Chapter Fifteen
ASADDLE HAD NEVERweighed this much in the past.
Jeremiah set it down in its proper place with more effort than he wished it took. He was still feeling the effects of the fever, whether he liked it or not. But he was just as stubborn as his parents, who had left on the train earlier that day even though he’d pleaded with them to rest in town for a few days more.
Before they’d parted, his father had given him the amount he’d requested, and it was currently tucked safely away at the bank with the money he’d saved until the town’s only lawyer returned from settling his mother’s affairs somewhere back East. At that point, they’d have the partnership agreement drawn up, and Jeremiah would be an official owner of the livery.
He left the room and leaned against the wall to catch his breath.
“Woah! Stop!” Fred’s voice carried in from the corral behind the stable.
“Stop!” Deirdre’s voice echoed Fred’s. “Robin Hood!”
Jeremiah had already started moving toward the corral, but the sound of his horse’s name made him break into a jog. Thankfully, it wasn’t far to go, but when he arrived outside, he forgot all about how easily winded he was.
Fred was quickly saddling one of the other horses from the corral, and Deirdre was nowhere to be seen.
And neither was Robin Hood.
“What happened?” Jeremiah asked.
“Something spooked your horse when I had the corral open. He ran off and Mrs. Wiley jumped on one of the livery horses and took off after him.”
Jeremiah glanced at the other horses. They didn’t keep the corralled horses saddled. Which meant . . . “Is she riding bareback?”
“No, Queenie was still saddled from earlier.”
But Robin Hood wasn’t. Jeremiah had no idea how Deirdre planned to stop his horse. “I’ll go after them.”
“You sure? I thought you were still feeling—”
“I’m fine,” Jeremiah said as he climbed onto the horse Fred had just finished saddling. “Which direction?”
Fred pointed to the north, where the road led out of town.
Jeremiah didn’t waste another second. Cold air whipped around him as he flew past the remaining structures in town. He wasn’t wearing a coat, but he barely noticed. How far would she follow Robin Hood? And how far would he run?
He wasn’t a horse that spooked easily, and Jeremiah hoped Fred did a thorough search to find out what it was that had caused his horse to run.
He raced through the valley at a gallop, following the road and railroad tracks that eventually led to Cañon City. Minutes passed until he lost track of time. And just as he was beginning to fear that Robin Hood—and therefore Deirdre—had veered off the road some ways back, he spotted something in the distance.
Squinting against the sunlight, he saw figures by the road just ahead. Urging the gelding on, he kept his eyes trained on what looked like two horses—and a woman on the ground.
Grateful he’d found them, but now worried about Deirdre, he slowed his horse to a halt when he reached them. “Deirdre!”
She watched him approach her with a smile, and relief flooded his heart. Kneeling beside her, he tried to ascertain what was wrong.
