Blood Feud by Bill Grant

Author:Bill Grant [Grant, Bill]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Robert Hale
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Luke watched the riders ahead of him warily. They had passed him unawares in the night. It was lucky they hadn’t seen him since Luke hadn’t woken up until dawn. The lack of a fire had probably helped to keep him unseen. Now, though, he had a clear view of them. They were far to the north of Garrison; he had already passed the rendezvous point with no sign of the Driscoll ranch hands or any cattle. He hoped his men hadn’t bugged out on him altogether, that they simply hadn’t waited for him for very long.

Worried about McTavish’s men doubling back, he kept heading north. Perhaps he’ll meet up with the men or even Nate, thought Luke. Growing more apprehensive the longer he traveled with no sight of the drovers or beefers, Luke started to wonder whether he shouldn’t go back to the family spread.

He continued on until the end of the day, but his optimism waned. That night, now miles away from Garrison, he set camp. There was no one on the trail, not his men, not McTavish’s men, not strangers, no one. Luke began to wonder sardonically whether he hadn’t taken a wrong turn somewhere.

Shrugging off his concerns, he went to hunt for his dinner. His ammunition was low, so every shot counted. If he missed he might go hungry. He was lucky tonight, though, as he bagged two jackrabbits, enough meat to last a few days. If he didn’t find his men soon, however, he’d have to turn back; he didn’t think he had enough supplies to last him until Abilene, and even the nearest town was too far away.

That night he slept fitfully, with only his horse to keep him company. The next morning Luke skipped breakfast, resolved to either find the ranch hands or turn back. By midday, after riding through nothing but unbroken wilderness, he was ready to give up.

Then he heard something.

Fearing an ambush Luke looked for cover. He espied, off in the distance, some small of bushes clustered along a shallow ravine. He spurred his horse, hoping to make it there before whoever he’d heard came into view. As he was about to settle into the ravine, keeping his horse carefully screened by the bushes, a group of horsemen came riding from the north. He counted four mounted men, and a mule carrying what looked like a prisoner. Luke edged closer to the trail to get a better look. The prisoner raised his head just as the mule passed Luke’s hiding-place.

Luke’s heart caught in his throat: it was Nate.

Instinctively Luke reached for his rifle; there were only four of them. He could take them out and rescue his brother. Luke didn’t see Seamus, so he was either dead or separated from Nate.

Four against one, he could do it.

Luke almost slammed his rifle in frustration when he saw he only had three cartridges left. His pistol was empty. He couldn’t fight the men now, but he could follow them and hope to set his brother free when an opportunity presented itself.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.