Free Hoofbeats of Danger by Holly Hughes Page B

“That’s it. Remember when the Paiute attacks shut down the Pony Express this summer? If the company thinks the Indians are interfering again, we could have a whole heap of trouble break out.”
    Just then Annie heard a rustle at the top of the ravine, and she ducked low All this talk about sabotage and attacks was making her jumpy.
    Glancing up, Annie saw Redbird peering down at them from the bank above. “Annie?” she called down. “Is everything all right?”
    Hearing a new voice, Magpie shied and bolted a few yards down the gully, nearly pulling the rope out of Annie’s hands. As Redbird joined Billy and Annie, Magpie shivered and lowered her head to drink thirstily at the creek. “We found Magpie all tangled up in the bramble patch,” Annie told her friend. “Billy and I cut her loose.”
    â€œWe’re doing everything we can to keep her moving around,” Billy added.
    â€œHow’s Pa?” Annie asked Redbird anxiously. “He must be better or you wouldn’t have left him, I know.”
    â€œHe’s resting easy now,” Redbird said, “but he’s still blacked out. We won’t really know how bad he got hurt until he wakes up. Your mother’s with him.”
    â€œLooks like Magpie’s having terrible stomach cramps,” Billy put in. “And look there.” He pointed to the wound on Magpie’s flank. “Someone cut her with a knife.”
    Redbird pulled out her remedy pouch, which was hanging on a leather thong around her neck. “I’ve got a little pot of salve in here that’s good for flesh wounds. It’ll help heal all those scratches from the sticker bushes, too.”
    She inched forward, approaching the fretful horse. Magpie watched with an uneasy eye, but stood still, as if she sensed Redbird could be trusted.
    â€œDoes it look like someone rubbed poison into that wound?” Annie asked as Redbird deftly worked the ointment into the pony’s twitching flank.
    â€œI just can’t say for certain,” Redbird said. “I hate to think anybody would do such a thing.”
    â€œI hate it, too,” Annie declared, “but it’s looking more and more likely. And what if other horses are hurt next?” She rubbed her dirty hands on her skirt. “My pa’s job is on the line already—we don’t need anything more to go wrong. I can’t just sit here. I’m going back to the station to see what I can find out.”
    â€œWhat about Magpie?” Redbird asked. “I can’t stay here with her—I have to get back to your pa.”
    â€œYou two go back. I’ll stay,” Billy offered.
    â€œBut Jeremiah expects your help in the barn,” Annie reminded him. “You’ll get in trouble if you’re gone from the station much longer.”
    Billy dismissed that with a wave of his hand. “It’s more important to me to take care of Magpie. I’m bound to get fired from this job soon, anyway. I’m not much of a company man.”
    Annie paused, looking at Billy for a moment in a new light. Suddenly she realized that Billy’s days with the Pony Express were numbered. He’d come to be such a part of her life, she’d never imagined him moving on. But he was bound to—and sooner rather than later. She reached over and squeezed his wrist. “I’m beholden to you, Billy.”
    He looked away, embarrassed. “You just go back, girl. You won’t figure out what’s been going on as long as you’re jabbering away here.”
    The two girls set off, hopping back over the creek. Redbird hoisted herself up the gully wall, then reached down to give Annie a hand.
    They hurried back the way they had come. As they jogged through the pine scrub, early morning light broke through the clouds. Birds sang as if glad the storm was over; Annie picked out the loose trill of a junco, the coo of a mourning dove, and