Page 76 of A Whiskey River Princess

Gabriella pulled her shirt up over her mouth and buried her face in her coat so that only her eyes were showing, in an effort to keep warm. Up ahead, a cottage appeared in the distance and there was no smoke coming out of the chimney.This cannot be happening,Gabriella thought, dreading the thought of having to stay with these men in a cabin for who knew how long.

“Wait,” Blake announced. “I know that place. It’s abandoned.” He nodded toward the cabin. “Clayton, go check it out and make sure.”

“Me?” Clayton rubbed his head. “Why me?”

“Just do it!” Blake ordered, pulling his horse to a stop.

Gabriella let out a deep breath as she rolled her eyes. They were making so much noise that they were sure to be arrested for disturbing the peace, let alone kidnapping and robbing the Whiskey River General Store. She shook her head.

Clayton ran off, looked around, and then cautiously walked his horse up to one of the windows and looked in. Obviously satisfied, he turned his horse around and rode back. “Looks abandoned.”

Blake nodded. “Let’s go.”

“Do you think the owner will be back anytime soon?” Harley asked as they all started walking toward it.

Clayton shook his head. “No, it looks abandoned. There’s dust covering everything inside.”

Gabriella’s heart sank, cringing at the thought of spending any length of time with these idiots than she had to. She just hoped that Dirk came for her soon. But from the way the snow was coming down, their tracks would soon be covered. If that happened, she wouldn’t have a prayer of Dirk finding her.

Blake sighed. “Hey, it’s a place to stay, at least. Harley, take her inside and build a fire. I’ll tend the horses.”

“But what happens if someone comes home?” Clayton reasoned.

This time Harley and Blake both rolled their eyes.

“Then we’ll kill them and stay there until it stops snowing,” Blake replied matter-of-factly.

“But what happens if the man she was staying with comes for her?” Clayton asked.

Blake shrugged. “Then, we’ll kill him, too.”

“No!” Gabriella shouted, startling her horse. “You promised that if I went with you peacefully, you wouldn’t hurt him!”

A sinister smile curled Blake’s mouth as his eyes danced. “I lied.”

“No!” She quickly turned her horse around and headed back toward Whiskey River. “Yah!”

Gabriella leaned forward in the saddle, and the horse leapt into a dead run. A shot rang out behind her, but she didn’t slow down. Urging the horse on, she stayed down low. Gabriella leaned to the side heading through the trees, trying to stay as low as she could to the horse.

She held onto the saddle horn and gripped the horse tightly with her legs, willing herself not to fall off. Gunshots rang out throughout the forest behind her. One hit her on the shoulder, sending pain throughout her body.

“Stop shooting at her!” Blake ordered as the sound of horses’ hooves pounding through the snow rang out behind her. It sounded like they were gaining fast.

“Yah! Come on,ma cherie!Get us out of here!” Gabriella darted through the trees to the right and headed toward a mountain. Moisture ran down her back as streaks of pain ran through her body.

The black mare stretched out her neck and her tail, and seemed to be pushing herself harder—then suddenly came to an abrupt stop. Gabriella flew forward, off the horse, and instinctively grabbed the ground at the cliff’s edge, stopping her from going over, but her feet dangled in the air. A shower of pebbles fell down a steep precipice under her feet from the horse’s abrupt stop. She listened, but never heard the pebbles hit the bottom. She looked up and she was dangling over the edge of a cliff. Somehow, she had managed to grab the edge, but her shoulder was hurting so badly that she didn’t know how long she would be able to hold on.

Gabriella looked up and the horse looked down at her as if wondering what she was doing down there. She looked around and the reins were laying close. Reaching over, she took hold of them, hoping the horse could pull her up.

“Well, well!” Harley walked up and looked over the edge of the cliff at her. “Looky what we have here!”

Gabriella ignored him, talking only to the horse. “Back up, girl. Back up,ma cherie.”

The horse nickered softly, her eyes wild.

“Ma cherie,huh?” Harley looked at Gabriella, smiling. “Now,” he drawled as he casually took a step closer and looked down at her, “isn’t this a predicament.”

Gabriella’s hands began to slip but she wrapped them around the horse’s reigns, propping her arms on the edge of the cliff. If only she could pull herself up…. “You’ll be waiting a long time if you want me to beg for help,” she grunted, trying to hold on.

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