Free Learning To Love (Contemporary Cowboy Romance) (Carson Hill Ranch series:Book 1) by Amelia Rose Page B

other hands tore out across the ranch in the direction of the creek bed, quickly overtaking the hand who’d reported the sighting. It wasn’t long before the stench of coyote urine, where the villains had marked their claim, rose up and filled their nostrils, agitating the horses with the accompanying scent of danger. The four-legged murderers came into view, some of the pack driving straight toward the herd, others circling around to come in at the cows from the other side.
                  “We can’t head them off. We’re gonna have to take them down,” one of the ranch hands said, coming up beside Carey and Casey and leaning over his saddle to catch his breath.
                  “He’s right, Casey,” Carey agreed. “They’re in too far. If we go charging in there after them, we’re just as likely to cause the herd to stampede. They’ll already be panicked because of the coyotes, and six horses barreling in there will be too much for them to handle.”
                  “We can’t go firing into the herd, either. You guys take out the ones heading toward them on this side, Thomas and I will ride around the other flank and try to reach the ones heading for the far bank.” Casey nodded at one of their crew and together, they took off to the left, parallel to the creek, where the herd obliviously stood grazing and drinking from the gently moving water. Casey spurred his horse on, letting his hat fly off and hang from around his neck by its leather chord. They cut through the water, sending a wall of spray from their horses’ hooves up on either side, cutting off their view of the aggressive scavengers for a moment.
                  When they emerged from the creek, several of the coyotes were already underfoot and yelping, scrambling to get away from the thick, deadly hooves coming down around on either side of them. At this range, Casey’s shotgun would be no use, so he drew his revolver and took aim at the closest pack member, firing off a round that caught the animal right behind its front shoulder and directly into its rib cage. For his part, Thomas took out two of the larger animals as they lunged at the creek, directly in front of a heifer that startled at their sudden movement and swam toward the middle of the creek.
                  After shooting another coyote as it attempted to intercept a calf, Casey felt an odd tug at his boot and looked down to see a tan and grey coyote nipping at his boot, jumping at horse’s flank. The sudden scrape of teeth against hide sent Casey’s horse rearing up, throwing him to the ground, knocking the breath from his burning lungs. His head connected with the rocks lining the creek bed, sending a throbbing ache through his skull that nearly blinded him. A sickening crunch sounded as pain shot up Casey’s leg, his horse having stomped on his booted ankle.
                  As Casey writhed on the ground, a low moan escaping his parched mouth, he was blinded by the light of the sun directly overhead. He was startled when a face came into view, blocking out the light but backlit so as to almost be unrecognizable.
                  Almost.
                  But there was no mistaking the ugly, scarred face of Jack, the ranch foreman.
                  He leaned over Casey and said, “I told you accidents happen.” Just then, the sound of a gunshot sounded so close to Casey, that for a moment, he couldn’t find the source of it. An unfamiliar scream sounded, then went silent. Jack laughed over Casey’s twisted, agonized face once more, then a boot kick to Casey’s head made everything go dark.
     
     

CHAPTER ELEVEN
     
                  An unseen hand pressed a rag against Casey’s face, blocking out what little light worked its way into the room. Heavy, dark quilts had been hung on the windows to bar the sunlight, with only a strip of yellow light peeking