Waiting for Morning (The Brides Of Last Chance Ranch Series) Read Online Free Page B

milling herd that seemed to stretch for miles. Resisting the urge to honk his horn, Caleb thanked the men with a wave of his hand.
    Caleb drove slowly so as not to startle the cattle. Bertha gurgled, then backfired, not once but twice.
    Magic gave a playful bark and Caleb glanced over his shoulder.The cattle that moments ago appeared so placid now stomped around in confusion, heads thrown back, mouths open, their loud bellows heard even over the rumbling motor.
    Drat! Heart thumping, Caleb slammed his foot against the gas pedal and took off ahead of the stampeding cattle.

Chapter 4

    M olly stopped the wagon and set the brake, more out of habit than need. The horse didn’t go fast enough to need a brake. She pulled a handkerchief out of her sleeve and mopped her face before handing the near-empty canteen to Donny.
    The sign clearly read Last Chance, but where was the ranch? The desolate, inhospitable terrain hadn’t changed one iota since she’d left the town.
    She moistened her parched lips. Even the plume on her stylish hat drooped and she batted it away from her face. She wished she’d been able to save a more practical hat from the fire, but her panicky state at the time had not allowed for discernment. It seemed more important to grab Donny’s medicine and belongings. She’d only managed to save a couple of her own frocks, none appropriate for ranch work or, for that matter, even street wear.
    She shaded her eyes against the glaring white sun and surveyed the road ahead. Who in their right mind would live in such a desolate area?
    “How much farther?” Donny asked in a thin voice.
    God only knows —but she didn’t want to worry him. “I’m sure we’re almost there.”
    She pulled a pocket watch out of her purse. It was a little after three o’clock. She wished she’d gotten an earlier start. The train had rolled into town that morning, but by the time she’d hired a driver to help her transport Donny and her few belongings from the station, had a bite to eat, and rented a rig, it was nearly two before she got started.
    Something caught her attention.
    “Oh, look. Straight ahead.” She narrowed her eyes on the distant horizon. A dust cloud. “Do you suppose the doctor’s coming back this way?” The thought wasn’t altogether unpleasant. “Maybe he can tell us how much farther we have to go.”
    A low rumbling sound like thunder seemed to rise up from the very earth. The horse lifted his ears and stomped the ground. It was the most energy the animal had shown since leaving town. The mare hadn’t seemed that anxious when the doctor’s vehicle made those ghastly blasts or even when she’d fired her shotgun.
    Donny craned his neck. “I don’t think that’s the doctor,” he said with a worried frown.
    She batted a drooping plume from her face and craned her neck. “What do you think it is?”
    The dust rose like a wall, spreading out on both sides of the road as far as the eyes could see. The rumbling sound grew louder and the buckboard began to shake.
    “Oh no!” Hands on her chest, she stared in horror. A long line of running cattle turned like a school of fish and headed straight for them.
    “Get down!” she screamed, as if safety was simply a matter of ducking. She released the brake and grabbed the reins. “Gid-up!”
    Donny scooted down the best he could, the last bit of color draining from his face. “Cattle can run twenty miles an hour. We can’t outrun them.”
    “I know that!” The old mare couldn’t even outrun a tortoise. She forced the horse into a U-turn until the back of the wagon faced the stampeding cattle. The wagon offered little protection, but it was the best she could do.
    Shotgun and haversack in hand, she climbed over the seat and hunkered behind the valise and wheelchair. No bullet could halt the thunderous hooves, but maybe she could make them veer off course. Loading and aiming her shotgun, she fired two shots.
    “Look. There’s the doctor!” Donny