Ride the High Lonesome by Rosanne Bittner

Author:Rosanne Bittner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2019-10-16T16:00:00+00:00

Twenty-one

“Good-looking bunch of horses you have there,” the apparent leader of the formidable gang of men told Luke. His eyes were on Luke, but the rest of the men were gawking at Kate. Their leader was a burly man with a big belly, a thick beard, and long, uncombed hair. He wore a buffalo-skin coat, even though it was quite warm today.

Luke nodded, keeping hold of his rifle. “I just bought these horses in Lander a few days ago,” he answered, “and the wife and I are headed back there now.”

“That so?” The big man turned to Kate and tipped his hat. “Mornin’, ma’am.”

Kate nodded in reply, while inside she felt faint at the thought that these men could kill Luke and ride off with her. She didn’t even want to think about what that could mean.

The leader turned his attention back to Luke. “Name’s Nate Bartley.” He turned to the man beside him. “This here is Billy.” He then indicated each man beside the one introduced. “Cal, Red Horse, and Tully.”

Each man nodded at Luke and Kate both.

“We hunt buffalo and other wild game—sell it in the different towns out here,” Nate explained. He turned and pointed. “Our camp is back there a ways, wagons for hauling our meat and skins. We’re headed south.” He turned back to Luke. “Heard your gunshot and figured we’d come and make sure you weren’t in some kind of trouble. Lord knows trouble is easy to come by in this country.”

Luke studied him closely, gauging the man’s honesty. “That’s friendly of you. We appreciate it.”

“She’s awful perty, Nate,” Billy spoke up, ogling Kate more.

Without warning, Nate swung his rifle around and knocked Billy off his horse. Kate gasped at the sudden movement and backed up her horse, and Luke started to raise his rifle, until realizing Nate’s move was to defend Kate. The man turned his horse and looked down at Billy.

“Don’t you know a lady when you see one?” he barked. “Get back on your horse and ride back to camp!”

The side of his face already starting to show a bruise, Billy scowled as he got to his feet and remounted his horse. “I didn’t mean nothin’ bad,” he grumbled before riding away.

Kate glanced at Luke, who kept watching Nate and the rest of them without a flinch. “You’ll understand me when I tell all of you to ride on,” Luke told Nate. “Like you said, this is dangerous country. A man doesn’t know who to trust. When we saw you riding this way, it scared my wife. I appreciate you defending her like you just did, and I’m thankful for your concern that we might be in trouble, but we’re fine. I killed a prairie hen for our supper. That’s the gunshot you heard.”

Nate nodded. “I know we’re a sorry-lookin’ bunch. It’s hard not to be with what we do, but we clean up good.” He looked around the vast landscape surrounding them. “I heard there’s another bunch of outlaws been sneakin’ around these parts stealin’ horses and cattle.

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