Read Online Thunder on the Plains by Rosanne Bittner - Free Book Online Page A

the back of her wagon, deciding to stay inside. “Buffalo!” she muttered. She coughed and sneezed and settled back into her blankets. She had no interest in buffalo or Indians or anything else in this godforsaken land. Her only interest was in getting back to Chicago and the comforts of civilization.
    Colt skirted around a washout in the side of the hill and headed higher. His horse snorted and shuddered as he forced the animal to climb back up the steep incline. When he reached the top, Sunny was pointing and exclaiming at the sight of a sea of buffalo almost as far as the eye could see. She spoke in whispers, as though they were in church, as did everyone else who gawked at the awesome sight.
    â€œYou could almost walk across their backs,” Sunny said quietly.
    â€œSoon as they get past us I’ll ride down and try to kill one,” Colt told Landers. “I want to wait until we’re out of danger. They’re heading northeast right now, away from us.” His horse whinnied, and Colt patted its neck to quiet the animal. “Even a small one will keep us in meat for a long time. It will take me a couple of days to skin and clean it. I’ll keep the hide for possible trade to Indians. At any rate, Slim will take over while I’m gone.”
    â€œWhere is Slim now?” Sunny asked.
    Colt scanned the wide plain before them, the hills beyond it. “He’s around the west end there, checking out some tracks we’ve been keeping an eye on for a couple of days now. I think they’re buffalo hunters. Scum of the earth, as far as I’m concerned.”
    Sunny studied his profile, the straight, proud nose, the full lips, the prominent brow. “Why do you say that?”
    Colt leaned forward, crossing his arms and resting them on the pommel of his saddle. “Most of the ones I’ve met think they can make up their own laws, steal what they want from travelers and the like. There aren’t many out here yet, but there will be more. Buffalo hides are becoming more popular back east. The biggest problem is the hunters kill the beasts for their hides alone and leave the rest of the animal to rot, wasting the meat, the bones, everything the Indians need to live on. That just makes the Indians angrier, and they take that anger out on travelers and settlers. As far as I’m concerned, there should be a law against such waste.”
    A shot suddenly rang out, startling everyone, including the buffalo herd. “What the—” Colt sat up straighter in his saddle. The buffalo grew restless, a few starting to run. There came another shot, two, three. The entire herd was suddenly in full stampede. The shots had come from the north side of the herd, making them turn south, toward the area of the Landers wagons.
    â€œWhat’s happening!” Bo asked, his horse rearing slightly.
    Colt rode forward, spotting Slim. “It must be the buffalo hunters we’ve been following! The bastards have them in a run!” He rode along the top of the ridge, watching anxiously as Slim galloped his horse around the west end of the herd and charged right in front of them, trying to head the animals off more to the north and east again. Colt whistled and waved his hat, trying to help. It was to no avail. To his horror he saw Slim’s horse stumble. He heard Sunny scream when they all watched Slim’s bulky body quickly disappear along with his horse beneath the thundering buffalo hooves.
    Colt felt as though his heart had just been crushed. There was no time to think about the loss, no time even to try to imagine the loneliness of being without the man who had been like a father to him for six years. It had all happened so quickly that he wondered if any of it was real.
    The earth literally shook as he turned his horse back toward Bo and Sunny and the others. “Get down to that washout!” he yelled. “Those who don’t fit, get under the