Lone Star 03 Read Online Free PDF

father’s gifts nestled in its holster. Waving away Speedy’s cupped hands, she swung into the saddle, and, with a toss of his head, the palomino started for the open range.
    Sun had rested longer than usual during Jessie’s absence from the ranch. The big palomino pawed the hard earth and whuffled, as though to remind his mistress that he had a lot of unused running stored up in his muscular legs.
    Jessie took the hint. She turned the stallion away from the ranch house, and after walking him far enough to get the stiffness out of his legs, she let the reins go slack and leaned forward to slap lightly on his withers.
    Sun responded at once. Mighty muscles rippling under his tawny hide, he burst into a gallop. Feeling the fresh warm breeze on her face, Jessie reached up and pushed off her brown Stetson, letting it fall back on her shoulders, held only by the thong under her chin. She shook her head to free her hair; it streamed behind her in ripples of tawny gold, a shade darker and a bit more copper-hued than the flowing blond mane and tail of the speeding palomino.
    When she judged that Sun had worked off enough of his energy for the moment, Jessie pulled lightly on the reins. The big horse shook his head as though to protest the command, but slowed obediently. Jessie straightened up in her saddle, a contented smile parting her full red lips. Then, through the thin haze of tears the warm breeze had brought into her eyes, she saw a rider ahead, and the smile gave way to a thoughtful frown.
    A short distance away, a little draw offered a place of partial concealment for a horse and rider. Jessie guided the high-stepping palomino to the shallow gully and reined in. Sun tossed his head when he felt the pull of the reins. Like his mistress, the great golden stallion chafed at restraint; he was still bursting with pent-up energy.
    â€œStand, Sun,” Jessica told the horse softly. “Let’s wait and see who’s coming up on us before we go any farther.”
    Frowning into the sun, her emerald-green eyes drawn into slits, she tried to identify the rider. The sunlight in her eyes baffled recognition. Jessie could be sure of only one thing: The man riding toward her wasn’t a Circle Star hand, or she’d have recognized him when she first sighted him.
    Wisdom born of sorrow still remembered had told Jessie to be careful when she saw the rider approaching. She’d learned one bitter lesson from her father’s murder: No one who bore the Starbuck name could count on being safe from attack, even in the middle of the small kingdom that was formed by the sprawling Circle Star Ranch.
    Instinct brought Jessie’s fingers to the cool grips of the custom-made Colt .38/.44 in its tooled holster at her side as she watched the horseman draw closer. Then she relaxed and toed Sun’s flank, sending him scrambling up the sloping wall of the barranca to greet the old friend and neighbor she’d at last recognized.
    â€œHowdy, Jessica,” Bradford Close called to her as Sun brought Jessie near enough for his voice to reach her. “Didn’t look to meet up with you this far from the house, but I’m glad I did. I was just on my way to visit you.”
    â€œIt’s nice of you to think about stopping by, Brad,” Jessie replied. “How’s everything at the Box B?”
    â€œI guess it’s still there, Jessie, but I ain’t sure of much of anything right now.”
    Jessie sensed trouble behind Close’s reply. She asked, “You haven’t been home for a while, then?”
    â€œNo. I been on a little trip and figured to swing over to see you before I went home. I don’t guess much could’ve happened to the place, though. I ain’t really been gone long, even if it seems to me like I have.”
    Close reined in at the rim of the barranca, and Jessie clucked, sending Sun up the shallow side-to join him. She took in her neighbor’s appearance at a