Liz Ireland Read Online Free PDF Page A

agreed. “That could happen.”
    “Maybe,” Oat said, not sounding particularly brightened by that prospect, either. “Anyways, guess I’ll be takin’ up my whiskey route again.”
    Paulie nearly collapsed with relief at this news. Thank goodness! Maybe things would be returning to normal soon. Will was back, and perhaps with a sheriff, Possum Trot folks would feel a little safer. At least she would rest easier knowing an officially designated gun stood between her and Night Bird. Everyone else in the area probably would, too. And with Oat making deliveries again, business might pick up.
    “Of course, now I got to start worryin’ about that old Injun again,” Oat grumbled.
    “Night Bird?” Will asked.
    “Yessir,” Oat said, practically shivering at the mention of the name.
    Will frowned, causing three deep creases of worry to appear in his forehead. “That’s it!” he said, then muttered, “Damn.”
    The three of them stared at him, but Will just looked straight ahead, brooding.
    “What’s it?” Paulie asked.
    “Night Bird,” he said, his lips forming a grim line.
    Paulie sucked in her breath. Was he thinking that Night Bird had taken Mary Ann? “Night Bird!” she repeated, the terrible thought attempting to catch hold of her mind like the fleeting memory of a nightmare. Trip stood and then nearly collapsed on wobbly legs, and Oat straightened in his chair, looking truly disturbed for the first time during the whole discussion.
    “Of course!” Trip said.
    But Paulie, after the first shock, wasn’t so certain. She tilted her head, mulling the idea over. “I’ve never heard of Night Bird kidnapping women.”
    Will sent her a dead serious look. He didn’t even have to say it. When it came to a renegade Comanche, a consistent code of behavior couldn’t be expected. “You said yourself that when Night Bird stole your liquor those times, you didn’t even hear him.”
    “Sure, but that was whiskey,” Paulie explained. “Wouldn’t Mary Ann put up more of a fuss?”
    Trip shook his head slowly, in an awed trance of dread at the very idea of Night Bird. “They say those three men he killed didn’t even know what hit them.”
    Paulie frowned. It wasn’t that she didn’t think Night Bird was capable of abduction—it just seemed so unlikely. Texas Rangers had taken care of most of the Indian trouble in these parts. For an Indian to just walk into a man’s house and steal his wife, or ambush her on her way to the outhouse, didn’t seem worth the trouble that he would bring upon himself by such a heinous act. “Wouldn’t there be at least a sign of a struggle? Mightn’t we have heard that someone had seen them somewhere?”
    “Maybe not,” Will said.
    “And what would Night Bird want with Mary Ann anyway?”
    Trip and Will exchanged stony glances, and Oat just looked depressed.
    Paulie shook her head. “I meant, why would he want her specifically? Killing three men is one thing, but he’s bound to know that kidnapping a woman is going to cause big trouble for him.”
    “You bet it is.” Will’s voice was thick with determination.
    A creeping dread began to snake through Paulie’s body.
    The two other men turned to him with questioning glances.
    “I’m going after her,” Will announced.
    “After Night Bird?” Trip asked.
    “After Mary Ann,” Will clarified.
    Oat was startled. “You’re going?”
    “I’ve known Mary Ann a long time, Oat,” Will explained. “I promised her father I’d look after her.”
    “Well, sure,” the old fellow rasped, “but after all, I’m her husband.”
    “Of course, you can come along if you want to,” Will allowed.
    At that suggestion, Oat looked even more startled than before. “What I meant was, I should be the one to go get help.” Even given his marital tie, the old man didn’t look at all eager to chase after a renegade Comanche to find Mary Ann. And who could blame him?
    “There’s no need for you to go anywhere, if you don’t