The Reinvention Of Rudd Carter. A Western Action Adventure Novel by R.L. Davis

Francisco to do your recruiting?”
    “Ordinarily, I would put out my calls from San Francisco.” Rudd glanced down and grinned. “But most recently there has been an unforeseen change in my life, a change that makes it more convenient for me to stay here.”
    “Oh, yes, Miss Kathryn. I completely understand, and I don’t blame you. Good for you.” Ben laughed and puffed on his cigar. “I’ll say this for you—you don’t let any grass grow under your feet. You’re a fast worker.”
    Rudd caught sly looks around the table.
    “Ben, I’ll need to run a tab at the telegraph office. If you could have that set up for me, I’d appreciate it.”
    “It’s as good as taken care of, Rudd.”
    “Are you all right if we store the weapons and equipment out at your place, Don?” asked Rudd.
    “Of course,” Hoff said. “These are all new weapons that your men are going to need to be trained on. You know, target practice, nomenclature, and strategic use. My ranch is probably the place you’ll want to do this. It’s isolated and far from any prying eyes or ears. It’s yours, if you want it.”
    The next morning, Ben sent an invitation to Rudd and Kathryn to join him for lunch. Waiting in the dining room when they arrived, he greeted them cheerfully. “Congratulations on having the good fortune to find one another in a world where meeting quality people is difficult at best.” He paused. “I am very fond of the two of you, and as a token of my affection for you both, I am giving you the bridal suite at El Matador Hotel, rent free, for the duration of your stay in Mexicali.”
    The day after, Len helped move Rudd and Kathryn into El Matador hotel, Mexicali’s finest.
    When the move was complete, the door shut, and at last they were alone together. Rudd took Kathryn in his arms. “I came down here to help start a new country, but right now all I have on my mind is starting a new life with you. This will be my last military campaign. I feel the real purpose of my coming to Mexico was to meet you. Nothing else matters to me now.” He kissed her.
    “Since the moment we met, I’ve had the same feeling,” she said. “I came here to meet you, to be with you.”
    Pulling her close, he enfolded her in his arms and held her tight. “Thank God I have you with me now. You’re the only real thing in my life.”
    She stepped back. “I don’t understand.”
    He shook his head. “Who knows how this Desert Revolt dream of Ben’s will really turn out.”
    “What do you mean?”
    Rudd chuckled. “You’ve heard the saying, haven’t you? Whatever can go wrong will go wrong.”

Part Two
    The Beginning

Chapter Six
    Late Spring, 1892, Sussex County, England
    The end of May had turned warm, and the trees and plants were beginning to green and sprout in response.
    As seventeen-year-old Rudd Carter returned from his morning ride, his mother, Lady Carter—a striking, dark haired woman in her early forties, with well defined aristocratic features—met him at the door of his room with a kiss on the cheek. “I have news I think you will like,” she said cheerfully.
    “You seem in such high spirits, Mother. I can’t wait to hear it.”
    “Your uncle and aunt from Canada, the William Carters, and their daughter, Elizabeth, are going to stay with us here at Carter Hall for the summer. Isn’t that grand?”
    Rudd paused for a moment trying to recollect his relatives.
    “You remember,” his mother said, “the same aunt and uncle who stayed with us for the summer five years ago. You and Elizabeth were inseparable for the whole summer.”
    “You must mean that scrawny little girl, Lizzie, who followed me everywhere and wouldn’t leave me alone for a minute,” Rudd said.
    Lady Carter gave her son an affectionate maternal smile. “She is sixteen now and quite mature for her age. I’m sure you’ll have much more in common with her this visit. I am told she is very beautiful. At any rate, they will be arriving the day after