Wed on the Wagon Train by Tracy Blalock

Author:Tracy Blalock
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-08-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

“It doesn’t look like she’s learned who the boss is yet.”

Josiah pulled his eyes away from Mattie and skewered his brother with a glare. “What?” Belatedly, he noted the other man’s gaze was focused on Josiah’s mount, not his wife. “Oh, you mean the horse.”

The mare jerked her head up, attempting to pull the leather reins from his gloved hand. Almost as if she’d understood their words and wanted to show she was in charge.

He tugged on the reins to bring her head back down. “It will take a bit more conditioning before she accepts she’s not the one calling the shots.” Reining her in as she pranced to the side, he narrowly avoided a collision with Elias and the unhitched team of oxen he led. “The trick is not to break her spirit, only gentle her.”

He’d been working with all his horses, rotating which ones he rode each day. But this little piebald had a stubborn streak that brought a certain woman to mind.

Turning his gaze back to Mattie, he found she’d finished unhitching her oxen and now prodded them in this direction, toward the designated grazing area for the noon stop.

He was more than happy to do that job for her, as he’d told her several times over the past few days since their wedding. But she hadn’t backed down from her stubborn insistence on handling it herself, and always completed the task before he could get his horses settled and return to the covered wagon.

As she neared him, he swung his leg over the saddle to dismount. The horse sidestepped away from him unexpectedly. He lost his balance and dropped like a stone, instead of the controlled descent he’d intended. His right foot hit the ground hard, taking the brunt of his weight, and his ankle rolled. Pain lanced through it.

Grabbing the saddle horn to maintain his balance while on one foot, he tightened his hand on the reins and held the mare in place. “Whoa, easy,” he murmured when she tried to shift away, clearly displeased at him using her as a prop.

He glanced over the horse’s back, thankful to discover that neither Mattie nor Elias was paying him any mind just now, as both were occupied staking their respective oxen.

But they wouldn’t be kept busy for long. Best to assess the damage while he still had a few moments without an audience.

He put weight on his right leg to test it and immediately regretted the action. A hiss of pain slipped past his lips.

Elias straightened and turned toward him. Had he heard Josiah? Clamping his mouth closed, he blanked his expression.

The other man didn’t appear to notice anything amiss. “Hurry up and unsaddle your horse. Rebecca will have dinner ready soon, and we don’t have time to dawdle. Miles keeps a tight schedule.”

“You and Mattie go ahead without me. I’ll be there in a minute.” Josiah stood motionless, silently urging them on their way. But they didn’t move. “What are you waiting

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