Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63469 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 317(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63469 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 317(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Then, and only then, did she drink.
“I know why people beat their horses,” I informed her.
She lifted her head, nickered at me, then went back to drinking. Technically, all the horses would be fine not drinking until we reached our destination, but I had never been one to listen about what horses should or shouldn’t have. They were always words of wisdom from people who thought of animals as property, not pets, companions, or friends. To me, it was a long-ass ride, so it had to be the same for the horses. And Rand had three of his dogs with them. I was betting the dogs would get food and water, so why not the horses?
Since the other horses wouldn’t just stay with me like Juju, I went up and led the other three down, one by one, tying each to a small tree nearby until I had them all out. Once ready, I led them to the stream, with Juju following, where they all dipped their heads and drank. That old saying about how you could lead a horse to water but not make it drink, I had never known that to be true. Every time I took a horse near water, they took a drink. And Juju normally liked to wade deep into the water and then guzzle water like a dog. I knew she’d made me fetch the water because she was mad about being in the trailer so long. I suspected she got motion sickness.
Once everyone saw I had four horses in the creek, they went ahead and unloaded the other two trailers and brought all the horses out, retreating to the trailers once they dropped them off, more than happy to let me stand in the water up to my ankles, alone.
“Thanks, Glenn,” Dusty teased me, giving me a tip of his head.
I flipped him off and got a cackle in response.
Everyone was off to eat, and I was by myself, thinking that food might be good, when a moment later, upstream, there was the sound of gunfire. The horses didn’t startle, trained not to bolt for any reason, and Juju didn’t care as long as she didn’t see me react. I wasn’t worried. Could have been any reason for shooting—hunting, most likely—but then I saw the wolves.
At first I thought they were coyotes, but they were far too big. It was strange that they lingered at the edge of the creek instead of crossing, but it was deep where they were. After a moment, though, they leaped into the water and made their way to the other side and into the brush. They darted in and out cautiously, as if checking to see how close danger was. Three men on horseback appeared then, breaking from the tree line and turning sharply, heading toward me and the horses. It made sense, since it was far more shallow where I was.
“Hey,” I called over to them, and they stopped before crossing to chase the wolves. I knew what creek it was once I knew the name of the ranch, so I needed to let them know. “This here is the Darling creek that separates the Red Diamond from the Lone Pine.”
“Yeah, no shit,” the guy in front barked at me, urging his horse into the water.
“There’s no shooting anything but game birds on the Red Diamond,” I called after him. “So unless you wanna go to jail, I suggest you turn your ass around.”
Pulling up on the reins sharply, he turned to face me but didn’t do anything about which way his horse was pointing. “We’re not gonna shoot ’em on Rand Holloway’s land. We need to drive ’em back here so the guests can.”
I shook my head. “You can’t do that neither. Once the animals cross, you can’t bring them back. It’s trespassing. The wolves are gone, man.”
“I don’t fuckin’ think so,” he said, and only then did I notice what he had in his hand. He had a wolf pup, and there was a sack attached to his saddle that was wriggling, which meant there were more in there.
“Are you kidding me?” I yelled at him.
Changing his hold on the pup, he purposely twisted its paw to make it shriek in pain and terror.
“They’ll cross back,” another of the assholes said, and I saw the three wolves on the other side, watching and waiting.
“Why?” I barked at them, because really. This man was going to lure adult wolves back across the stream by hurting their pups?
“We have a guest who wants to bag a wolf, and we don’t have time to—”
“Give them to me,” I roared, charging deeper into the water and over to the man.
“The fuck are you doing?” he yelped as I reached him and took the bag off his saddle, then yanked the wolf pup out of his hands.