The Outlaw's Bride by Catherine Palmer

Author:Catherine Palmer
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Published: 2010-10-27T20:00:00+00:00

The party spent the night at Chisum’s cow camp near the Pecos River. It bothered Noah that they had failed to capture two of the men. The Regulators’ position was tenuous. A word from any of those two, and Dolan’s men would ride after them.

As he watched Isobel sleeping, Noah wondered how he had made such a big mistake. If Dolan’s bunch came to rescue their men, he honestly didn’t know how he would fare at protecting his own hide, let alone Isobel’s. She was good with a gun, but being hunted by heartless desperados was a lot different from shooting glass bottle targets.

The only thing he could think to do was pray. At Mrs. Allison’s feet, Noah had formed a deep faith in God. He was far from perfect, but he tried to follow the Bible’s principles. Isobel had no such regard for her Creator. In her quest to avenge her father’s death, she was oblivious to the scripture Mrs. Allison had made him memorize: “Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord.” Maybe Isobel had never heard it.

Was she a Christian? He studied the beautiful woman who had stolen his heart. The idea that a Dolan man might kill her sent a chill through Noah. Losing her would be torment. But then a lifetime wondering if her faith had been enough to see her into heaven? That would drive him loco.

He was still awake when the sun slid over the Pecos and roused the others. With their prisoners riding near the front of the line, the Regulators wound their way back up the Pecos toward South Spring River Ranch. At Chisum’s place they learned that Dolan had organized a band of twenty men—and the posse’s sole aim was to hunt down the Regulators.

“You think Dolan’s posse might be planning to ambush us and rescue their men?” Dick asked as they rode toward Lincoln the following day.

“If we take the main road into Lincoln,” Noah said, “we’ll play right into their hands. I say we follow the trail through Blackwater Canyon.”

“Good idea.” After clapping his friend on the shoulder, Dick rode ahead to inform the others.

As the riders left the road, Isobel sensed a strange certainty that she had come home. The New Mexico Territory was not her beloved Catalonia, but here the sky was large and blue, the trees grew tall, rivers rushed through gorges, deer and jackrabbits nibbled grass damp with morning dew. Here rattlesnakes sunned on gray limestone slabs, and coyotes cried out to the moon.

Oh, she enjoyed her fine furnishings and silk gowns, but they could hardly compare to a land as raw and untamed as the spirit that flamed in her heart. With her hair braided and tucked under one of Noah’s black Stetsons, her riding boots hooked in the stirrups and Noah’s leather belt and holster at her waist, she felt she had found herself.

“I never got to thank you for typing my story,” Noah said, leaning toward her. “I put it in my saddlebag so I can mail it when we reach Lincoln.

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.