Spirit of the Wolf by Loree Lough Read Free Book Online Page A

himself by saddling his horse.
    He listened as the twins stashed tin pots and metal plates and utensils into grub sacks and tied them to their saddles. "If we dig in good and hard," he said as he hung a coil of hemp rope over the saddle horn, "we can get this job finished up today."
    "Good," Matt said, brushing dark curls from his eyes. "My belly is cryin' for some of Bess's corn biscuits."
    "And a piece of her deep-dish apple pie," his twin added.
    Chance would have settled for a glance at her pretty face. But h e stanched that mood before it could start. "Saddle up, boys, and let's head out. We're burnin' daylight."
    They'd been riding for all of fifteen minutes when Matt spotted two riders on the horizon. "Who do you suppose that could be all the way out here?"
    Chance stared hard at the spot where Matt pointed. Just as he caught sight of the distant silhouettes, one of the riders turned, and sunlight winked from something metal on his shirt. Chance 's blood ran cold and his heart beat hard. The shiny thing, no doubt, was a badge. And it belonged, no doubt, to a U.S. Marshall. So they've tracked you down again , he thought miserably.
    Neither man seemed to have spotted Chance and the boys yet, however. If the three of them headed back to Foggy Bottom at a fast clip, maybe the marshals would never know he'd been in Freeland at all....
    Just then, Matt smacked his horse's rump and thundered toward the marshals.
    "Are you out of your mind?" Chance hollered.
    "I'm aim to find out who's cuttin' through our property without permission...an' why," the boy shouted over his shoulder.
    Chance spurred his own horse into action, yelling as he went. "That field is full of mole holes. Your horse is sure to —“
    The warning came a heartbeat too late. Matt's horse went down, pitching the boy head over heels. He landed with a quiet thump on a grassy knoll.
    "Ohmigosh," Mark said, his voice a childlike whisper. "That's just the way Ma died...."
    Bess had told Chance about the night Mary's horse bucked, overturning her wagon as she rode home after delivering the Thomas baby. The agonized tone in Mark's voice made Chance 's heart ache.
    In seconds, Mark and Chance were at Matt's side. They quickly dismounted and inspected the damage: The boy lay unconscious, his right leg bent at an awkward angle beside him, his right arm twisted beneath him.
    "Looks like he busted himself up pretty good," Mark said, voice trembling.
    Chance was far more concerned with the huge bump on the boy's forehead. "Get the canteen," he ordered, "and fetch my saddle bag."
    As the boy ran for the supplies, Chance scanned the horizon once more. The commotion must not have attracted the marshals' attention, for they were heading in the opposite direction now.
    Like soldiers, most U.S. Marshals could splint broken bones and tie tourniquets with the best of medics. As Chance saw it, he had two choices: Make tracks and don't look back, or see to it that Matt got the help he needed.
    Run, and avoid the gallows.
    Stay, and save Matt's life.
    Chance , still kneeling beside the boy's broken body, bowed his head.
    T hen he unholstered his pistol, and fired a single shot into the air.

Chapter Four
    "Trouble?" the biggest man asked as he reined in his beast.
    " B oy's horse threw him," Chance explained, pulling his hat low to hide his face from the marshal's view.
    Both men stared down at Matt's twisted body. "Good Lord Almighty," the first one said. "I ain't never set a broken bone a-fore." He looked at his buddy. "How 'bout you, Richie?"
    Richie shook his head. "Nope." He met Chance 's eyes. "Guess that's what you was hopin' when you fired that shot, eh?"
    Chance nodded.
    Only after the men dismounted did Chance realize they weren't U.S. Marshals at all, but two of Freeland's border farmers. And what he'd thought had been a silver star badge was, instead, the cinch of the smaller man's black four-in-hand tie.
    Relief flooded Chance 's veins and he exhaled the breath he'd been