Free Daniel by Starla Kaye

back to Dryfork, back to Jennie. If she was still there. They had been chasing after the Walton Gang for almost a week without any luck. Yesterday they'd caught up the posse from Dodge City, who also hadn't managed to catch up with the gang of outlaws. That posse was giving up for now. So were they.
    He shifted in his saddle, his butt sore from days of hard riding. He felt drained, too. The men who had ridden with him were exhausted as well, so much that they weren't even grumbling anymore about not having caught up with the gang. In truth, Daniel would have preferred that the Dodge City posse have found them and hauled them to their jail. His jail wasn't all that big. And he didn't particularly like the idea of the murderous bunch in his town. Especially with Jennie around. If she's still there. How many times had he worried that she would take the next stage out of town and back to Boston? The stage should have stopped there a couple of days ago. He'd seen the fear in her eyes at the knowledge that he had to ride out on a posse after dangerous men. It wasn't the kind of thing he did often. It certainly wasn't anything she was familiar with. To her, Boston was safe, even if that was a naive view. He had to admit that it probably was a hell of a lot safer than living out here on the frontier at times. He wanted Jennie safe, but he couldn't back down on this matter. He couldn't go back to Boston and live.
    He clutched the reins tighter in frustration and his horse jerked her head in response. He eased his hold and tried to calm down. If she couldn't deal with the occasional dangers here, with him having to ride on posse from time to time, maybe he needed to pack her clothes and ship her back to her parents. He couldn't worry every time he had to do his job that she would up and leave him because she couldn't live with being a lawman's wife. His thoughts needed to be focused on what he was doing in times like this. Otherwise he could get himself killed, or get other men riding with him killed. His thoughts certainly hadn't been focused on this posse the last few days. No, he'd been worried about Jennie.
    God, if she'd left... Even knowing he should end this marriage for both their sakes, his gut twisted at considering it. He loved that stubborn little woman.
    Daniel shoved his troubled musings aside. They would be in Dryfork by tomorrow morning sometime. If they rode hard, they could make it back tonight. But he and the others were too damn tired for that. He had to be patient a while longer.
    "I hate like hell seeing you at odds with Adam," his brother Ben said heavily as he rode up next to Daniel. "You're both so damn stubborn."
    Daniel spared Ben a glance and saw the concern in his dark eyes. Both his brothers had ridden on this posse. Caleb had stayed behind to keep an eye on Jennie, at least he hoped so. He hadn't said a word to Adam in all this time, but Adam had steered away from him as much as possible. Yes, they were both stubborn.
    He looked ahead once more, his shoulders weighed down by so much in his life at the moment. The problems with Jennie. The situation with Adam. The worry about the Walton Gang. He spoke gruffly, "I don't like him putting ideas in Jennie's head."
    "About going back to Boston?" Ben asked. "Hasn't she tried to convince you of it already? That was the impression I got from Adam. You know he cares about you, doesn't want to see you hurt. He thinks she's going to hurt you."
    Daniel's mood soured even more. He glared at Ben, who glared right back. "He doesn't want to see anyone hurt, because he's suffered so damn much. I understand that. But this is between Jennie and me." He blew out a breath and looked away again. "This isn't a life she's used to, but she's been trying. Until this. She was scared."
    "And you didn't do a damn thing to soothe her from what I hear. You didn't even--"
    Daniel craned his head to scowl at his brother. "Adam tell you this?"
    Ben shook his head. "No, but a number of the