Read Online Mustang Annie by Rachelle Morgan - Free Book Online Page A

his lungs, ‘Injuns! Injuns!’ Well, I had me more hair back then, and no way was I gonna lose it to some Comanche buck, so I jumped on my pony and we skedaddled out of there.
    â€œNext night we come upon another stream that looks a lot like the first one. We make camp. Clovis disappears behind the bushes, then comes runnin’ out again, hollerin’, ‘Injuns! Injuns!’ His face is pale as sourdough and he’s shaking like a cottonwood in a windstorm. So I get on my pony, only this time I give the place a good scourin’. Not an Injun in sight.
    â€œThis goes on for three nights, and I was gettin’ mighty furred up at Ole Clovis. I thought sure he was playin’ a shine on me. So I decide I’m gonna get to the bottom of this once and for all.”
    â€œWas he playin’ a shine on you?” Dogie asked with the eagerness of youth.
    â€œYer jumpin’ ahead of my story, boy.” Henry cast a ferocious scowl toward Dogie—at least, Annie figured he meant it to be ferocious.
    â€œWhere was I? Oh, yeah. The next mornin’ I go exploring, and what do I find but a pair of ladies’ unmentionables strung up in a tree? Turns out we’d been riding in circles, landin’ at the same creek each night, and ever’ time the wind blowed, the ruffles flowed out so it looked like a redskin’s headdress.”
    The side of Annie’s mouth curved into a smile. She’d heard the story a dozen times before, but it had always been Mr. Henry hollering “Injuns” and Clovis discovering the clay-stained petticoat in the huckleberry tree.
    â€œI got lost in Forth Worth once,” Dogie claimed.
    â€œGood glory, boy, everyone knows you can get lost in a bath tub.”
    Annie bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. She could hardly believe it. How long had it been since she’d felt like laughing?
    A sudden shout interrupted her thought. Annie’s attention veered toward the man galloping toward them, a thunderous expression darkening his face.
    Corrigan reined in his mount so hard its hooves sent a spray of dirt. The blaze of fury in his eyes had Annie reining in, with Henry and Dogie following. What had set off his temper this time?
    â€œDogie, I thought I told you to keep a watch out for prairie dog holes.”
    â€œYes, sir.”
    â€œThen what the hell are you doing back here?”
    Dogie swapped a look with Annie. Despite her resolve not to soften, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. The last time she’d been in Texas there had been no law against chewing the fat, but Corrigan obviously thought there was.
    â€œJust keepin’ Miss Annie company,” Dogie answered.
    â€œKeep her company on your own time. If one of these horses busts a leg, I’m taking it out of your hide.”
    Dogie dropped his gaze and, shoulders drooping, tapped his spurs to his horses’s belly.
    â€œHenry, start scouting for watering holes. I want to show Annie something.”
    â€œSure, Ace.” He tipped his hat at Annie. “Bye, Annie.”
    The instant Mr. Henry rode out of earshot, Annie turned on Corrigan. “Were you born a bully or is it an acquired talent?”
    He deflected the question with one of his own. “Were you born a temptress, or is it an acquired talent?”
    Annie glared at him.
    â€œMy men have a job to do, and they don’t need you distracting them.”
    â€œI didn’t want them along, as you’ll recall.”
    â€œYou didn’t have a choice.”
    God, he was a bastard. “If I’m so much of a distraction, why in the hell did you ask me to go after your horses?”
    â€œBecause you’re the best.”
    Annie didn’t grace that with a reply.
    â€œTake a ride with me.”
    She laughed humorlessly at his gall. “No thanks.”
    â€œYou’ll ride with a boy and cripple, but you won’t ride with a man.”
    â€œI