Promise Me Texas (A Whispering Mountain Novel) by JODI THOMAS Read Free Book Online Page B

out?”
    “I think so. There’s a few boards loose on one side. I could slip through, but I’d have to go in the corral to get there.” Neither pointed out that if the sheriff’s men shot the horses, the boy would be right in the line of fire.
    “Get as close as you can and wait until you hear my voice before you run for the opening. Then, get in and get your brother out as fast as you can. I’ll meet you both back at the hospital.”
    The boy nodded, looking like he didn’t believe her plan would work, but he was willing to give it a try.
    A moment later he ran for the back door of the café, and she marched to the front.
    An hour ago she’d been too frightened to face Lamont and fight, but now Beth knew what she had to do. The kids’ lives depended on her, and marching into trouble seemed to be her one talent.
    She grabbed a lantern from the porch and stepped into the cold night. As she walked down the center of the street, she swung the lantern just beyond her skirts so that no one would mistake her for a man.
    Before she reached the barn, the sheriff shouted at her. “Get out of the way, lady. We’re in the middle of a gunfight here.”
    Beth kept walking toward the barn, holding the lantern high so that anyone could see her plainly. “Hold your fire!” she yelled. “I have to talk to the man in the barn.”
    All gunfire stopped, but the cussing continued like a loose pot lid rattling over boiling water.
    When she was within twenty feet of the barn, she shouted, “Mr. Peterson, are you in there? I need to talk to you about something that can’t wait.”
    “What do you want, pretty lady?” A man’s voice came through the darkness, sounding almost friendly. “I ain’t seen nothing as pretty as you in years.”
    The sheriff yelled for her to get back, but Beth ignored him. She stood dead center between the barn and the sheriff.
    “I was wondering if you’d sell me that pinto you got? I saw it in the corral and would love to have a fine horse like that.”
    The sheriff’s cussing could be heard for half a block away, and Chesty Peterson yelled back, swearing he’d double-kill any man who fired near the lady.
    When all was silent, the outlaw said, “I’m kind of busy right now, lady. Don’t have time for horse trading.”
    “I’ve got a twenty-dollar gold piece I could pitch you. If this fight doesn’t go your way it’ll pay for a real nice funeral.”
    Laughter rattled from inside the barn. “Twenty-five and any horse you want is yours.”
    “Twenty and I’ll take the pinto.”
    The outlaw swore. “You got yourself a deal, pretty lady. I ain’t got time to bargain. Toss the money in the opening and take your horse. I’ll even throw in the saddle. Don’t look like I’ll be using it.”
    “Thank you kindly, mister.” She curtsied politely. “It was a pleasure doing business with you.”
    Beth tossed the gold piece in and opened the corral door. To her surprise the outlaw walked the horse out of the darkened corral, careful to keep behind the animal. He stopped, checking the saddle before slapping the horse on the rump hard enough to head her toward the gate.
    When Beth reached the pinto, she could barely make out the outlaw in the shadows. He tipped his hat to her. “I’ll be seeing you, pretty lady,” he said, loud enough for her to hear.
    “Who knows? Life does take strange turns now and then,” she replied, though she doubted their paths would ever cross again. Beth wouldn’t take a bet that Chesty Peterson would live the night.
    A few minutes later, when she brought the pinto out into the lamplight, all the men on the street were silent as she walked first past the sheriff and then his deputies.
    “You really are crazy, lady,” the sheriff said. “LaCroix was right.”
    “I simply wanted to buy a horse.” She smiled. “Now, I suggest you get back to your business, Sheriff, and I’ll get back to watching over my husband.”
    The gunfire didn’t resume. Evidently the