"Talon and his partner built a cabin and wintered here, the partner taking all the fur, Talon keeping house and land. Come spring, the partner pulled his stakes, but Talon stayed on, fit Injuns, hunted buffalo, trapped a mite, and caught himself some wild horses.
"A few years passed by and the wagon trains started coming through. Talon had grub. He had raised him some corn, and he had jerked venison by the ton, and he swapped with the travelers for their wore-out cattle.
"He held his stock back in the canyons where he had no need for hands, and on that rich grass with plenty of water he built himself some herds. Somewhere along the line he taken off for the east and married up with this Tennessee hill woman. The way I hear it she was some kin to his old partner."
"Talon's dead?"
"Dry-gulched, they say. Nobody knows who done it."
"Is it true? Did she bust Flanner's knees?"
"Uh-huh. Flanner figured when her old man died that Em Talon would pull for the States, but she never done it. Moreover, she had her an idea Flanner had killed Talon.
"Flanner came out to run...
Reviews
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Logan Sackett's a man to ride any trail with--he's a shrewd, seasoned frontiersman with lots of common sense. Terrence Mann's smoothly read narration displays a talent for creating the many voices of this tale--particularly that of elderly Emily Talon (a kinswoman Sackett aids) and her elegant son. Mann especially shines as the voice of Logan Sackett himself. Donning a Western drawl and droppin' his "g's" where required, Mann's Logan exudes the essence of Sackett: a good man, a man of few words, a man who will fight when the chips are down. L'Amour fans will be pleased by Mann's spinning of this tale and the depth of his insights about the characters who inhabit it. J.C.G. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine
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