Read Online Ralph Compton Death Rides a Chestnut Mare by RALPH COMPTON - Free Book Online Page A

least one?”
    â€œDamn it, you don’t understand,” said Carrie. “They’ve all been looking at me, but all they want is to get me in the hayloft with my clothes off. You’re not like that, are you?”
    â€œNo,” Danielle said, more uncomfortable than ever. “I’ve sworn to find Pa’s killers, and that comes ahead of any plans of my own. Until you find a man who appeals to you, stay out of the hayloft.”
    â€œI’ve found one, and he doesn’t want me,” said Carrie miserably.
    It was well past time to put an end to the conversation, and Danielle did so.
    â€œWith Tuck and me getting an early start, I’d better get some sleep.”
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    Tuck and Danielle were ready to start at first light. Along the way, they rattled past the Wallace place, waving their hats. Traveling due south, they stopped only to rest the mules. They saw nobody else. Reaching a creek just before sundown, they unharnessed the mules, allowing the tired animals to roll.
    â€œI aim to dunk myself in that creek for a few minutes,” Tuck said. “How about you?”
    â€œNo,” said Danielle, her heart beating fast. “I’m hungry, and I’ll get supper started.”
    She tried her best not to notice Tuck Carlyle as he shucked his boots and clothing, but found it an impossible task. She watched him splash around in the creek, and unfamiliar feelings crept over her, sending chills up her spine. Tuck caught her watching him, and he struck a ridiculous, exaggerated pose. Danielle forced herself to laugh, hoping she was far enough away that he couldn’t see her blush. Never having had experience with a man, she was becoming far too interested in Tucker Carlyle. She tried to rid him from her mind, but there was always that vision of him standing there naked in the creek, laughing at her. She lay awake long after Tuck began snoring, and when she finally slept, he crept into her troubled dreams.
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    Dallas, Texas. August 10, 1870.
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    There was no trouble along the trail to Dallas. The only difficulty was Danielle’s newly discovered infatuation with Tuck Carlyle. There were times when she dreamed of donning her female clothing, telling him the truth, and allowing him to have his way with her. But she quickly put all such thoughts from her mind. She must avenge her father before she did anything else. But there was a troublesome possibility that kept raising its ugly head. Suppose—now or later—when Tuck learned she was a woman, he didn’t want her? There was no accounting for male pride. She swore like a man, looked, sounded, and acted like a man, and could draw and shoot like hell wouldn’t have it. She found herself worrying more and more what the consequences might be of her having assumed the role of a man. Just as they were approaching Dallas, Tuck caught her off guard with a question.
    â€œDan, you want to find a cheap hotel room? Ma gave me the few dollars she had.”
    â€œSave it,” Danielle said. “The weather’s warm, and our camp won’t cost anything. With so much to buy, you may have to add your few dollars to mine.”
    â€œYeah,” said Tuck, “I keep forgetting just how much we need. Since we have all of the afternoon ahead of us, let’s find a mercantile and get them started on our provisions and ammunition list. Meanwhile, we can track down a gunsmith for the parts we need.”
    With the roll of bills she had taken from Levi Jasper, Danielle had well over six hundred dollars, but she had set a limit of three hundred for the trail drive. However it came out, she would still need money to keep herself fed and supplied with ammunition. But there was much to be gained. Unanimously, she had been promised a hundred head of cattle, and if they brought as much as thirty dollars a head, that would be three thousand dollars! They left the wagon at the mercantile with instructions to load the