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Having left her horse just outside her private car, at the hitching rail, it was easier to escape tonight without making the usual clatter. A chill wind sighed as she swung herself into the saddle, causing a shiver to race up and down her spine.
Lifting the reins and nudging her horse into a soft, lope away from the train, she looked guardedly around her. Everything was thickly shadowed, the full moon hidden behind a shroud of dark clouds. She could not help but remember how quickly Damon had jumped out at her the other night. It could happen again. She knew that. But she would not allow herself to be trapped by fear.
Finally away from the train, Stephanie slapped the reins and rode in a hard gallop across the land.
Stephanie crouched low and raced through the velveteen blackness of night. She inhaled the fresh, clean air, enjoying the feel of the vast land.
Having never felt as free, her mind now momentarily clear of all its clutter, she rode on. When the moon came from behind its cloud cover, she was in awe of what the light revealed. At night, as the moon’s glow splashed all around her, she not only saw but felt the mystical quality of the land.
“The Navaho are so lucky to have been a part of this land for so long,” she whispered.
As never before, she was seeing why they had fought for their rights to it.
She had read many books before having ventured to the land of the Navaho. She had read the account of Kit Carson’s actions against the Navaho, and how he had forced Sage and his people from their stronghold all those years ago.
She had always admired the stories told about Kit Carson, but then she had heard of the tyranny he had practiced against the Navaho and could see him as nothing less than ruthless and scheming.
A sound, similar to thunder in the distance, caused Stephanie to draw her mount to a halt. Her fingers tightened involuntarily on the reins when her horse jerked sideways.
She looked heavenward, puzzling as to why she had heard thunder. The sky was clear, the moon bright. Stars were twinkling like sequins overhead.
She squinted and looked into the distance, now realizing that what she was hearing couldn’t be thunder. It was a steady drone that went on and on.
“Horses,” she whispered.
Suddenly the horses appeared ahead of her, and then several horsemen. It was a black and white torrent of manes and tails and hooves, trailing the moon’s glow. The horsemen were cutting back and forth behind the herd, gently keeping them moving.
Stephanie edged her mount beneath a ledge so that she could not be seen and eagerly watched as the horses and riders drew closer. By the light of the moon, she soon recognized the horsemen. They were Navaho. They were herding the horses across a straight stretch of land in the direction of Runner’s village.
Then, when they began riding past her, oblivious of her presence, Stephanie gasped. “Runner!” she whispered.
He was among the men. And not only Runner—she soon recognized Sage and Thunder Hawk.
She continued watching, wondering why they were herding the horses this time of night. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her. “What if they stole them . . . ?” she whispered aloud.
She suddenly recalled Runner sneaking about at Damon’s ranch, looking at the horses.
A low, snarling sound drew Stephanie’s attention elsewhere. When she saw the glint of several eyes in the darkness, moving toward her, she grew limp with fright. The moon soon revealed the gray, shaggy coats of several wolves as they slinked toward her.
Her fingers trembling, Stephanie reached for her derringer as they revealed their sharp teeth, growling.
Before she had the chance to take her firearm from its holster, one of the wolves made a lunge at Stephanie’s horse, spooking it.
Stephanie screamed and hung on for dear life as it neighed and reared with fright and then took off in a mad, crazed gallop.
“Whoa!” Stephanie shouted, then screamed again when it went even faster.
She clung with all of her might to the reins.
“Stop!” she cried. “Whoa!”
Nothing she did appeased the horse’s fears. He kept plunging onward.
Stephanie slowly became aware of someone riding beside her. She didn’t dare take her eyes off the ground ahead of her. She hoped and prayed that the horse wouldn’t stop suddenly.
“Stephanie, when I reach my arm out for you, let go of the reins!” she heard Runner shout at her.
“I’m afraid to!” she cried, her eyes still glued straight ahead.
