Riding the Nightmare by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
Published: 2022-06-23T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

Knowing she was playing a hunch, Della led the other three girls toward the ridge that bulked ahead of them in the darkness. If she’d been looking for some place near the end of the Nightmare Trail that could be defended against possible pursuers, that ridge was where she would have gone. It was the closest high ground, the trees provided plenty of cover, and it commanded a good view in both directions.

The moon wouldn’t be up for a while yet, meaning MacCallister and his friends wouldn’t be able to see very well. Della counted on stealth to do the rest of the work and allow her and the others to approach near enough to hit their quarry before any of the men knew what was happening.

Even though she was confident her plan would work, Della winced a little every time a bit chain rattled or a horse stomped down a little too hard. It was next to impossible to lead horses through the night without them making some noise.

Near the foot of the ridge Della reached back to stop Lydia, who was following her. Lydia, in turn, stopped Patsy, who stopped Junie.

Della whispered for them to gather close around her, so they could hear. “We’re gonna leave the horses here and go the rest of the way without them.”

“What if we need to get away in a hurry?” asked Lydia.

“They’ll still be close by. Anyway, there’s no way we can take them up that slope in the dark without makin’ so much noise people in Chugwater would hear us comin’.”

“You don’t even know for sure that bunch is up there.”

Della heard the challenge in her cousin’s voice. Lydia hadn’t forgotten that slap from earlier. She likely never would, unless she got the chance to even the score. Well, Della might just give her that chance, one of these days, but it wasn’t the time.

“Maybe they’re not,” she said. “If that’s how it turns out, we’ll look somewhere else. But if they are there, I don’t want to give them a lot of warning and then go waltzin’ right into a bunch of bullets.”

Patsy whispered, “We’ll do whatever you say, Della. What’s the plan?”

“We’ll go up the ridge as quiet as we can, then split up, two going one way and two the other. Stay low, don’t make any noise, and listen for voices or horses movin’ around or anything else that’ll tip off the location of their camp. If you find them, back off and come back to the spot where we split up. We’ll rendezvous there in an hour, whether we’ve found them or not.”

A moment of silence went by.

Then Lydia said sullenly, “Fine. We’ll do it that way. Sounds like it might even work. Who goes with who?”

“You’re comin’ with me,” Della answered without hesitation. She didn’t fully trust Lydia and wanted to keep her close. It wouldn’t have surprised Della if Lydia argued with that decision, but the younger girl didn’t say anything.

Della went on. “For now, all three of you stay right here with the horses.

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