Read Online The Wild One by Terri Farley - Free Book Online Page A

range.
    Jake had said Slocum was using her as bait, but did Slocum expect the Phantom to come galloping to her side?
    Sam waved at Slocum to let him know she’d noticed his spying. He didn’t wave back, just let his horse walk on, as if he’d never stopped.
    Maybe Jake wasn’t being paranoid. Still, if he thought he could stand between her and the Phantom, just to keep Slocum away, Jake was dead wrong.
    Sam pushed aside thoughts of Slocum and concentrated on tomorrow’s crossing. They would be crossing the playa . Sam knew playa was Spanish for “beach.” A thousand years ago, most of Nevada had been covered by ancient Lake Lahontan. Over centuries, the prehistoric waters had dwindled and a crust had formed over the muddy pools left behind.
    The men had warned the crossing could be treacherous. This time last week, a risky crossingwould have meant sprinting across Market Street ahead of a cable car or taxi. Tomorrow’s crossing would be something new. Dallas had ordered an early stop today, so they could cross the playa in daylight.
    When Dallas trotted back to join her at the rear of the herd, Sam grabbed her chance to ask questions.
    Trying to act unconcerned, she wondered aloud if the crust always held up under the weight of the cattle.
    â€œNot always,” he said. “And the animals know it. They’ve got an instinct for when it’s gonna break and any sound can cause them to stampede.”
    The crust could crack beneath a single hoof, he added, sending a cow and calf or horse and rider into the quicksand beneath.
    â€œSee you at camp,” he said, then put his horse into a lope so he could catch the leaders.
    Sam shuddered and wished the playa wasn’t too huge to detour around.
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    The drive was over for the day. By the time Sam reached camp, the lead cows had made a muddy mess of the water hole. Some cattle had waded in up to their bellies. Others hung back, keeping calves apart from the crowd, until it was safe to drink.
    Strawberry was thirsty, but she and the other horses weren’t interested in a water hole packed with noisy cattle.
    Sam didn’t know Jake was behind her until his voice startled her.
    â€œThere’s a pond up the hill where the mustangs drink,” he said. “Let’s take the horses up there, after dinner.”
    â€œQuit stalking me,” Sam snapped at him.
    Jake rode past, but he glanced back over his shoulder and smiled. Though she didn’t catch all he said, Sam heard the words, “like glue.”
    She couldn’t imagine a more annoying friend.
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    After chili, cornbread, and a mound of green salad, Sam didn’t feel like riding to the mustangs’ water hole. Just lifting a saddle onto a horse’s back seemed like work.
    Jake looked her way and her weariness must have shown.
    â€œForget it. They can drink down here,” Jake said. “You didn’t sleep much last night, what with nighthawking and all.”
    Sam was tempted, until she thought of the two bottles of clear, cold water she’d chugged with dinner. The horses had worked a lot harder than she, and only had a few sips of muddy water.
    Dallas must have seen her hesitation. “Sam, you go on ahead to bed and catch up on your sleep,” he said. “I’ll get one of the boys to help Jake.”
    One of the boys. Something in Sam growled at Dallas’s offer. His words were like a dare, andJake was about to laugh.
    â€œGive me five minutes and I’ll meet you at the corral,” she told Jake, then turned to the pot suspended over the campfire. “Gram, do you mind if I take a little of this before it turns into dishwater?”
    â€œHelp yourself, dear,” Gram said.
    Sam washed her face, then considered her reflection in the little mirror Gram had hung on the back of the chuck wagon.
    Her sunburned cheeks felt worse than they looked, but blowing dust and short hours of sleep showed in her bloodshot