Page 86 of More Than Meets the Eye

Seth’s hand fell away.

Logan spun to lift Christie up behind Seth. The sooner he got them away, the sooner he could go after Eva.

“How far to the still?” he demanded of the young woman when she looked at him to collect the reins he held out to her.

She wrapped her arms around Seth’s slumped torso and gathered the leather straps around her fingers. “No more than a hundred yards straight into the thicket.” She nodded her chin in the direction.

Logan slid the rifle from the saddle boot, then turned Shamgar toward the clearer air back toward the cabin he’d passed. With a smack to the horse’s rump, he sent Seth and his lady off, then sprinted straight for the woods and the heart of the smoke.

Evangeline cocked her revolver with a quivering thumb, pointed the barrel to the sky, and slowly leaned toward the opening between the twin oaks, keeping her belly as close to the tree as possible. She couldn’t risk running without first pinpointing where her hunter stood. His occasional coughs told her he was somewhere to her right, but she didn’t know how close.

She slid sideways a hair farther, until her right eye cleared the trunk, then jerked back. Dear heavens! He stood less than ten yards from her. Running was out of the question.

But hiding would do her no good, either. Eventually, he’d wander close enough to discover her location.

That left only one option. Brazen it out.

Inhaling a deep breath would only wreak further havoc on her lungs, so she had to settle for a quick closing of her eyes instead as she reached deep into her gut to find her courage.

Lord, help me.

Then, with bleary eyes and burning lungs, she stepped through the narrow opening between the twin oaks and pointed her weapon straight at the schoolmaster’s chest. “Stop!”

The command would have been much more satisfying had it not exited her mouth as a wimpy rasp. Thankfully, her body bluffed better than her voice, for her hands were steady and her legs held firm.

Benson didn’t jump or startle. He simply turned to face her . . . and smiled. “Ah, Miss Hamilton. Aren’t you the plucky one?”

“Toss your shotgun on the ground!” That order had a little more gumption in it. She even made a gesture with the barrel of her revolver to indicate where he should throw his weapon.

“I don’t think so.”

He’d made that same reply to Earl a heartbeat before he’d shot him. Evangeline swallowed and narrowed her eyes. “Now!” she blustered. She couldn’t let him think her weak.

But it seemed he’d already made up his mind about that, for he called her bluff, shaking his head as he lifted his weapon an inch higher. “You won’t shoot me. You don’t have the stomach for it.”

Was he right? Probably. Her gut was churning even now at the thought. But she couldn’t let him win. He’d just shoot her and go after Christie.

She pulled the trigger. He actually jumped this time. Satisfaction surged in her chest when his weapon dropped back to its original position near his waist.

“That’s your one and only warning,” she growled through her petticoat kerchief like a real bandit as she adjusted her aim back to his torso. “Now, drop your gun.”

Unfortunately, the schoolmaster didn’t follow the script and start quivering in his boots. Instead, he smirked that superior, condescending smirk of his and said, “No.”

Of course he said no. He hadn’t blinked an eye over shooting Earl in the belly, either.

The shotgun started a slow crawl back toward Benson’s shoulder. “You won’t shoot me,” he mocked.

Her finger hovered over the trigger, ready but frozen. Oh, mercy. He was right. She couldn’t do it. Couldn’t shoot a man.

He grinned in triumph as he set the stock to his shoulder. “Your heart’s not hard enough.”

“Mine is!” a male voice boomed.

Evangeline dove for the ground, and a shot rang out behind her.

Benson yelped and took off at a run.

“Eva!” Footsteps pounded the ground. Then all at once Logan knelt beside her, wrapping his strong hands around her shoulders. “Are you all right?” His beautiful gray eyes searched her face.