Bunty squinted sideways at Rex, spat thoughtfully, and removed the shotgun.
‘Didja reach port safely?’ he asked.
‘I sailed right into a clothing store.’
‘O-o-o-oh, yea-a-a-ah!’
Bunty swung his long lash, snapping it sharply over the rump of a lagging leader, and the ensuing jerk almost upset Rex. Bunty decided that he had a crazy man on board. The idea of throwing out an anchor to stop a team! He spat violently and wondered how they got that way.
‘My mother died a few days ago,’ offered Rex, as they jolted up along the Coyote Cañon grades.
‘Thasso? That’s tough luck. You got any more folks?’
‘I guess not,’ sighed Rex. ‘Since she died, I find that there are many things I don’t understand. I don’t even know who my father was.’
‘No-o-o? You’re kind of an orejano.’
‘I don’t know what that is, Mr. Smith.’