"Don't even think it," Adam called out. "You aren't going back in the water. Not after that scum."
She opened her mouth to explain. If Adam held the rope, she could swim near Scar-face and knock him free off the tree roots.
It was risky. Possibly she could get sucked into the same trap, caught in the tree. But if they didn't do anything, the man would die!
"There," Adam shouted.
She glanced at him to see him pointing at a spit of land that jutted out into the creek. It was coming up fast.
"If we both brace from there, maybe we can break him free."
It was as good an idea as any, only this way they'd stay out of the dangerous waters.
She galloped her gelding and met him on the spit of land. She looped the rope around her gloved hands and tossed Adam the end. She wouldn't risk her horse by tying it around the saddle.
"Here it comes!" she called out.
And the tree was upon them.
"Let some slack build in," Adam said. Good idea.
The rope went slack as the tree neared and then passed.
"Now!"
And she and Adam gave a mighty heave at the same moment the rope went taut.
And miraculously, Scar-face broke free of the debris.
Breanna pulled on the rope hand-over-hand as Adam hopped off his horse and moved to the water's edge.
Her arms were burning with the strain, and Adam seemed to know, looking back to her and nodding as he grabbed the rope from where he stood and gave a good heave. Another pull. And another, and then Scar-face was close enough for Adam to wade into the water and lift him onto the shore.
Adam flopped the man onto his back, and Breanna curbed any protest she might've made. It wasn't as if he deserved kind treatment after what he'd done to her.
Scar-face's skin was gray, and his mouth was slack. He wasn't conscious.
"Is he alive?" Adam asked, breathing hard.
She bent over the man. Maxwell would know how to take his pulse, but all she knew to do was put her ear to his chest. All she heard was the sound of the rain beating down on them. No breathing.
"Can you help me turn him on his side?"
Adam was beside her before she'd finished the question, rolling the man onto his side. Breanna gave him a good whack between the shoulder blades. Another. Three. Five. Ten.
Adam let go, the man slumping back to the ground, limp.
"I don't think—"
But she didn't have a chance to hear what Adam thought because Scar-face lurched and began retching up copious amounts of disgusting muddy water.
Adam tipped him over to his belly with his toe as the man flailed, fighting for breath.
Smart.
Scar-face had proved himself wily and dangerous.
Breanna backed up a step, prepared to jump into the saddle if the man moved a finger in her direction.
