Sidewinder Read Online Free PDF

trail had dried since the day before, but there were places where the trail was slippery. Felicity silently cursed the slowness of the horses, but thought about Brad and wondered if his horse might have fallen. She scanned the slope ahead and down into the steep canyon, looking for any sign of her husband.
    The sun was well up when they came to the thicket where the brindle had gone. Both of them saw the jumble of rocks, the treacherous lay of the land in that spot.
    “Maybe we should walk over there,” Julio said. “Maybe we can read the tracks.”
    “Where is he?” Felicity cried out in frustration.
    Julio did not answer.
    They dismounted and ground-tied their horses to small bushes. They walked over to the thicket where the cow tracks disappeared. There was a maze of prints in the soft ground, including the wolf’s, Brad’s horse. As they walked around it, Felicity squatted down.
    “Look here, Julio,” she said. “What is this?” She pointed to a smeared track the size of a man’s foot.
    Julio squatted beside her and studied the track.
    “ Indio ,” he said.
    “An Indian? What’s an Indian doing up here?”
    Julio said nothing. She could see that he was uncomfortable. He looked scared. And now that she thought about it, she felt scared, too.
    “There is blood on the rocks,” he said.
    The two walked above the site, studying the ground. Felicity was trying to form a picture in her mind. She saw drag marks that might have been made by Brad’s body. It appeared the Indian had found him, pulled him out of the depression, and then lifted him onto his back. There were no drag marks above the small landslide and the moccasin tracks were deeper, more defined.
    “That Indian carried him off, Julio,” she said. “That’s what I think.”
    “Maybe. I do not read the tracks so good.”
    “Yes, you do. I don’t need to be mollycoddled. If Brad was hurt, maybe—”
    Julio said something under his breath. Felicity was sure he said “ Indios .” She knew he had a fear of them. Past memories, she supposed.
    “Let’s get back on our horses and follow those tracks,” she said. “They go right up into the timber.”
    Julio hesitated. She gave him a sharp look.
    Felicity bristled at his apparent cowardice.
    “ Tienes miedo ?” she said in Spanish. “Are you afraid?”
    “Maybe we should get help.”
    “Where? There’s no help anywhere near here. Brad may need us. If you’re afraid, go on back to the ranch. I’ll find him, wherever he is.”
    “I do not have fear,” he said. “But it could be dangerous.”
    “Living is dangerous, Julio. I don’t give a hoot. I’m going to find Brad if it takes me a week.”
    They got on their horses and were starting to ride up into the timber when they both saw movement off to their left. They both stopped and looked at the small shape coming from a long way off. As it drew nearer, they both could see that it was a horse and rider.
    “Isn’t that Brad’s horse?” Felicity whispered, hardly daring to breathe.
    “Yes, I think that is Brad’s horse.”
    “Is that Brad?”
    She stood up in the stirrups and waved her hand at the figure on the horse. On Brad’s horse.
    The man did not wave back. She settled back down in the saddle.
    “Who is that?” she murmured, more to herself than to Julio.
    “ Indio ,” Julio said under his breath.
    And Felicity felt her blood run cold as a hollow pit opened in her stomach and goose bumps rippled up her arms.
    A cloud passed across the sun and she felt a sudden chill.

SIX

    The squawk of a jay outside the wickiup roused Brad from his sleep. He opened his eyes to darkness and confusion. He heard the bird as it rustled leaves and pine needles, scratched the ground just outside the opening of the shelter. He felt a weight on his body, a blanket of some kind. He felt the covering with one hand, felt the fur, and wondered where he was for a long moment. His head ached and one of his hands felt as if it had been clawed by a