Outlaw by Lisa Plumley Read Free Book Online Page B

up?"
    Amelia stopped talking. She decided he was
probably lost, too, and didn't want to admit it. It felt as though
they'd been walking through the stunted trees and bushes, over the
rocky, ankle-twisting ground, for hours. He showed no signs of
slowing down, either.
    "Err, Mister...Bandit?" Amelia panted.
They'd traveled, by her best reckoning, at least two miles. "Could
we stop for a minute, please?"
    He scowled over his shoulder at her. In the
faint moonlight she saw that his jaw and cheeks were smudged black
with dirt. "No."
    "But my ankle hurts. Remember? From the hole
in the road?"
    He trudged on. A little ways from that
surprising ridge Amelia had slid down on her way to her crevice, he
suddenly stopped. His offhanded wave toward a pile of boulders was
the closest he was likely to come to issuing an invitation to
rest.
    "Thank you." She plopped onto them, her
dignity mostly gone, and gingerly pressed her ankle with her
fingertip. It felt swollen. It looked fat, sticking up out of the
top of her dusty shoe. Amelia sighed and pulled her skirt over her
shoe tips. If the other ladies at Briarwood could see her now,
they'd laugh their heads off. They always teased her about her
plump ankles, and now her ankle was twice as big as usual.
    Beside her, her no-name abductor glared at
the ridge. She couldn't see what the old hunk of rocks could've
done to bother him so much. Doing her best to ignore him, Amelia
sniffled and sang, very quietly, "Aaamazing Grace, how sweet the
sound..."
    "Do you have to make noise all the
time?"
    His growled inquiry, along with the
murderous look in his eyes, stopped her instantly. Amelia snapped
her mouth closed. He was just like her brothers—they always
complained about her singing, too.
    The outlaw bent, scooped something shiny
from the ground, and pocketed it before she could see what it was.
At the moment, she felt too indignant to care.
    "I like to sing," Amelia said. "It makes me
feel better."
    "It makes me feel like gagging you."
    "Hmmph."
    "You haven't quit talking, singing, or
humming since I found you. Come on," he said, reaching for her
wrist and hauling Amelia to her feet, "if you've got punch enough
to sing, you can walk the rest of the way to camp."
    It didn't take much longer to get there.
After another few minutes of walking, they reached the clearing.
Near the rocks, the bandit's horse nickered a welcome. In the
center, the campfire smoldered; the poet bandit released her, then
ambled over to tend it. Amelia hobbled to the blanket and sank onto
it.
    Ahhh, it was blissful to rest her ankle. She
lay back, rolled herself in the tattered, horsey-smelling blanket,
and felt grateful for its meager warmth after the time she'd spent
in that chilly crevice and then hiking through the woods. Craning
her neck, Amelia watched the bandit coax the fire higher.
    Her eyes drifted closed. Above her, the wind
whispered through the trees and an owl hooted, but Amelia felt
surprisingly snug—and much too safe for her own peace of mind, now
that the bandit was nearby. Why should that be? It was ridiculous
to feel safe around an outlaw, she thought as she drifted
asleep.

    Sometime later, something hard nudged her
ribs. She muttered and squirmed away from it. It nudged her again,
then something tickled her ear. Amelia swatted it away, but it came
back. She was about to open her eyes to investigate when a
masculine voice whispered in her ear, "Rise and shine, Curly
Girl."
    The poet bandit. Amelia cracked open her
eyes to a see him crouched beside her; his black twill pants legs
wavered in the breeze just a few inches from her nose, giving her
an up-close and personal view of his legs. She turned her head a
little, bringing his hard-muscled thighs into view. There his pants
stretched tight, with creases leading up to...his gun belt.
    Feeling her cheeks redden, Amelia pushed
herself up on her elbows. He smirked at her.
    "Mornin'."
    She looked around, breathing deeply of the
brisk, dew-damp desert air.