Page 10 of Hard Bounty

“Where’d you get that?” she asked, still groggy and trying to make sense of it all.

“When I saw you down here, I went back to the horses and grabbed it. Helped me climb down here to you. And it’s our ticket out of here. Now, are you listening?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Hold it tight. You go first. Slow and careful. We don’t need you getting hurt again.”

“What if I fall?” she asked, unable to hide the fear in her voice.

“That’s why you’re going first. I’ll be behind you. I’ll catch you.”

She couldn’t help but smile. He cared about her. It felt wonderful.

“Now be a good girl and do as you’ve been told.”

“Yes, sir,” she said.

“Oh, and Mary?”

She loved the way it sounded when he said her name, so there was no suppressing the grin that turned her lips upward. “Yes? she said, turning around to look at him.

“You try and run again, and I will give you the spanking of your life. Are we clear?”

That smile of hers quickly faded.

She gulped. “Yes, sir.”

John meant business.

Yikes!

***

It took them a while, but he seemed to have no trouble leading them back to the clearing where they’d left their horses.

Only the mounts weren’t there.

“You left them right here?” Mary asked desperately.

John shot her an annoyed look. “This isn’t my first time doing all this. Yes, I picketed them to this tree.” He squatted down and looked at the prints left behind. “Someone made off with them.”

Mary shot him an incredulous glance. “Horse thieves? Out here?”

She watched as he stood and smirked, though there wasn’t any humor to it. “You should know all about that. In fact, maybe they’re friends of yours.” He shrugged. “I would say you stole them yourself, but since I had to pull you out of the bottom of that gulley, I know you can’t be the guilty party.” A moment passed before he added, “Thistime.”

The words stung her, but she didn’t argue. He was right—she knew her fair share of horse thieves. And it was her reckless actions that led him away from the horses, opening them up towhoevertook them.

But out here?

He must have read her mind, because he said, “You know how it is here in the Territory. Lots of folks more than willing to run off with a mount if the opportunity presents itself.”

“You think all Indians steal?” she said with a huff.

He rolled his eyes. “No. I think the outlaws who flee into Indian Territory steal. They believe this is a lawless land where anything goes. Don’t even realize some of the tribes have their own law.”

Mary stood up a little more proudly. “Like the Choctaw Lighthorse!”

John nodded. “You have a run in with them, too, have you? They arrest you for something.”

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