Oklahoma kiss by Unknown Read Free Book Online Page A

you, boy, I will. But I hate to let Talley and his gang slip through my fingers without giving it one last try. Who knows when I’ll get another chance?
           "If I’m where I think I am, there is a big spread not more than ten or fifteen miles from here as the crow flies. There shouldn't be any problem in my borrowing a horse from them."
           Adam swung the saddle across his broad shoulders, took the sorrel's reins in hand, and started walking.
           The sun was well past its zenith and shadows stretched across the land when Adam finally set the saddle on the ground and drank eagerly from the fresh spring water that had seeped from the rocks and formed a pool below. After drinking his fill, he slumped wearily against a tree; he felt that if he sat down, he might not be able to get up again. Not only was he exhausted, the two hot coals that used to be his feet felt as though they had swollen to three times their normal size. His high-heeled, pointed-toe boots were expressly made for men who spent most of their time in the saddle. They were not designed for walking over rugged, uneven terrain. The heels gave him a firm hold in the stirrup while the pointed toes help him slide easily into those stirrups or slip free if his horse went down. However, walking in them for any distance was nothing but sheer torture.
           He could have decided to put on his pair of moccasins. But moccasins offered little protection against thorns, sharp rocks, and especially snake bites. Men did not die from blisters and swollen feet, whereas rattlesnake and copperhead bites were a different matter entirely.
           He removed his hat, wiped the sweat from his brow, and reached for a cheroot inside his shirt pocket. He winced when the pin on his badge dug deeply into his finger.
           "Damn!" he swore angrily, yanking the badge from his shirt front and throwing it to the ground. His fit of anger had a sobering effect and he immediately felt ashamed. The badge was a symbol of respect, law, and order, and should never be treated so contemptuously. Sheepishly, he picked up the badge then reached into the large pocket inside his vest and removed a leather, wallet-like case. After affixing the badge, he then stuck it back into the pocket and lit a cheroot.
           Adam doubted if the ranch was more than five miles away. Yet, he knew he would never be able to make it without rest, not the condition his feet were in. The most logical thing to do was make camp and continue on in the morning. But first, the boots had to go. After tugging his boots off, he hobbled over to the pool, and gasped at the sudden shock of plunging his burning feet into the icy water . But damn, it felt good!
           Suddenly, he cocked his head to one side and listened very carefully. For a moment he was very still. Was that a voice he heard? A grunt? A groan? Animal noises had a strange way of carrying a great distance through a wooded area, but these sounded close by and they were definitely human sounds. Hearing the same noise again, he dried off his feet and slipped on the moccasins. He knew it was too much to hope for that by some strange quirk of fate he had stumbled onto Talley’s hideout, but hope surged through him nevertheless. The noises could be coming from hazers rounding up cattle from the underbrush, especially this time of the year. If so, they were certainly being quiet about it—too quiet, nothing like the hazers he knew.
           He was keenly disappointed when, as he took cover behind a large elm tree, he spotted two men he had never seen before, who did not fit any of the gang's description. But there was no doubt in his mind that they were up to no good. The evidence was staring him in the face. He had uncovered a nest of cattle thieves. They had ropes tied to a dead steer's legs and were hoisting it over a sturdy tree limb. He noticed there was already one beef carcass in a rickety wagon parked