Page 70 of Runaway Hucow

The bedroom grew deathly quiet. Tess held her breath and strained her ears. At first she couldn’t hear anything, but after a few seconds it came to her. A low hum, like the sound of an enormous bumblebee buzzing in the distance.

“That’s an airship!” Peyton said.

Tess felt Roscoe’s knot instantly contract. The big alpha lifted her off his lap and set her on the bed beside him. He grabbed a pair of clean britches from the dresser by the wall and tugged them on as he rushed out the door. Spike and Peyton had already gone out ahead of him, and Tess followed after them.

She ran to Spike’s room and pulled on some clothes of her own—a pair of jeans and a shirt she’d taken from the bounty hunters a week ago. Once she was dressed, she ran to the front porch, where the three bisonmen were waiting. Spike was holding his big 4 gauge shotgun in his hands. Tess watched as he opened the breech and removed the shotgun shells, replacing them with a pair of solid lead slugs that were basically giant bullets. Tess didn’t know whether those slugs could bring down an entire airship, but she guessed they could do some serious damage, assuming the ship was flying low enough.

High overhead, Chase screeched again. The eagle glided toward the east, then turned and flew back over the house. East was the direction the airship was approaching from. The hum of the engines was getting louder. The ship was close.

“You’d better get inside,” Spike told her, snapping his gun closed. “This might get a little hairy.”

“But—”

“Inside,” Roscoe growled. “Now.”

The big alpha dragged Tess into the house, then he went back out on the porch with his brothers. Tess stood at the window and watched. Her heart was pounding, and her nerves were buzzing with fear.

Why was this happening? Tess wondered. First the two men on horseback and now, less than a day later, an airship. There had to be some connection. It couldn’t just be a coincidence.

The ship appeared over the top of the hill to the east. It was similar to the one Peyton was working on, only smaller and newer-looking. The oblong balloon was covered in pale beige cloth, and below that, the wooden gondola was stained a deep brown color. The brass propellers of the engines gleamed brightly in the sun.

The ship was fairly high, and probably out of range of Spike’s gun, but it seemed to be rapidly dropping altitude. They’ve seen the valley, Tess thought. Now they’re coming in for a closer look.

Pretty soon, they were going to see the herd of bison too. From far away, the animals probably looked like regular cattle, but once the airship got closer, the people inside would be able to see what they really were.

The ship was getting really low now. Spike ran out into the yard with his gun.

Then the airship turned slightly, and Tess saw the symbol emblazoned on its side—a backward D with an R attached to it.

D… R…

“Oh no,” Tess whispered.

She was out the door and down the steps of the porch before either Roscoe or Peyton could catch her. Ahead of her, Spike was starting to raise his gun to take aim at the airship, but Tess reached him just in time and tugged on his arm.

“Don’t shoot!” she shouted.

The bisonman looked down at her, his expression a mixture of annoyance and concern.

“Tess? What are you doing?”

Peyton and Roscoe had caught up with her by then. They both grabbed her, one on each arm, and started hauling her back to the house.

“Wait!” she shouted. “Spike, don’t shoot! That airship is from Duffy Ranch down in Arizona. That’s Shannon Duffy’s airship!”

Peyton and Roscoe both stopped dead in their tracks, and Spike lowered his gun. He glanced up at the descending airship again, then looked back at Tess.

“Shannon Duffy? The woman your father was going to sell you to? But how does she know you’re here?”

Tess tried to swallow, but her throat had gone suddenly dry.

“Because I told her.”

CHAPTER 36

Half an hour later, the airship was parked on the grass in front of the house, and the passengers had all disembarked. Tess had feared there might be an altercation, but the three bisonmen had calmed down once they realized the visitors didn’t pose a threat to their mate.

That was a big relief for Tess.