"You can have the pick of any one of my three...
"You can have the pick of any one of my three girlsI've only got
one grandchild, and I'm not getting any younger"Oh, Ma!" moaned
Hetty and Camilla and Miranda Tarleton in chorus
Their mother's preoccupation with breeding horses and people was too
well-known in the County for them to pretend embarrassment
But Tony was blushing crimsonScarlett and Sally hootedBefore the
light ebbed, Beatrice Tarleton insisted on seeing the horses Tony had
brought with him from Texas, and the argument about the merits of
Eastern thoroughbreds versus Western mustangs raged until everyone
else
begged for a truce"And a drink," said Alex"I've even found some
real whiskey for the celebration instead of 'shine Scarlett
wished-not for the first time-that taking a drink was not a pleasure
from which ladies were automatically pasha cartier watches blue face excludedShe would have
enjoyed
oneEven more, she would have enjoyed talking with the men instead
of
being exiled to the other side of the room for women's talk of babies
and household managementShe had never understood or accepted
the
traditional segregation of the sexesBut it was the way things were
done, always had been done, and she resigned herself to itAt least
she could amuse herself by watching the Tarleton girls pretend that
they weren't thinking along exactly the same lines as their mother: If
only Tony would look their way instead of being so wrapped up in
whatever the men were talking about! "Little Joe must be thrilled half
to death to have his uncle ú home," Hetty Tarleton was saying to
Sally
Hetty could afford to ignore the menHer fat one-armed husband was
one of themSally replied with chanel purse styles details about her little boy that
bored Scarlett sillyShe wondered how soon they'd have supperIt
couldn't be too very long; all the men were farmers and would have to
be up the next morning at dawnThat meant an early end to the
evening's festivitiesShe was right about an early supper; the men
announced that they were ready for it after only one drinkBut she
was wrong about the early close to the partyEveryone was enjoying
it
too much to let it endTony fascinated them with stories of
hisadventures"It was hardly a week before I hooked up with the
Texas
Rangers," he said with a roar of laughter"The state was under
Yankee
military rule, like every place else in the South, but hell- apologies,
ladies-those bluecoats didn't have the first idea what to do about the
Indians
The Rangers had been fighting christian dior handbags 'em all along, and the only hope the
ranchers had was that the Rangers would keep on protecting them
So
that's what they didI knew right off that I'd found my kind of
people, and I joined upIt was glorious! No uniforms, no marching on
an empty stomach to where some fool general wants you to go, no
drilling, no sir! You jump on your horse and head out with a bunch of
your fellows and go find the fighting Tony's black eyes sparkled
with excitementThe Fontaines had always
loved
a good fight"What are the Indians like?"
asked one of the Tarleton girls"Do they really torture people?"
"You don't want to hear about that," said Tony, his laughing eyes
suddenly dull"They're smart as paint when it comes
to fightingThe Rangers learned early on that if they were going to
beat the red devils, they'd have to learn louis vuitton bag with pocket in front their way of doing things
Why, we can track a man or an animal across bare rock or even water,
better than any hound dogAnd live on spit and bleached bones if
that's all there isThere's nothing can beat a Texas Ranger or get
away from him
"Show everybody your six-shooters, Tony," urged Alex
Tomorrow, maybe, or the next daySally don't want me putting holes
in
her walls
"I didn't say shoot them, I said show them Alex grinned at his
friends"They've got carved ivory handles," he boasted, "and just
wait till my little brother rides over to visit you on the big old
Western saddle of hisIt's got so much silver on it you'll half go
blind from the shine of it
Tony and Alex had always been the most dandified men in all North
GeorgiaTony obviously hadn't changed a bitHigh heels on fancy
boots and silver on his gucci bags china sa