Cowboy Seeks Bride by Carolyn Brown Page A

decide what’s in there and when it gets used. And at night I turn the wagon’s tongue toward the North Star so the trail boss, that would be Dewar, has a compass direction in the morning.”
    She giggled. “Really, now.”
    “This is as authentic as we can make it, lady. You might want to remember what I’m telling you because it might come in handy. You want those city slickers to get turned around and waste a whole day going the wrong way?”
    It was thirty minutes before she could think of another question, but one finally came to mind. “Is the Studebaker design the only one out there?”
    Coosie shook his head.
    “What else is there?” she pressed on.
    “The Studebaker is my favorite, but there’s also the Springfield Wagon, Old Hickory Wagon, Moline Wagon, and the Mitchell Wagon Company.”
    “This one doesn’t look a thing like the ones in the old Western movies. Which one did those folks use?” she asked.
    “They used the Conestoga, but it was for the movies, not for real life cattle drives.”
    “Why?”
    Coosie inhaled deeply.
    Haley didn’t care if she was bugging him. She needed to know for the show and she wanted to know because it beat ambling along behind cows.
    “It’s too heavy and bulky. It just looked good for the movies. Kind of like your reality people. They’ll look good but they won’t be the real thing.”
    The cattle stopped as if on cue and Coosie pulled up on the reins. He hopped down off the wagon and lumbered around to the end where he pulled down the lid, propped it on the single leg, and started preparing dinner. Dewar slid out of his saddle and walked to the creek where he counted the herd. The rest of the cowboys all grouped around Coosie and waited.
    Haley took a few squares of her precious toilet paper and made a fast trip to a mesquite thicket. When she returned Coosie was handing out biscuits stuffed with eggs and ham. A big community bag of barbecue potato chips was opened on the table and everyone helped themselves.
    Buddy pointed to the water barrel attached to the side of the wagon. “You’ll need to fill up your canteens. Coosie is going to refill when we go through Comanche. There’s a gas station there on M-m-main Street and they got a water hose.”
    Haley washed her hands in the dishwater and dried them on the seat of her jeans, picked up a handful of chips, and reached for a biscuit. Dewar grabbed at the same time she did and their fingertips brushed. The sizzle startled them both and they jumped like they’d grabbed hold of a rattlesnake.
    “Excuse me,” Dewar drawled.
    “Quite all right,” she said.
    “Coosie said you were full of questions this morning,” he said.
    “I just wanted to know what kind of chuck wagon we needed to buy for the reality show,” she answered.
    “You won’t ever find one as neat as his. He built it from the ground up and made adjustments until he got it just right.”
    She bit into the biscuit. “That’s what I hear.”
    Dewar carried his food to the other side of the table. “Coosie, did I hear you say we had enough clean water to last till Comanche?”
    Coosie nodded. “Just like the plans you drew up, it’s goin’ to last until then. Miz Haley, you write in your notes that it might not last that long if the show people are going to make this trip in the summer. It all depends on how hot it is.”
    “Why?” She had already fetched her notebook and paper and was writing as fast as she could remember while she ate.
    “Because,” Finn answered, “if it’s hot, they drink more water. If it’s nice like it is now, they won’t need quite as much.”
    “It’s goin’ to get hot. You sure you don’t want to give me that hundred dollars now and go on back to the comforts of air-conditioning and long, lazy baths and ice in your water and…” Sawyer teased.
    Haley butted in before he could go any further. “I’ll take these cows in by myself if you want to go on home to your jealous girlfriend. I’ve been