Dialogue Essay: The Legend Of Levi's Home

Despite their disagreement, Rose planned to steer Levi away from the hilltop. They rode side by side and Cole lagged behind on his mare, within hollering distance.

“The ranch is small by Texas standards,” she said, glad for the comfort of her split riding skirt. She tucked her hair under her hat and watched Levi from the corner of her eye. This was the first time he’d worn his gun belt since she’d put it away in the bureau. The Colt looked more threatening in the sunlight. For that matter, so did Levi.

“It would take most of the day to ride from one end of the ranch to the other. About fifty head are grazing close by, the ones Cole wanted to show you yesterday.”

Levi turned to her. His sandy colored hair hung below his hat, almost hiding the

“Sure, we can head back.” He wheeled his horse around.

After they’d ridden a short way, he spoke again. “When did you lose your first husband?”

She wanted to say the minute he became involved with Parker. “He’d left the ranch on business—someone shot him in the back. Neighbors found him and brought him home. That was in the fall.”

“Then you packed up and came here?”

“Yes.” Married at fifteen and a baby born early on, she and Cyrus scratched out a living. When the crops failed, they didn’t have a penny to their name, and with no alternative, her husband asked Edgar Parker for a loan. Cyrus returned, triumphant, showing off the wagon loaded with enough supplies to see them through the winter. From then on, he might as well have become partners with the devil because afterward, nothing stayed the same.

“Is your father buried next to your sister?”

“Yes.” What was he getting at?

Levi leaned forward, resting his hand on the saddle horn. “Rose, why would you want to bury me next to the trees when your sister and father have a resting place out here?”

His flinty stare bore into her soul. Her pulse beat in an irregular tempo, pounding the word “coward” through her