Free Travis by Georgina Gentry Page A

in and looked around. Up ahead was a green valley with a creek and a shady spot with dozens of big cottonwood trees; the perfect place to build a ranch house.
    He rode forward, happy that now he’d have his own ranch. His folks’ place was already crowded with his two younger brothers and their families. There was a big piece of land for sale next to theirs, but of course he didn’t have any money to buy it. Well, he’d start his spread right here in the Indian Territory.
    He grinned as he reined in, stepped down, reaching for his claim flag in his saddlebags, And then a man stepped out of a soddy built into the bank of the creek. “Hey, mister, I already got this place claimed.”
    Travis stared at him with disbelief. “You couldn’t possibly have gotten here before I did. I’ve got one of the fastest horses in the race.”
    Then a thin, ragged woman came out of the shoddy, followed by six of the skinniest, dirtiest children Travis had ever seen. “Please, mister,” she begged. “We need this land. We ain’t got nothin.’”
    Sooners. “Oh, I get it,” Travis grumbled. “You sneaked in here before the gun sounded and staked this land.”
    The bearded man looked shame-faced and hung his head. “We didn’t mean to do nothing wrong. We just need a farm so bad, and we only had one old mule, so we knew we couldn’t compete. Please don’t create no trouble for us, mister.”
    Travis looked them over and hesitated. This was the poorest, hungriest family he’d ever seen. He could make a fuss at the Land Office in Guthrie and probably get them thrown off this claim and he could have it. Did he need a ranch that bad?
    “Please, mister,” the woman whined again. “This is the only chance we got.”
    “You been in to Guthrie to file your claim?” Travis asked. He could still own this land.
    The man shook his head and stubbed his worn shoe in the dirt. “I was afraid to leave my family alone, afraid some rough fellows might come along, and you know.”
    Travis looked at the woman. She might have once been pretty, but time and a hard life had worn her down. Still there were desperate men who would take advantage of a situation like this. What should he do? Well, there was only one thing an honorable Texan could do.
    He said to the oldest boy who looked like he was about fourteen. “Son, you all got a rifle?”
    The dirty-faced urchin nodded. “An old one, but no bullets.”
    “Now you do.” Travis reached into his saddlebags and tossed him a handful. “You look after the family and I’ll give your dad a ride into Guthrie to file his claim.”
    The whole family looked surprised.
    The man said, “You’d do that?”
    “I’m a Texan. Even though you’re breakin’ the law, I can’t fault you, knowing how bad you need this farm. I’ll give you a ride to the Land Office and you can catch a ride back. There’ll be wagons comin’ this way.”
    The woman started crying. “God bless you, sir.”
    Travis shrugged, embarrassed. “Don’t take on so, ma’am. Can you and the kids get along for a day or two until your man gets back?”
    She nodded. “Josh and me’ll hold off any claim jumpers.”
    “Ain’t you gonna keep racing?” a young girl asked.
    Travis shook his head. “I reckon by now most of the good land is gone and my horse is tired. Come on, mister.” Travis mounted up. He reached his hand down to the ragged farmer and lifted him up behind him. They stopped at the creek to let the horse drink and then Travis started north at a walk.
    So he had lost his chance at a claim. Funny, he didn’t much care. He probably could still get some land that wasn’t so good or a town lot, but that didn’t interest him.
    The man didn’t say much as they rode and finally came into Guthrie. It was a wild, confused scene of tents and shacks being hammered together along a crooked dirt path that was meant to be a street. Uniformed soldiers rode about to keep the peace. Already saloons and eateries had set up