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And also took me farther from any place that I recognized.
Bud’s neck glistened, the bright rays of the hot sun glinting off his soaked coat. He needed to stop. My core was cramping, my legs quivering from holding to this horse’s sides for so long. I needed to stop too.
I had no idea how long we’d been running for, but maybe slowing down for a bit wouldn’t hurt. Glancing over my shoulder, I scanned my surroundings just to make sure that I was alone—that I’d outran whoever those men were—and found no one but me. Gently sitting, I slowed our pace, and the sharp exhale of oxygen from Bud’s lungs between my thighs was his unspoken appreciation.
My heart hammered like a woodpecker desperately seeking its last meal.
And as the world settled around me, a freight train of fear slammed into my stomach.
I heard nothing. There were no sounds of thundering hooves pursuing me. There were no gunshots, or whistles splintering through the air.
So, I pulled Bud to a complete halt. His ribs continued to expand and collapse rapidly, his breathing as sporadic and shallow as mine. Bud dipped his head, exhaustion filling his bones, and I shakily dismounted.
My legs crumpled out from under me, plummeting me to the forest floor. Pine trees brushed against the bright, cloudless, blue sky. The white of the aspen bark, so stark against the darkened maple leaves, closed in around me.
There was no sound of water rushing near. No shouts calling my name. No sound of anything except for the muted, crisp call of a bird answered by a chattering squirrel. The forest was alive, bugs crawling around in the dirt and up the trees. Critters scurrying about, preparing for the night that would eventually consume the warmth around me.
I was lost.
Chapter 10
CASSIDY
That had not just happened. And this early into the season? Those shady varmints.
Brushing a hand lightly over a cut, I involuntarily winced. A bullet had just grazed me.
OW.
Inhaling deeply, I pressed my palm tighter against the blood that dripped from the edge of my shoulder. Sweat mixed with the open wound, stinging like the dickens, and a hiss escaped through my teeth.
But I couldn’t stop moving, not just yet. If I dawdled too long, Briar’s hoofprints and her obvious trail she’d left behind would quickly vanish. The longer the sun blazed high above, drying out the terrain around us, the more likely it would be that I’d lose her.
I wanted to swear, use every curse word in the book, but Weston and I had made a deal, and we were going on two and a half years without slipping. Well, until just barely. I owed him a danged five bucks.
A coyote.
“Are you that dumb, Cassidy? When’s the last time you’ve seen coyotes in these parts? How about seeing a coyote challenge a cow?” I growled at myself.
“Or better yet, prints that distinct from any animal, almost ever?” I added.
Man what an idiot I had been to think that it was just a coyote that tore up that poor mama cow and her calf.
Then I furrowed my brows, leading my horse around a bend. “And since when do poachers chase after us instead of just running away when we show up?” I voiced out loud.
This wasn’t our first run in with drifters trying to steal our cattle. We had a huge herd, and it wasn’t like Duke Ranch was unknown to the community. But getting up here unnoticed was not a usual thing. How had I heard nothing in town about any strangers? Did they not go through town? Had they been riding for days through the mountains to stay hidden, just to steal our cattle? Or were they doing more than trying to poach a few that wandered off?
Illegal hunting, maybe?
Guiding the horse over some logs, I sighed. Or there was another option that I hadn’t wanted to consider and one I’d been trying to deny.
Was Briar running from something dangerous enough that this entire ranch was now at risk? Was that the reason that Rooney had told me to have my buddies on standby? Once I made it down the mountain, they were definitely going to receive a call from me. But I wasn’t sure if I should mention Briar’s situation yet or not.
Another girl might be causing potential death at this ranch, because of me, again.
Good job, Cassidy. Apparently being abstinent wasn’t enough to steer clear of troubles because of women.
One specific woman. Again. Also, a blonde. Again. Though this blonde was entirely different than the last one. Entirely different than really any woman I’d ever come across before.
