Page 28 of Bryson's Treasure

Chapter 11

Lynn was terrified.The day the truck she was driving had its breaks cut had been petrifying, but that was nothing compared to having shots fired at her. Another one hit the front of the rock. Whoever was shooting hadn’t stopped or slowed down, even though Lynn and Bryson were behind the rock. When the horses had taken off running, her heart had stopped.

Bryson slowly moved to the side, raised his hand, and lowered it quickly. Another round of shots fired.

“At least it’s only one shooter.”

Lynn huffed, “Really, only one. I don’t see how one is okay.”

“It could have been a few,” Bryson said. “One I might be able to handle.” His frown deepened. “We need to get you out of sight so I can figure out how to stop this man.”

Lynn tried to peek around the large rock, but Bryson pulled her against him. “Maybe the guy will just leave.”

“Whoever’s out there was waiting for you. But they aren’t professionally trained.”

“They’re good enough. We didn’t see them.” She tugged her arm out of Bryson’s grip. “What makes you think they aren’t trained?”

“A trained marksman would’ve hit the target. I counted at least eight rounds, and he didn’t come near us.”

Lynn didn’t know how Bryson had taken the time to count the rounds. Her only thought was to get to safety when the second shot rang out. The first shot hadn’t registered until Bryson was tugging her behind the large rock. If they wanted to hide in the mine, they would need to step out from behind the rock for a few steps.

“What’s the plan?” Lynn whispered.

“I need to get you into the mine, and then I can try to take down the person after us.” Bryson ran his hand through his hair for the tenth time. She noticed he did it every time he was stressed, and their current situation was definitely stressful.

Lynn heard an engine start in the distance.

Bryson put a finger to his lips for a second. “I think the person left.”

When she went to stand, Bryson pulled her back down. “I said I think. You aren’t going to be the person to test my theory. Wait here.” Bryson stood up. They heard nothing. He crouched back down near her. Everything they needed was on the horses. That included the cell phone she normally kept tucked in her pocket but had been scared would fall out during the ride.

Bryson offered her his hand, and she stood next to him. Instead of leading her back down the trail, he led her into the mine.

Lynn took in the cave-like space. “Why aren’t we heading back to the house?”

“We would be left exposed. We’re going to have to wait until dark so we can sneak back. I heard someone drive off, but I’m not sure how far they went or if they did that to see if they could get us to come out of hiding.”

“I haven’t been this far in the mine before.” She ran her fingers along the wall. Lanterns illuminated the walkway. “I can’t believe how much gold is down here.”

“Now I wish I hadn’t told the guards to take the morning off and come back later.”

“Nothing we can do about it now unless you brought your phone.” Lynn made a mental note to always carry her phone on her person.

“Nope, mine’s on the horse along with my gun. Looks like we’re going to be here for a while.”

“Well, should we sit here and get to know each other better?”

“How do you feel about swimming?”

She glanced around the cave. It wasn’t cold inside, but it wasn’t warm, and she couldn’t imagine the water would be warm either. “I think it’s a little cold to swim.”

“Noah showed me where there’s a natural hot spring down here. He said he’s taken Matildadown here a couple of times. Do you want to see if we can find it?”

“Sure.” She didn’t have any better plans.

Bryson twined his fingers with hers. “Should be around this last turn.”

“How pretty.” Like much of Montana, the natural earth was breathtaking. She loved seeing the sunrise over the mountains and the leaves turn in the fall. At times, she missed the rush of the city, but the beauty of the country outweighed everything she missed.

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