The Bandit Princess Read Online Free PDF Page A

can.”
    “But I have to—”
    “We’re both going to get ready after this,” Clint said. “Sit!”
    She sat.
    “When are we leaving?” she asked.
    “Around noon,” he said. “After breakfast you get yourself and your horse ready. That’s all you have to do. I’ll do the rest.”
    “The rest?”
    “I’ll get us outfitted,” Clint said. The waiter came over, and he ordered steak and eggs for the two of them, and coffee as soon as possible.
    “You just make sure your guns are clean and ready,” he went on, “and your horse is sound, because we’re going to be putting a lot of miles on him.”
    “Her,” she said. “My horse is a mare.”
    “Good,” Clint said, “that’s what this trip will need, a good, sound mare.”
    “I can’t believe this,” she said. “I’m actually going after outlaws, tracking them into Indian Territory.”
    “You’re going to have to keep your promise to watch my back,” Clint said.
    “I will, I swear.”
    “If you don’t,” Clint said, “you’ll be out there all alone.”
    She stared at him as if she’d never considered that possibility. At that point the coffee came, followed soon by breakfast.

TEN
     
     
     
    After breakfast they split up. Clint went to the general store, used some of Judge Parker’s money to buy supplies. Beef jerky, beans, coffee, extra bullets, only enough supplies to fit into two gunny sacks, one each to hang from their saddlehorns. Clint had long ago learned how to travel light when tracking someone.
    He took the supplies with him to his hotel, where he retrieved his saddlebags and rifle, then stopped at the front desk to check out.
    “But I’ve already been instructed to keep your room for you, sir.”
    “By who?”
    “My boss, and he heard it from Judge Parker.”
    “Okay, fine,” Clint said. “Thanks.”
    He left the hotel, headed for the livery stable. When he got there, he found Alive Eads saddling her horse.
    “Here,” he said, tossing her a sack. “Tie that to your saddle.”
    “What is it?”
    “Half our supplies.”
    He saddled Eclipse quickly, tied his sack to the saddle. They walked their horses outside.
    “Are we going into Indian Territory?” she asked hopefully.
    “Yes, Canadian River area. That’s where she was last seen. It’s where her mother and father spent a lot of their time. They had a thousand acres near a town called Briartown. Also, a town called Whitfield across the river from there. So, that’s where we’re starting. Where we might end up, I don’t know.”
    “Wherever it is, we’ll get the job done!” Alice said eagerly.
    “Yes, we will,” Clint said, “but carefully. I don’t know exactly how many men Pearl has, but it’s at least four or five. When we find them, we’re not going to rush in. We’re going to watch them for a while, and wait for the right moment.”
    “I understand.”
    “And you won’t even draw your gun unless I tell you to.”
    “Wait,” she said. “Where’s your badge?”
    “I don’t have one.”
    “The judge didn’t deputize you?”
    “No,” I said. “I’m doing this as a favor to him.” And for Belle, he thought.
    “Then you have no official standing?”
    He smiled.
    “I have you, and your badge.”
    She looked confused.
    “But doesn’t that mean I should be in charge?”
    He stared at her.
    “Alice . . .”
    “I mean, I’m just saying . . . technically speaking.”
    “But we’re not technically speaking, we’re speaking realistically. Understand?”
    Looking demure, she said, “I understand.”
    “When the time comes to show your badge,” he said, “you can act like you’re in charge. And when it comes time to make an arrest, you’ll do it.”
    She nodded.
    “But we also have to remember, the judge wants them dead or alive.”
    “I know.”
    “So you may have to kill someone. Are you ready for that?”
    “Yes, I am.”
    “No doubt?”
    “Well, of course I have doubts—”
    Clint stopped short of mounting Eclipse and