Free Stepbrother Cowboy: A Western Romance by Lee Moore, Angela Kelly

out of eyesight maybe. Echoes are funny in the mountains, something I learned the hard way.
    “Stay down low, let’s get to the horses.”
    “Were they shooting at us?”
    “They could be anywhere. Sound is funny out here, but no, I don’t think they were shooting at us.”
    “Good. I think.”
    Getting back to the basin of water, I finally stood, stretching my muscles in my back as I took stock of everything around us. There were bushes where somebody could be hiding, but nobody would be out this far on foot, not if they were smart. I guess that’s one of the disadvantages of living on a large ranch. Bill’s was one of the largest in our area, and even as a kid, I’d never been over all of it.
    “Take care of the horses.” I told her, picking up the rifle and using the scope to look around.
    It took me a minute, but I saw a small cloud of dust to the south of us, towards the fence line.
    “Looks like they are over there.” I motioned.
    “I can’t see anything.”
    “It’s far off. Want to look?” I held out the rifle, but she shook her head.
    “Let’s go look, but don’t ride right on me. Keep about a football field apart from us. God, I wish I had a cell phone right about now.”
    “You don’t have one?”
    “There was no point until I got home.”
    “Don’t worry, I have one. Do you want it?”
    “No, but if we have trouble, you need to call for help.”
    “Jackson first, right?”
    “Yeah, the guys with the trucks are the closest. Then call the Sheriff’s office.”
    “I don’t want to call them, they-” She didn’t have to finish that sentence for me to understand her opinion of the sheriff, and the help he might give. If any.
    “I know, I know. Trust me, ok?” She just nodded and we mounted up.
    She listened; I’ll have to give her that. The look she gave me when I rode off told me she wasn’t happy being so far back, and in a way I understood. She was probably scared of something happening to me, because I was out front… Something could happen to her, while I was far ahead. I was scared of that too, and that’s why I had the rifle across the saddle, one hand holding the reins. I have to give Charlie’s horse credit, other than the nip this morning, the rest of the day she’d proven to be a well trained and a good tempered horse.
    I slowed Lightning’s walk to almost a crawl, following the fence line now. The ground on the other side of the fence had been worn down to bare earth. I’ve seen horses do that, but not so much cattle. I came to the top of the gentle hill and saw two riders on the other side, one of them doing something with the fence. I turned and waved to Alison and started down, kicking the horse into a fast gallop.
    If there was going to be trouble, I wanted to have the element of surprise. A horse coming at you full run while you were standing flat footed at a fence should do that. I think. Probably would help if they knew I was armed, but I was improvising, not seeing any on them. The two looked up in shock as the sound of the hooves reached them, and one of them fell over backwards. The one who didn’t, pulled his hat off and his chest moved with what could only be laughter. That put my mind at rest. I got within shouting distance when I realized that the cowboy who’d fallen had a lumpy, black and blue face and was moving stiffly. It took me a moment, but when I got to within twenty feet I knew for sure who it was.
    “Tim, what the hell you doing messing with our fence?” My voice was low, threatening. I held my fist up beside my head in the universal stop motion and hoped like hell Ali understood.
    The stranger saw my motion and his gaze followed my back trail. He could probably make out the form of a rider back there. Even if he saw it was Ali, he wouldn’t know if she was armed or not. As far as things went, it was a pretty funny way to meet.
    “We were fixing a break,” the stranger said, motioning with a pair of pliers. “Your damned cows keep