Chapter 1
The rancher grinned as if he wanted to be polite, but the young cowboy could see the concern in his eyes, as he rode onto the property. The owner of the ranch waited patiently, as he watched the stranger, but he stood confident, as the trail-worn cowboy approached.
When he got closer, the old rancher must have realized this stranger meant no harm, because the concern in his eyes relaxed and that guarded grin turned into a friendly smile.
"What's your name, mister?"
"My name's Sawyer, Levi Sawyer," the young cowboy said, as he sat on the back of a buckskin horse. "A man in Waitsburg told me I might find a job out here."
Even sitting on his horse, the man Sawyer was talking to looked like a bear of a man. About six feet two inches tall was the nearest he could estimate, and at least two hundred pounds, give or take a few. It wasn't easy, guessing a man's weight from the back of a horse. He was an older man, possibly in his forties, but he was lean from the hard labors of working on a ranch.
"Well, Mr. Sawyer," the rancher said. "It's true, there is a place here for the right man. Why don't you get down off that horse and we'll have us an interview."
Sawyer put his weight on the left stirrup of the saddle and leaned slightly forward on the horn tossing his right leg over the saddle Sawyer stepped down from his horse and turned to face the man who was offering him a job.
"My name is Simon Marley, Mr. Sawyer, you can tie your horse to that fence over there and we'll commence with the interview."
Sawyer took his horse to the fence and wrapped the reins around the post. He then turned to walk back over to hear what Mr. Marley had to say.
Off to his left he could see some of the ranch hands as they began to gather around from a distance. He was hoping this hospitality wasn't going to go sour on him. There was something about those cowboys that began to make him a little nervous.
Sawyer was just under six feet tall, with long brown hair that rested just past his collar, the hot summer sun would bleach sections of his hair, making him look older than he was. At twenty-eight he was still young enough to feel invincible, and yet he was wise enough to know better.
Growing up on a farm with two brothers, he had always been able to take care of himself, but he needed a job at the moment and the man he talked to in Waitsburg told him the Marley Ranch was a good place to begin looking, if he needed work.
Mr. Marley watched as Sawyer approached him; he could tell Sawyer was aware of his surroundings. He saw his eyes survey the men who were watching. He watched as Sawyer's body language began to question Marley's intent. With short pauses in his stride, he could see the cautious side of this man as he walked over to him, but he also saw that Sawyer was confident and sure of himself. Marley liked that in a man, especially if he was going to work for him.
Sawyer had just spent several weeks in the saddle; he was damn near broke and needed a job if he was going to stay in these parts, and he had every intention of staying, at least until he could find the man he was looking for.
An eye for an eye is what he had been told growing up, but in this case it would be a life for a life, and Sawyer had a score to settle. No--He wasn't about to leave this valley....
