Page 2 of Protected By the Mountain Man

I was too busy staring at my brother bleeding out in the tall grass.

Instinctively, I threw myself off Sundance, hitting the ground hard. Bandit was going ballistic, his barks sharp and fierce as he placed himself between us and the tree line, his body tense and ready. I looked at Ben’s wound…and realized I couldn’t do anything. It was too much, too bloody, too…

“Okay, Kat, think,” I commanded myself, fumbling for my phone. I dialed 911 with shaking fingers, pressing the device hard against my ear. “We need an ambulance at Martin Ranch, near the west pasture. My brother's been shot. Fast, please!”

“Ma'am, help is on its way?—”

Another shot cracked through the air; splinters of wood burst from the fence post beside me. A cold realization washed over me; we were being targeted, hunted.

Somebody out here wanted us dead.

That meant I had to get us out of here.

“Stay with me, Ben,” I whispered, hoping he could hear me over Bandit’s frantic barking.

I shuffled over to Sundance, staying low, knowing I needed to get her saddle off if I wanted to fit both me and Ben on my horse. Shadow was gone—no help there, since he spooked easier than my mare. Sundance, on the other hand, was still as a statue, waiting for instruction.

My hands worked furiously; I unbuckled the cinch and yanked the saddle off. The leather slipped from my fingers once, twice, before it finally came free and thudded to the ground.

“Good girl,” I muttered, grateful for Sundance's steady presence amid the madness. No time to be gentle now. I grabbed Ben under the shoulders. He groaned and staggered, a dead weight that made my muscles scream in protest. “Come on, big brother, don't do this to me.”

Bandit barked as another bullet zipped across the grass. Now was my chance; through sheer willpower and adrenaline, I somehow managed to haul Ben up onto the horse.

“Stay awake, Ben. Livy needs you,” I urged. Ben was clutching Sundance’s neck, taking choked breaths as he sputtered on more blood.

“Tell Livy…I love her…” he gasped.

“Hell no, we are not doing this!” I snapped. I swung up behind him, wrapping my arm around his torso to keep him in place. “Hang on!”

With a kick to Sundance's flanks, we lurched into motion, Bandit nipping at our heels. The rhythmic pound of hooves on earth melded with the staccato of my heart, each beat a silent plea for survival.

He had to live.

He’d just been fine…he was healthy.

He had to live.

My fingers were slippery with blood as I clutched the reins, Sundance’s hooves pounding the earth beneath us. She couldn’t move fast enough; I needed her to fly over the tall grass, and we weren’t moving fast enough and Ben was dying.

“Kat…” Ben choked out. “You need…to look out for…”

“Save your energy!” I shouted. “You can tell me after we get through this.”

Even as I said it, I knew the ambulance wouldn’t arrive fast enough. Just like the horse wasn’t fast enough, just like I wasn’t fast enough.

If this was a movie, I would ride straight to the hospital and get Ben into surgery.

But this wasn’t a movie.

And my brother was running out of time.

By the time we reached the road, Ben's head lolled against my arm, his consciousness slipping. The crimson soaking through our clothes made my stomach churn, but I shoved the nausea aside. I couldn’t lose focus now; it was life or death, even if I was out of harm’s way.

“Ben, stay with me,” I said, and my voice came out funny, wrong. The ambulance wasn’t here yet—and I wondered if I should try riding to the hospital, defying all sense of logic and reason…

…wait.

Someone was coming.

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