ff, Cousin
Merry, they had tried to beg him off from Grandfather's punishment that
time, not that they had succeeded. Drew Rennie at four, at six, at twelve,
at sixteen--riding out at night with Castleman's Company, weaving a path
south through enemy-occupied territory to join General Morgan--few of those
would-be cavalrymen over twenty-one. Yes, he could remember for Drew
Rennie all the way back.

"Hey, you plannin' to claim this here range?" Anse's horse trotted up, and
Drew was suddenly aware that the trailer of the last wagon had already
pulled past him. He tightened rein, and the well-trained horse broke into
a canter.

"Not hardly." He tried to meet Anse's attempt at humor halfway. "Don't
look too promisin'."

"Lissen here"--Anse rode so close their spurs were near to hitting--"you
sure you got hold of th' right end of th' runnin' iron now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, 'bout Shannon. You heard what Fenner said--Rennie's like a pa to
him. An' maybe ..." His voice died away.

"And maybe that's that? He has my place, and it's really his now?" Drew
asked bleakly. "Could be."

Yes, it could well be that this was a good time to bow out. Maybe he
should not have ridden out of Tubacca at all. Maybe he should have cut out
of the game yesterday.... Or never come down into the valley weeks ago ...
or left Red Springs.... Those "maybes" stretched as far back and as neatly
in line as the railroad tracks they had been talking about earlier, one
slipping smoothly into another as if cast in one strong string of doubts.
Just as he had had that moment of disappointment the first time he had
seen Hunt Rennie, so he felt that identical void now, only twice as wide
and deep.

What had he expected, anyway? Some kind of instant recognition on his
father's part? That all the welcoming would be on the other side, breaking
right through the barrier he had been building for years? His feelings
were so illogical he could have laughed at them, only he had no laughter
left. He had not tried to open the door, so why did he care that it
remained firmly shut?

"Did you ever think about California, Anse? Sounds like a place a man
would like to see."

He was conscious that the Texan's horse quickened pace, only to be reined
in again.

"You thinkin' about cuttin' out? Yesterday----"

"Yesterday----" Drew tried to think back to how he had felt yesterday about
Topham's warning and how he himself had held the absurd belief that if
_Do