Randall Renegade by Judy Christenberry Read Free Book Online Page A

her horse. She shivered. What should she do? She looked back at Jasper anddiscovered Jim had left his rifle on the saddle. Should she fire it, try to scare them away?
    A rifle shot would be heard a long way away. It might even alarm Jim, causing him to not finish removing their tracks. No, she couldn’t do that, no matter how much better it would make her feel.
    What about when she got to the cabin? Would the horses be safe? She didn’t know. How long would it take Jim to get there? Would he be safe from wolves? Should she go back for him?
    No. You can’t do that, she scolded herself. Do what he told you. But oh, how she wished he was there! Then she reminded herself that she’d been the head of the family for three years. But that was in Rawhide, a town she’d known all her life, and her mother was there, too. She’d never really been all on her own.
    “Mommy!”
    She pulled to a stop again. “Yes, Tommy?”
    “I’m hungry again.”
    She dug into her coat pocket. “I have another candy bar for you, sweetie, but that’s all until we get to the cabin.”
    “When will we get there?”
    “Soon,” she said, knowing that word would quickly lose any meaning for the little boy.“We’re going to Jim’s cabin. He’ll meet us there.”
    “I’m tired.”
    “I know you are, dear. But we have to keep going.” If for no other reason than to keep the wolves at bay. She’d seen several pairs of yellow eyes in the darkening woods. The sun had already gone below the mountains and light was fading fast.
    Like Tommy, she was tired. She hadn’t slept at all last night. Adrenaline had kept her awake part of the time. Mind-numbing fear had done its share of the job, too.
    She picked up the pace, though she felt mean doing so. The horses had worked hard. But she wasn’t sure she’d last much longer. She checked again to be sure she could still see the rock. If she got offtrack, they might never find the cabin or their way home.
    It was wonderful that Jim had put such faith in her. But she’d still rather have him with them. At least she would be able to light a fire once she got to the cabin. It was getting dark quickly.
    But shouldn’t they have reached the cabin by now? Had they missed it?
    That thought almost paralyzed her with fear. Well, she thought, at least she didn’t have toendure a snowstorm. She glanced up at the sky, noticing clouds covering the stars. Did that mean another storm was coming? Why hadn’t she looked at the sky before?
    Because she’d been too busy missing Jim and feeling sorry for herself.
    Suddenly she caught sight of something from the corner of her eye. A cabin. Jim’s cabin.
    “Tommy, look!”
    “Is that Jim’s house, Mommy? Is he there?”
    “Yes, it’s Jim’s house but he’s not there right now. But we can go in and build a fire, get warm.”
    “Good, ’cause I’m cold and tired. And hungry.”
    She groaned. Her insides were hollow, too.
    She reined in her horse in front of the cabin, where an old-fashioned hitching post stood. When she and Tommy were on their feet again, she tied the horses to the post, even though the poor animals were undoubtedly too tired to wander off.
    She reached for Tommy’s hand. “Come on. Let’s go inside and start a fire. It’s dark enough now. Then I’ll put the horses in the corral.”
    When she tried the front door, it was locked. Locked? Jim didn’t say anything about it beinglocked. She looked at the two windows that fronted the cabin. She tried to open them, but neither budged. There had to be a way in. She took several deep breaths. Think.
    “Where’s the key, Mommy?”
    “I don’t know, baby.” She stared at the door as if she could will it to open.
    “Maybe Jim hid the key like Grandma does.”
    “No, dear, I…what? What did you say?”
    Tommy repeated himself.
    Patience had pulled off one glove and was already feeling the ledge over the door. When her fingers came in contact with a metal object, she grasped it and sank to