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

wagons!”
    Already it was difficult to hear him because of the hoofbeats. Some of the Landers men were confused. They turned their horses and rode hard. “Don’t try to outride them!” Colt shouted. “You’ll be killed! Get under the wagons! Under the wagons!”
    His voice was lost in the terrific noise. Colt rode hard to catch up with Sunny and her father and brother, who charged down the hill and dismounted, dodging into the washout while the drivers and cooks made for the wagons. By now the noise was deafening. Colt reached the washout just in time to see Sunny bolt from its safety and run toward the wagons herself, screaming Miss Putnam’s name.
    â€œSunny, come back!” her father screamed.
    â€œStay there or you’re dead men!” Colt shouted to Bo and Stuart. “I’ll take care of Sunny!” He galloped his horse toward Sunny, and already the buffalo were cresting the ridge. Colt reached down, grabbing Sunny up in one arm.
    â€œMiss Putnam!” she screamed. “She’s in the wagon!”
    â€œYou should have stayed in the washout!” Colt shouted as she fought him. “You can’t help her now!” His horse reared and whirled, and Sunny slipped from his grasp. He quickly dismounted, and his horse ran off. Colt grabbed Sunny as the huge, shaggy beasts of the plains crashed into the wagons. One overturned, and the men crouched under it flattened themselves right next to it, the buffalo leaping over them and around them. Colt slammed Sunny to the ground between the overturned wagon and a barrel. He threw himself over her, putting his arms over her head. “Don’t move!” he shouted in her ear.
    He could hear her muffled scream as she cringed beneath him, while all around them the buffalo crashed and thundered past, the ground shaking as though hit by an earthquake. Dust billowed so densely that it was difficult to breathe. The fifteen minutes it took for the entire herd to stampede past them seemed more like an hour to those who huddled in terror. The other two wagons and the coach were also toppled. Finally the rumbling grew more distant, the ground more stable. The dust cloud began to settle, and Colt rose up slightly, touching Sunny’s hair. “You all right?”
    â€œI don’t know,” she answered, coughing. She looked up at him, her face dirty and streaked with tears. She was shaking, and Colt drew her close. She huddled against him, taking comfort in his protective arms. Finally, reluctantly, Colt let go of her. He rested on his elbows and looked into her eyes, struggling against an overwhelming urge to taste her mouth. She reached up and touched his face.
    â€œDon’t,” he said softly, grasping her wrist. It was all he needed to say. A tear slipped down the side of her face into her ear, and he brushed it away, getting up and helping her to her feet.
    â€œI think something cut me,” she finally said. She felt a stinging pain at her left thigh, and she looked down to see her riding skirt was torn. She opened the tear to expose a bleeding cut, quickly turning away so that Colt could not see her bare skin.
    â€œYou’d better take care of that right away. Pour some whiskey on it if you can find some,” Colt told her. “It will help prevent any infection.”
    â€œSunny! Sunny!” Bo Landers was running in her direction, his forehead bleeding.
    â€œDaddy!” Sunny scrambled away from Colt and ran to her father. “You’re hurt!”
    â€œI’m all right. I started to come to you and one of the beasts barely grazed me. I was forced to stay in the washout.” The man hugged her tightly. “Thank God! I was sure you’d be killed!” He clung to her, looking over at Colt. “You saved her life.”
    Colt brushed himself off and picked up his hat. Sunny could see him struggling with his emotions. “I only wish I could have saved Slim