Free Untamed Journey by Eden Carson Page A

to
Halper. “The Comancheros, my friend, will just as soon slit our
throats as pay us what we are owed. We will be better off riding
her down to Mexico to my madre’s place. She will pay us three times
the usual price for a white woman. And my madre’s house is a fine
place”, the Mexican added. “This woman will have fine clothes and
good food in her belly and a man always between her legs. What more
does a woman want, eh?”
    Halper glared at the crude outlaw. He wasn’t
objecting to the unknown woman’s pain, like Bear. He just didn’t
like being surrounded by fools and peasants. They were beneath a
man who’d studied at Oxford. And if the Mexican thought he’d have
any say in the fate of captives, he’d be questioning his poor
judgment directly with his Maker.
    Halper didn’t share women. If she was pretty,
he’d take her, and the rest could watch in envy. If she wasn’t,
they still would not get a taste of her.
    The Comancheros paid more for a woman who
still had spirit. He wouldn’t lose out on that kind of money.
     
     

Chapter 21
    R uth followed Jackson
at a ruthless pace for nearly four hours. He slowed their mounts
from a gallop to a canter only when the horses needed rest or the
trail grew too steep for anything but a careful walk.
    They were at their slowest pace yet, as they
rapidly gained altitude. Ruth’s horse stumbled, as they scrambled
up the side of a mesa, but quickly re-gained his balance with her
experienced hand at the reins.
    Jackson looked back over his shoulder at the
sound of falling rock. “Are you okay?”
    “I’m fine,” she replied. “Caboose lost his
footing on the gravel for a moment.”
    Jackson could see Ruth was out of breath, and
her mount wasn’t doing much better. But she hadn’t complained once.
“The altitude can be brutal when you’re not used to it. We’ll stop
up ahead so I can check our back trail.”
    Nodding her understanding, Ruth nudged
Caboose forward. Several minutes later, she pulled up at the flat
spot where Jackson had stopped and dismounted.
    “You should climb down and water your horse,”
Jackson said, before grabbing a spyglass from his saddlebag.
    “Should I take care of yours, too?” Ruth
asked.
    Jackson nodded his approval before climbing
up a large boulder. The afternoon light gave him a decent view of
their back trail for close to three miles. He carefully started
scanning the path, lingering over several areas that were hidden
behind the curve of the mountain.
    After a few minutes had passed, Ruth heard
him curse out loud. The words were enough to make her stomach
clench. “What is it?” she asked.
    “My plan didn’t work. We’re being followed.”
Jackson motioned her over and handed her the spyglass. “Look to the
left of the clearing over there, about eleven o’clock. You can see
their dust trail.”
    “Are you sure it’s them?” Ruth asked, turning
to look into Jackson’s solemn eyes.
    “I wouldn’t bet your life on being wrong,”
Jackson replied, running his hands through his short black hair.
“There aren’t many travelers this late in the season. And I
deliberately took the most difficult route – one that only Indians
and trappers use.”
    Jackson stepped down off the boulder and
reached up a hand to steady Ruth. “We’re going to have to go to
ground. Make a stand. I wish I had a way that was safer for you,
but I can’t see any alternative. If we keep running, they’ll catch
up by tomorrow afternoon, no later. We’re moving too slowly to
reach safety before then.”
    Suspecting she was the reason they were
moving too slowly, Ruth frowned. “I know it’s not much, but please
accept my apologies, Marshal. I was wrong to follow you, and
foolish to disregard your advice in the first place. Now I’ve put
you in danger.”
    “Apology accepted,” Jackson smiled crookedly
and placed his hat on Ruth to shade her sunburned cheeks. “Now put
it behind you. It’s a waste of energy, and you’re going to