"Louis L'amour - sackett05 - Ride The River" - читать интересную книгу автора (L'Amour Louis)

It was unlikely his being here was an accident. He had been sent to prison for
murder but James White had got the case reopened and contrived to free him.
Maybe it was happenstance that he was having supper at the same time and place
as me just after I had come into money, but I didn't believe it.
Murder didn't scare me the way it did most folks. Cuttings and shootings were
common back in the hills, and we even had a feud of our own, with some killings
over the years.
From time to time folks stopped by our table, and Mr. Chantry introduced me as
the granddaughter of an old friend. A good many of them were younger men, mighty
fetching in their ways.
Three of them sat at a table not far off, but only two paid their respects, as
the saying was. The other young man sat with his back to us, very broad in the
shoulders, and he looked to be tall, although I did not see him on his feet.
"My nephew, Dorian," Finian Chantry explained. "He will not come to our table
because we have recently had words and he is a very independent young man."
Mr. Chantry smiled suddenly, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "We are much
alike, so we do have words occasionally. Lately he has been devoting more time
to dancing, riding to hounds, fencing and such things, and not studying law."
"He is a good shot?"
"Excellent, I believe, and a fine horseman, too. He is a great favorite with the
ladies and a bit too sure of himself. Nonetheless, he's a fine lad if a little
too formal, too stiff."
Mr. Chantry glanced at me. "You mentioned your rifle? Do you shoot?"
"Yes, sir. Pa started me shooting when I was seven. Those brothers of mine had
been riding roughshod over me because I was a girl.
"Pa, he said, 'Look, bein' a girl is a mighty fine thing. Don't let those
roughneck brothers of yours get the better of you.'
" 'How can I help it? They are older than me and stronger than me.'
" 'Be better than they are. Learn to shoot better."
" 'How can I? Nobody can shoot better than a Sackett!'
"He laughed at me and said, 'But you're a Sackett too! Just learn to shoot
better. Here, I'll teach you!' And he did."
"And did you beat them?"
"Yes, sir. Most of the time. Only Regal ... he's my uncle, although more like a
brother. Regal would not shoot against me. I think he did not want to beat me,
seeing I just outshot my brothers."
"Maybe that is what Dorian needs, to be outshot by a girl."
"Oh, no! I'd never do that! Regal, he warned me to never let a man know how good
I could shoot."
"Good advice, but don't let it stop you. Dorian's a fine lad. What he needs is
seasoning. He needs to be taken down a bit, to travel some rough country."
Later, when I glanced over to catch a glimpse of him, he had gone. I felt kind
of let down. We talked on for a bit and then Mr. Chantry said, "You surprise me
sometimes. You can speak very good English, but sometimes you talk like a
mountain girl with no education."
"Yes, sir, but that's the way with most folks, if you think on it. They talk one
way to one person, and another way to others.
"Ma insisted I learn to talk proper, and at school it was insisted on, but when
around the hills, a body gets to talkin' as they do. But it seems to me we all