An Indian.
Recognition flooded through her, sending a tingle down her arms.
White Horse.
He stood with rifle in hand, a thin haze of smoke still clouding around him.
Relief nearly made her knees buckle. He’d shot Slim. White Horse had saved her life.
He began walking toward her, his stride sure andmeasured. She did her best to remain standing, though her body longed to crumple to the ground.
But then White Horse spun toward the ridge behind him, raising his rifle to firing position. A second later, the pounding of footsteps sounded from that direction.
Her own heart thundered as she waited to see who it would be. Friend? Foe? If Slim’s men had come to help him, they should be dealt with before they could cause trouble.
Her mouth felt as confused as her mind, and she only managed a silentLord, helpbefore a person appeared over the rise. A cry slipped from her throat.
Riley.
He slowed when he stepped over the ridge, moving with a wary step as he took in the violence that had happened here.
But then her body finally obeyed what her mind told it. She started toward him. Slim still lay facedown in a heap, but she gave him a wide berth.
Riley was walking toward her too, though his focus was on White Horse.
She swallowed so she could speak, then lifted her voice enough to reach Riley. “He saved me. Slim was about to kill me, but White Horse shot him instead.”
Riley’s gaze jerked to her, then shifted to the lifeless body, even as his step quickened into a half-run down the slope toward her.
When she reached him, she fell into his arms, and he wrapped her tight, holding her so close she couldn’t breathe. She didn’t need to breathe, only needed his arms around her. Protecting her.
“I’ve got you. You’re safe. I’m sorry.” With his cheekpressed to the top of her head, he murmured the words over and over.
You’re safe.She was. God had protected her from this evil man, one they’d not even known was a threat.
And White Horse. They needed to talk with him. They also needed to figure out where all those horses had come from. Bessie and Steps Right’s horses had been stolen, so had most of them been?
Though her body begged to stay nestled in Riley’s arms, she straightened and pulled back enough to look around. White Horse stood over Slim, using his foot to roll the body over. Slim looked lifeless, but she turned away before she glimpsed his face. The last thing she needed was that image bringing her nightmares.
Riley placed his hands on her cheeks. “Are you hurt? What’d he do to you?”
Tears filled her eyes again, but she shook her head and tried to blink them back.
Riley’s hands moved down to her shoulders. “He didn’t hurt you? What happened?”
She inhaled a long breath, then released it and began the story from when she’d first seen the herd. When she got to the part where she met Slim, Rosie appeared at the top of the mountain. Her sister released a cry, then sprinted down the slope toward her.
Juniper stepped away from Riley just in time to receive Rosie’s full-body hug.
“Oh, June. You’re safe. You’re not hurt, are you?”
The tears were impossible to hold back as she held her sister. “Not hurt. I found the horses, though, the ones Papa sent to Steps Right. Slim was Papa’s partner all those yearsago—he went by Sampson then, I don’t know if you remember him. He was the one Papa sent to deliver the horses. But he didn’t.” The emotion clogging her throat made it too hard to say more. Having her sister here, the familiar feel of her hug, soothed the last of the jagged edges of her fear.
At last, Rosie pulled back and held her elbows as she studied her. “When we heard that shot...” She looked over at Slim, and her eyes widened. “White Horse.”
Juniper sniffed and wiped her sleeve across her eyes, then turned. White Horse was standing a few steps behind them, as though waiting to speak. She hadn’t finished telling Riley everything that happened, and Rosie didn’t even know that White Horse had saved her life.
She sniffed once more. “He saved me.” She turned to White Horse. “How did you get here?”
