don’t want to. I don’t like hurting people.”
Instinct told her this man, large as he was, was telling the truth. She didn’t think he wanted to hurt her. Still, fear finally started pumping past her numbness, and she knew she had to escape arrest.
“Then let go of my wrist. You’re holding the horse so I can’t go anywhere.” She rubbed a foot along the ribs. Maybe she could kick the horse hard enough to bolt.
“I think you can. I don’t like being fooled either.”
“Please let go of me,” Caitlyn said. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Horse stealing is wrong. There’s a criminal code for it, but I haven’t learned it yet. Otherwise, I’d officially record this arrest on my vidpod.”
“It’s not what you think,” she said.
“I’m not so good at thinking. That’s Sheriff Carney’s job.”
“My job too,” said another voice. “Don’t know how you got here, but for someone so stupid, you saved me a lot of trouble.”
Caitlyn turned her head. From her elevated perspective on the horse, she saw the man approaching from the livery, maybe twenty paces away. It was too dark to see his features, but she recognized the object cradled in his arm.
A shotgun.
Billy didn’t like to hurry decision making because he always seemed to decide wrong. Like now. After leaving the jail, he’d decided not to directly approach the livery, because whatever Mason Lee had planned against Sheriff Carney couldn’t be good. If Mason was willing to lock Billy up, it wouldn’t be smart to just march into the livery when he knew all about the shotgun and what it felt like to have the barrel pressed into his back.
But when he’d raced around to the gate behind the livery, hoping his escape would make up for what happened with Mrs. Shelton, there’d been this girl, stealing a horse. Billy figured she probably had something to do with why the sheriff wanted him to watch the livery and Mitch in the first place, so she must be important. Even if she wasn’t important, she was breaking curfew and stealing a horse.
Now what?
Mason was right there, outlined by the light of the livery in the background, pointing the shotgun. In a way, Billy felt relieved. Immediate control had been taken away from him. He didn’t have to make a decision.
One handed, Mason flipped the shotgun around and offered the butt of it to Billy. “You going to tell me how you got out of that jail cell?”
“You’re giving me your gun?” Billy was so surprised at the offer of the shotgun that he kept his grip on the girl’s wrist.
“One minute you’re smart and the next you’re stupid. I’m not aiming at myself. ’Course I’m giving it to you…now take it. Watch the girl while I take the reins.”
“What about Sheriff Carney?” Billy asked as he accepted the weight of the gun.
“He’s in the livery,” Mason said. “Now you going to tell me how you got out of jail?”
Mason took the horse’s reins.
What had the doctor called the big ox?
Billy.
So how had Billy the simpleton escaped the jail cell?
This bothered Mason more than he would let on, as he prided himself on taking care of details. All of them. After locking Billy in the cell, Mason had gone through the sheriff’s office and removed all the firing pins from the weapons. Small as the chance was, with what Mason had in mind, there might come the day that Sheriff Carney had a gun on Mason. It wouldn’t hurt knowing the weapon was useless.
Mason would find out how the simpleton escaped the cell, but more important was getting the girl secured, like Carney and Evans. After using the pitchfork handle to knock the men out, bale twine to tie securely both unconscious men, and Evans’s bandanna to gag them, Mason dragged them into a feed room. He came out of the livery to look for the girl, whom he had seen leading the horse out through the gate. He’d intended to follow her first to learn what he could about her escape plans. Instead,
Instinct told her this man, large as he was, was telling the truth. She didn’t think he wanted to hurt her. Still, fear finally started pumping past her numbness, and she knew she had to escape arrest.
“Then let go of my wrist. You’re holding the horse so I can’t go anywhere.” She rubbed a foot along the ribs. Maybe she could kick the horse hard enough to bolt.
“I think you can. I don’t like being fooled either.”
“Please let go of me,” Caitlyn said. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Horse stealing is wrong. There’s a criminal code for it, but I haven’t learned it yet. Otherwise, I’d officially record this arrest on my vidpod.”
“It’s not what you think,” she said.
“I’m not so good at thinking. That’s Sheriff Carney’s job.”
“My job too,” said another voice. “Don’t know how you got here, but for someone so stupid, you saved me a lot of trouble.”
Caitlyn turned her head. From her elevated perspective on the horse, she saw the man approaching from the livery, maybe twenty paces away. It was too dark to see his features, but she recognized the object cradled in his arm.
A shotgun.
Billy didn’t like to hurry decision making because he always seemed to decide wrong. Like now. After leaving the jail, he’d decided not to directly approach the livery, because whatever Mason Lee had planned against Sheriff Carney couldn’t be good. If Mason was willing to lock Billy up, it wouldn’t be smart to just march into the livery when he knew all about the shotgun and what it felt like to have the barrel pressed into his back.
But when he’d raced around to the gate behind the livery, hoping his escape would make up for what happened with Mrs. Shelton, there’d been this girl, stealing a horse. Billy figured she probably had something to do with why the sheriff wanted him to watch the livery and Mitch in the first place, so she must be important. Even if she wasn’t important, she was breaking curfew and stealing a horse.
Now what?
Mason was right there, outlined by the light of the livery in the background, pointing the shotgun. In a way, Billy felt relieved. Immediate control had been taken away from him. He didn’t have to make a decision.
One handed, Mason flipped the shotgun around and offered the butt of it to Billy. “You going to tell me how you got out of that jail cell?”
“You’re giving me your gun?” Billy was so surprised at the offer of the shotgun that he kept his grip on the girl’s wrist.
“One minute you’re smart and the next you’re stupid. I’m not aiming at myself. ’Course I’m giving it to you…now take it. Watch the girl while I take the reins.”
“What about Sheriff Carney?” Billy asked as he accepted the weight of the gun.
“He’s in the livery,” Mason said. “Now you going to tell me how you got out of jail?”
Mason took the horse’s reins.
What had the doctor called the big ox?
Billy.
So how had Billy the simpleton escaped the jail cell?
This bothered Mason more than he would let on, as he prided himself on taking care of details. All of them. After locking Billy in the cell, Mason had gone through the sheriff’s office and removed all the firing pins from the weapons. Small as the chance was, with what Mason had in mind, there might come the day that Sheriff Carney had a gun on Mason. It wouldn’t hurt knowing the weapon was useless.
Mason would find out how the simpleton escaped the cell, but more important was getting the girl secured, like Carney and Evans. After using the pitchfork handle to knock the men out, bale twine to tie securely both unconscious men, and Evans’s bandanna to gag them, Mason dragged them into a feed room. He came out of the livery to look for the girl, whom he had seen leading the horse out through the gate. He’d intended to follow her first to learn what he could about her escape plans. Instead,
Similar Books
