Texas Angel, 2-in-1 Read Online Free PDF Page B

Rowena a squeeze with her arm and brushed her cheek with a kiss before hiking from the clearing with Wade.
    Elise started awake, but the bright light of day made her clamp her eyes shut again. Lying in the damp grass with only the single blanket to cover her and the baby, her body felt stiff and cold. Wade was snoring about four feet away. They were nestled in among thick bushes. A faint scent of jasmine wafted rather discordantly in the air.
    She wondered what time it was. She was hardly adept at reading the sun, but it must be nine or ten in the morning. She and Wade had hiked nearly all night—six or seven hours at least—before halting, exhausted, just before daybreak. Wade said they shouldn’t travel by day, but Elise wondered what they would do all day. She didn’t think she would be able to go back to sleep on the hard ground. Even in seven hours they couldn’t be more than ten miles from the plantation. She wouldn’t feel safe until she’d put at least a hundred miles between herself and the Hearnes, perhaps not even then.
    Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she looked about, wondering what could have disturbed her sleep. When she had fallen into slumber a few hours ago, she had been so tired she thought nothing would wake her. Then she remembered her dream. She had been crawling in the mud, covered head to toe with the oozing brown mess. But when she found a stream and jumped in to wash, she discovered the mud would not wash away. Her skin was stained permanently!
    That was not the worst of the dream. She had become panicked at the sight of the dark skin and had begun to run. She ran until she thought her lungs would burst. Her heart was beating so fast it made her head throb, but she couldn’t stop. They were after her. The sound of baying bloodhounds kept coming closer and closer. That’s what must have finally awakened her. That horrible sound!
    Thank God it was but a dream.
    She started to lift the blanket to check on Hannah, who was snuggled close to her. All at once Elise froze and her heart skipped a beat. Was it her imagination? Could her dream be coming true? Or had reality imposed, in fact, upon her dreams? The sound was becoming distinct now, and she was certain it was no longer her imagination. Now it was a waking nightmare.
    Bloodhounds!
    The sharp, persistent baying was clear. Panic seized Elise. She threw aside the blanket and grabbed the baby, waking her roughly. Then she sprang to her feet. But something made her pause. It was madness to take off in blind flight. She must think first. But Hannah started to cry, making rational thought nearly impossible.
    Wade. She needed him now more than ever. She ran to where he still lay snoring. How could he sleep at a time like this? Shaking him hard, she bit back the strong urge to scream his name, to simply scream anything.
    “What the—?” He mumbled in a sleep-thickened voice.
    “Wade, there’s bloodhounds! We’ve got to get away.”
    “Huh?”
    “Listen!” She did scream now. Hannah was crying so hard, Elise had to make herself heard over the din.
    Even over the sound of the crying baby the hounds could be heard. They were getting closer.
    “They found us. I gotta get out of here,” Wade cried.
    “Where can we go?”
    “We? No, I can’t help you no more.” He jumped up, his eyes wild with fear.
    “You can’t leave me now,” Elise pleaded.
    “I’m truly sorry. . . .” But he said no more and took off at a dead run in the opposite direction from the sound of the dogs.
    Elise couldn’t blame him. He could get into as much trouble as she for helping her escape. And he had a far better chance of getting away. Quickly she gathered her belongings. She would have left them, but if she did get away, she would need the food and the blanket. Besides, there was no sense leaving evidence of her presence. It amazed her, however, that she could think so clearly with her head throbbing and her knees shaking so badly she could barely stand. But