A Worthy Pursuit by Karen Witemeyer

Author:Karen Witemeyer [Witemeyer, Karen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC042030, FIC042040, FIC027050, Bounty hunters—Fiction, Guardian and ward—Fiction, Man-woman relationships—Fiction
ISBN: 9781441269416
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2015-04-23T04:00:00+00:00

Stone heard Charlotte’s shout, jammed his knee into the belly of the man beneath him, then twisted far enough to slip his arm through the second man’s legs. With a groan, he lifted the man off his feet and tossed him over the side. The pinned man took advantage of his inattention to retrieve a knife. Stone spotted the blade and immediately grabbed the man’s wrist.

He didn’t have time for this.

Stone curled his tongue and let out a shrill whistle to bring Goliath to him then pounded the man’s arm into the wagon until he finally lost his grip on the knife. Once that was done, he smashed his fist against the man’s temple with enough force to leave him unconscious then rolled him over the side.

“Hurry, Stone!” Charlotte cried. “He’s almost to the trees.”

Stone pushed to his feet, widening his stance to keep his balance in the speeding wagon. He gripped the driver’s bench as he made his way to the place where Goliath galloped alongside. Stone grasped the edge of the wagon then propped his left boot atop it. His gaze skimmed over Charlotte and the boys, clinging to the tailgate.

How could he just leave them? They could hit a rut and be thrown. The team could veer off the road into a ravine and turn the wagon over. He hesitated.

“Go, Stone.” Charlotte nodded at him. “Lily needs you more than we do. I can stop the wagon.”

She could fall to her death, too.

“Go!” she demanded.

He did. Stone pushed off the edge of the wagon with his left leg and landed astride Goliath. Pain shot up his right thigh from where one of the bullets had taken a hunk out of his flesh, but he ignored it. With a prayer in his heart for those he was leaving behind, he grabbed Goliath’s reins and steered him toward the man disappearing into the trees.

Winded as the beast was after charging the villains and keeping pace with a runaway wagon, Goliath responded to Stone’s urging with a champion’s heart. His long legs ate up the ground at a pace that matched the thundering of Stone’s pulse.

Would Lily know to hide? What if she heard the villain’s horse’s approach and thought it was Stone coming to retrieve her? She’d run right into the scoundrel’s hands.

Stone clenched his jaw and leaned farther over Goliath’s neck. Not on his watch. No one was gonna harm a hair on that girl’s head.

The terrain shifted from flat prairie to scattered woods as Stone urged Goliath up the slope. Forced to slow in order to navigate the trees and uneven ground, Stone tuned his ears to his surroundings. With all the cover afforded by the trees, he’d be more likely to hear another rider’s position than spot the man himself. Of course, his own position could be forfeited just as easily.

He slowed Goliath to a walk. A rustling sounded to the east. Stone peered between the oak trunks. There. A dark brown hat. Moving north. Not high enough off the ground for the man to still be on his horse.

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