Looking away toward that hidden ranch he could visualize Ivy with Mark a sinister figure in the background. He felt sorry for her. In the same breath he wondered if May was at the home ranch. Somehow he hadn’t wanted to ask.
He shook himself out of these reflections and rode on. He had to dip into a coulee, cross a little ridge, traverse a horse pasture and pass the house to reach the camp. He dipped into the hollow. As he topped the opposite crest a head appeared, a head surmounted by yellow hair, a pair of shoulders clad in a cream-colored blouse. Close by this figure seated on a flat rock a chestnut horse that might have been a twin brother to Red Mike stood with trailing reins.
Robin drew up beside this vision, answered the smile of greeting, got down and seated himself beside May.
“I guess I’m kinda unexpected,” he observed.
“Not so much,” she told him. “I heard you were back.”
“The boys would talk, I expect,” he remarked. “Still, I guess I have some news they couldn’t spread.”
“Yes?” she looked curious.
“Might not interest you much, at that,” Robin drawled. “The Block S has a new range boss.”
“You?” she breathed. Her eyes danced.
“Good guess,” Robin said. “Kinda sudden. I don’t know which is the most surprised, me or your dad.”