Ace Lone Wolf and the Lost Temple of Totec (Lone Wolf Howls) by Eric T Knight

Author:Eric T Knight [Knight, Eric T]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-04-10T18:30:00+00:00

47

Victoria isn’t moving.

The palomino’s hooves drum against the ground a few times, then go still.

I hurry toward her, but Block makes it to her first, leaping down off his horse while it’s still running. He crouches and cradles her in his arms.

Her head lolls limply. There’s blood on her face, which has gone white.

More bullets patter around us. I hear one ping off a rock.

“Hand her up to me!” I shout.

Block lifts her effortlessly and sets her in front of me on the saddle. “Grab her saddlebags,” I tell him.

I wrap my arms around her, praying she’s still alive, that she hasn’t broken her neck. It was an ugly fall and I fear the worst.

I don’t bother trying to hold the reins. Coyote doesn’t need them anyway. “Run, boy,” I tell him hoarsely. “Run like you’ve never run before.”

The next few minutes are the longest ones I’ve ever known. Coyote runs flat out for the house, stretching out his neck and putting everything he has into it as if he knows how bad it is.

Bullets are probably still whizzing by, but I don’t notice. I’ve got one arm wrapped around Victoria and with the other I’m holding her head against my shoulder. I’m hoping that’s a heartbeat I feel inside her, but there’s no way to check right now.

All I can do is let Coyote run and try to hold her as best I can.

The house sits on a flat piece of land near a steep-sided arroyo. Out front is a well with a dead tree by it. There’s an old barn, mostly fallen down.

The house doesn’t look like much, small, most of the roof gone. But its walls are adobe and the door is stout mesquite planks. They won’t be able to burn us out and those two-foot-thick walls will stop any bullet.

We race into the yard. Somehow Block has kept up with me and he takes Victoria almost before Coyote completely comes to a halt. His horse is standing there spraddle-legged, its head down, blowing foam. Block runs for the door and I strip our saddlebags off the horses.

I clap Coyote on the haunches. “Get out of here!” I’m not worried about him. He won’t let the Scalphunters get anywhere near him. There’s nothing I can do for Block’s gelding. If he’s just lucky, his wind is broken. If he’s not, he’ll die.

I run inside. Block has laid Victoria down on the floor and put his coat under her head for a pillow. He’s got his thick fingers pressed against her throat.

“Is she . . . ?” I can barely get the words out.

He nods. “She’s alive,” he rumbles. He takes a kerchief from his pocket and wipes some of the blood from her face.

“Will she . . . be all right?” I know the question is ridiculous, but I can’t help myself.

He takes a deep breath and wipes his forehead. “There’s no way to know, lad. But she’s concussed, and if her spine is injured, she might be paralyzed.

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