The two bodies on the ground fell apart and gasped for needed breath. When they had recovered somewhat, they sheepishly wiped away blood from their faces and bodies with dusty, tattered sleeves. The abrasions on Jared’s chest had reopened and were staining his shirt with bright red blood. Embarrassed, they looked at each other.
Jared grinned at Rudy, grimacing with the pain of moving his swollen lips. “Just as I thought. You’re getting soft and out of shape, old man.”
“Like hell. A few more seconds and you would have been begging for mercy.”
Jared rose painfully to his feet, swayed until he was not so dizzy, and then extended his hand to Rudy, who took it gratefully and pulled himself up. They supported each other for a few moments and then burst out laughing.
Everyone joined in their laughter, relieved that the fracas had been in fun after all. Only Lauren knew differently.
Without thinking of the consequences, only wanting to put distance between herself and these barbarians, she dashed toward Flame, who was still tied to the rail. Placing her booted foot in the stirrup, she vaulted into the saddle.
She kneed the mare into a gallop and raced past the others, who were staring at her in temporary stupefaction. Her hat sailed off her head and landed to within inches of Jared’s feet.
“What the—” he started.
“You’d better go after her, Jared,” Rudy suggested tentatively. “She was upset.”
“Why?” Gloria demanded.
“She… uh… Jared wanted her to watch a castration,” Rudy said.
“My God! How could you even have considered such a thing?” Gloria asked angrily. “Go after her. Both of you.”
The two men saw the wisdom of her words as they sought the horizon and barely made out the tiny figure of horse and rider as they went over the hill.
“Come on,” Jared ordered tersely as he started in the direction of Charger at a lope. Rudy mounted his own horse and soon they were thundering across the plain in the direction Lauren had taken. Gloria muttered imprecations under her breath about the immature behavior of men as she gathered up her children and shooed them into the house.
Lauren’s eyes were stinging from the cold wind, but the wind wasn’t responsible for the tears that clouded her eyes and ran unchecked down her face. Why had she ever consented to marry Jared Lockett? He was a brute, the most callous, abusive man she had ever met.
Heedlessly, she raced over the rocky ground. Usually even at a gallop, she handled the obliging mare with gentleness. Today she was too caught up in her own problems to see the prairie dog hole before they were upon it. Flame’s hoof caught in the indentation and Lauren heard the fatal snap of the bone a fraction of a second before she went sailing through the air.
Chapter 14
She landed on her back. Lying still a moment, she tried to determine if she were injured. Deciding she wasn’t, she sat up gingerly. Nothing appeared to be broken, though she was sure to have bruises the next day.
At Flame’s piteous whinnying, Lauren stood up and scrambled toward the mare. Flame’s eyes were gaping wide in fright and pain. Lauren saw the awkward angle at which her front leg lay.
“Oh, no,” Lauren murmured as she fell to her knees and stroked the mare’s neck. “I’m sorry, girl,” she sobbed. “I didn’t mean to punish you. I’ll see that you’re fixed. You’ll get well. You must.” Tears ran down her face and she wiped them away,
creating a dirty smear across her cheek.
Dimly she heard approaching horses, but she didn’t take her eyes from the mare, who still screamed in pain while Lauren spoke to her in low, soothing tones.
Jared and Rudy reined in and assessed the situation in an instant. Jared didn’t want to acknowledge the relief he felt when he saw that Lauren was apparently intact. He and Rudy glanced at each other and nodded in unison. They dismounted together, as though choreographed.
Lauren looked up when she saw their boots close to Flame’s head. Bounding to her feet, she ran to her husband, gripping his arms. Her eyes were full of pleading tears. “Jared, it was my fault. She stumbled in a gopher hole. She’s… It will be all right… Help her… She’ll get well.”
With deadly calm, Jared ignored her eyes as his hand sought his pistol in its holster and withdrew it. “No,” she rasped. “No!”
“Rudy,” was all he said.
Lauren felt herself hauled out of the way as Jared aimed his pistol and fired. The mare’s scream ceased immediately, only to be replaced by the echoing of the pistol shot. Then another scream bounced off the surrounding hills, but Lauren didn’t recognize it as hers as she flew into Jared.
“You monster! You killed her. Beast! Animal! Killer! Killer, killer.” Her small fists pummeled his chest and her feet kicked at his shins. She wanted only to hurt him, to avenge her own pain. He stood passively and took the punishment, not raising a hand to protect himself. “I hate you!” she screamed. “You’re vile and savage. Cruel.” Her voice began to lose some of its impetus, as did her pounding fists. “I hate you.” The words were barely a whisper now and they came out as a sob. She dropped to the ground in a heap, like a wind-up toy which had suddenly wound down. Great racking sobs shook her shoulders.
Rudy squatted down on his haunches and laid a solicitous hand on her shoulder. “He did what he had to do, Lauren. It was hopeless. Jared only shot her to save her pain.” His voice became gentler. “I think you know that.”
The crying stopped, but her head remained bowed. Rudy stood up. “I’ll get her home,” he said quietly. “You see to the horse.” He had never felt so impotent in his life. He wasn’t sure what had transpired between his brother and his new wife in the past few days. All he knew was that both were suffering, and he was powerless to do anything for either of them.