He passed six months on a Hood County ranch, then made the long drive north to Kansas once again. He wandered to Colorado afterward, and thence across the Llano, doing this and that. Nothing lasted long, though, and with worsening cattle markets, ranch work wasn’t to be had. He rounded up a string of range ponies only to find no buyers. Under a hot August sun he followed the shiny rails of the new Texas and Pacific railroad to Weatherford before riding north to Thayerville. The town had done some changing. A half dozen houses spread out along the Weatherford market road, and a brick bank now dominated the center of Main Street. There were two saloons now, a small cafe, and a new Methodist church alongside the old schoolhouse. Rat shuddered a moment as he rode past the Morris place. Someone had added a false brick front and turned it into a hotel. Down the street, though, a new and larger mercantile stood near the livery. “Two years,”
