“What is it, girl?”Freddy asked, reaching for the mare’s bridle.
Uncharacteristically, Maureen jerked her head away from Freddy’s outstretched hand.
“Hey, it’s probably a bunch of helicopters on maneuvers,” Freddy said, following her uneasy horse.“It’s probably?—”
A Hereford crashed through the brush and headed straight for Maureen.The horse bolted just as another cow thundered past, and the ground began to shake.
“Maureen!”Freddy cried, running after the horse.But Maureen was gone, plunging wildly down the trail away from the stampeding herd.A heifer bumped Freddy from behind, almost sending her to the ground.She scrambled erect as a powerful shoulder brushed against her and spun her around to face a wall of russet-and-white faces surging toward her.
She lost a precious second as she stood paralyzed.Then she turned and ran for the edge of the clearing, grabbing a branch of the first mesquite she reached.Thorns bit into her palms as she braced a foot in the crotch of the tree and hauled herself up, losing her hat in the process.Just as she got her other foot off the ground, the first wave rushed past, shaking the trunk and rattling the branches.Her hands slipped, and she tightened her grip despite the thorns.Blood trickled down her wrist and soaked into the cuffs of her shirt.
She hauled herself higher, praying the tree was strong enough to hold her weight.A branch cracked but didn’t fall as the cattle surged beneath her.Then the massed animals began banging into the trunk, jolting her with each impact.
Slowly, the tree began to lean.
“Help!”she shouted, knowing it was no use, knowing she was absolutely alone.But she shouted, anyway.“Help me!Please help me!”
“Freddy!”
Someone was there.She squinted through the dust as the tree leaned closer to the trampling herd.“Over here!”
Then she saw him, riding low over Red Devil’s neck as the big horse plowed through the river of cattle.No, it should not be Ry.He wasn’t a good enough rider to make it through a stampede.He would die trying to save her.“Go back!”she screamed.“I’ll make it!”
She glimpsed the grim set of his mouth.He was coming for her.Her heart swelled in response to this show of courage.Foolish, foolish courage.Oh, Ry!Please go back, she begged silently, knowing it was no use.If she allowed him to pick her off the tree, as he obviously intended, they’d probably both fall under the churning hooves and be killed.But if she held back, he’d probably fall off trying to reach her and then they’d both die.
A no-win situation.
He veered toward the tree, his arm extended.She poised herself for the pickup.
“Now!”he shouted, grabbing her by the belt.
She landed facedown across the front of his saddle, the impact knocking the air from her lungs.She stared straight into the wild eyes of a Hereford running beside Red Devil as she started to slip forward headfirst into the herd.
“No, dammit!”Ry shouted, jerking her back by her belt.“No!”
Gradually, Red Devil’s pace slowed.The herd thinned, until Ry was able to rein the horse in.Red Devil stood snorting and shaking as Ry hauled Freddy upright and settled her facing him, her thighs resting across his.
Freddy gasped for breath.Ry’s face was a mask of dust, and his chest heaved.He picked up one of her blood-encrusted hands and examined her palm.Then he placed a soft kiss there.
Tears welled in her eyes, and she was about to blubber out her gratitude, when she recalled why she’d ridden out here in the first place.Taking an unsteady breath, she lifted her chin and looked him square in the eye.“I hate your guts,” she said.
“I know.”He smiled.
“Furthermore, you’re not getting away with this, you and your pack of thieves from the big city.I’m fighting you every inch of the way, buster.You haven’t seen the last of Freddy Singleton!”‘
His smile widened.
“What are you doing, sitting there grinning like an idiot?Don’t you realize what I’m saying?This is war!”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.”
“So what’s the big smile for, mister?”
“You’re alive.”
She stared at him, then cleared her throat.“Thank you for saving my life,” she said stiffly.
“No thanks necessary.You did me a favor.”
