The Outrider (Redbourne Series #5 - Will's Story) by Kelli Ann Morgan Read Free Book Online

middle of a robbery? Or a gunfight?
    “He’s…um,” he shook his head in frustration. “I
don’t know. Maybe he’s gone for help. Yes, that’s it. He went to get help.” He
wiped his head again with the little white hankie as he leaned against the
spokes of the wheel and heaved out a sigh.
    “Listen to me, Warding. This man is going to die
if we don’t help him. Do you really want that on your conscience?”
    The man’s eyes grew wide. “What am I supposed to do? I’m not a doctor.”
    Will’s patience with the wealthy land baron had
all but run its course. “Your jacket.”
    Mr. Warding opened his mouth as if to protest,
but quickly shut it again, pulling off his sleek overcoat and handing it to
Will who had already pulled a knife from the side of his boot.
    As he stabbed into the thick material, Mr.
Warding whimpered and bit his lip.
    “Do you have any idea how expensive that coat
was?”
    Will shot a look at the man that shut him up. He tore
a few strips of material away from the jacket and pressed one of them up against
Otis’s shoulder. The driver groaned softly, color quickly draining from his
face.
    “Press here,” he directed Mr. Warding, who scrambled
to do as he’d been directed. He knelt down next to the injured man and held the
cloth in place.
    CRACK!
    Several shots rang through the air. Will glanced
over at Sven, who lifted his shoulders in a shrug and glanced out from behind
the tree he was using as cover. He shook his head.
    Silence passed for an uncomfortable amount of
time.
    “Anybody hurt over there?” a familiar voice
called out.
    It can’t be.
    Will’s brows scrunched together.
    Rafe?
    Will pulled himself up off the ground and moved
cautiously to the edge of the stagecoach to peer out from behind the
splintering red-painted wood. There, walking toward him was his older brother,
Rafe, pushing along two men whose hands had been tied behind their backs.
    Will stood up straight and stepped out into the
open, a grin spreading wildly across his face. Rafe had always had good timing.
    “Rafe?” Will called out to him.
    “Hey, Oxford, is that you?”
    The brothers exchanged a quick hug, and Rafe
slapped Will on his shoulder, a wide smile on his face. It had been ages since
the siblings had seen each other.
    “I’m sure glad to see you,” Will said, his smile
fading. “Otis has been shot.”
    The stagecoach driver was a personal family
friend of the Redbournes. He’d taken many meals at their family table, often recounting
his many adventurous tales of life on the road. Will couldn’t bear the thought
of losing him this way.
    “How bad is it?”
    “It’s bad,” Will responded.
    “Where is he?” Rafe asked, a sudden urgency
lacing his voice.
    The two men in his custody stumbled as he roughly
urged them forward. Suddenly, his arm shot into the air, his revolver cocked
and aimed perfectly at Sven’s head.
    “Ought not try to sneak up on a man,” Rafe said
without even looking to see who was there. “A man could get himself shot like
that.”
    A branch cracked beneath Sven’s feet as he
stepped out from behind his tree. “Don’t shoot. I’m a friend. A friend,” he
said, his hands raised.
    “He’s my riding partner,” Will assured when Rafe
glanced at him for confirmation as he stepped between his brother and his
prisoners.
    “That was incredible,” Sven cooed as he
approached. “How did you know I was even here?”
    “I could smell that cologne you wear from across
the ravine,” Rafe said with a chuckle as he returned his gun to his hip.
    Will laughed too, then, his eyes narrowed as he
thought about the attack. Rafe had two men in custody, but there had been at
least three. “Where’s the third man?”
    As if on cue, a rider on horseback came around
the angled rocks and charged directly at them, gun drawn, and bullets flying.
Will sidestepped the assault, retrieving his pistol, and bracing himself on one
knee, his gun aimed at the bandit.
    Rafe slid one of his