Mobley's Law, A Mobley Meadows Novel Read Online Free Page A

realized that the hard spur had shocked her into active disobedience.
    He wrapped his long legs almost completely around the big Appaloosa’s belly in an effort to stay seated, but knew if she continued to misbehave, he was doomed. Still, she hunched, bucked, crow-hopped, and ran in another circle. In desperation, Mobley leaned as far forward as he could, stroked her neck with his hat and waved it alongside her head. It was a trick he’d used before to distract her and lessen the panic.
    One last jump, then, haunches squat, chest and head high, Meteor began to move. Chunks of moist black earth and grass flew from her driving hooves. Sparks scattered off the iron of her shoes as they struck the cobbles of the small creek winding through the cottonwood thicket. A covey of quail exploded from the brush directly under Meteor’s flashing feet, but she remained under control and held her course as the birds whirred away to the West.
    Mobley shrugged his head deep into his chest, white knuckles and fingers clinging to the saddle as the horse broke into a full gallop. In an instant he was up and out of the draw, gaining ground on a short stretch of flat prairie. When that came to an end, he dodged around hillocks and knolls to throw off the aim of his pursuers as he extended his lead.
    He’d run close to a mile when he noticed a shallow notch leading down onto a lower plain. He leaned his horse into the narrow opening and saw the Brazos River valley expand as a great panorama before him, the glint of the river itself threading like a huge snake a mile or so off in the distance, its approaches overgrown with brush and trees. For a moment he considered trying to lose himself in the thickets, but river brush here was rough, not unlike the brier of home in Tennessee where even a bear could not move. A man hung up in there would be easy to flush. All they would have to do was circle his hideout with firebrands and wait. He’d keep running. Let the horses decide. His confidence in the Appaloosa was complete.
    Meteor pounded flat-out now on smooth bottomland near the river, neck stretched forward, tail standing straight out in the wind. With his lead extending, Mobley had time to study the terrain unfolding before him. Directly ahead, the river had cut a valley several miles wide free of brush and deep ravines. High cliffs stood off to the right. The ground near the cliffs sloped gently in what looked like steps in a balcony for as far as he could see, and the valley opened even more as he angled away from the river. If he kept to the flat land, he should be able to put some distance between himself and his pursuers, but sooner or later he would have to fort up. Everything depended, of course, on how hard his pursuers chose to push.
    Looking back, he saw two of the men break away, racing ahead to stay on his heels while the others reined back to keep their horses fresh. There was no choice now. With this tactic they would eventually run him to ground, even with Meteor’s speed and endurance. It was decision time. He must head for an opening in the cliff and fort up. If he could find a place with water and rocks to hide behind, he could at least make them pay dearly for his life.
    As he drifted back toward the river valley wall and its rugged, rocky cliffs, Mobley saw several small indentations that might do, but he had to be sure. There would be no second chance.
    After two miles of hard galloping, Mobley saw what he was looking for. An eroded cut in the cliff wall some fifty yards across, lay directly ahead. Brush and reeds on the plain before it suggested the presence of moisture leaking from the heights. Boulders lay strewn about and an overhang of the cliff face provided shade, which might become an important factor later in the afternoon. It was as good a place as any, and better than most likely to be found on short notice.
    Having committed himself and out of immediate danger, Mobley relaxed long enough for fear and excitement