Twelfth Moon Read Online Free PDF Page B

on one foot. He murmured softly, using words Jonah didn’t recognize, but it seemed to calm the animal.
    After watching the kid make several inept attempts to mount, however, Jonah cursed, and swiftly grabbed him about the waist, hoisting him into the saddle. “Christ, kid, don’t you know how to get on a horse?” he snapped, feeling ornery. Without really understanding why, he was thinking of the kid and his injuries, taking his condition into consideration.
    Jonah mounted Athos, and they set out at an easy, steady pace. They were heading east, across the southwestern plains, a long, hazy ridge of mountains at their backs. The July sun burned hot and bright into their faces before it even reached its zenith. It would take them several days to reach the small, but growing town of San Antonio, where he could replenish his supplies.
    Jonah looked over at the kid, noticing his bare head. “You need a hat, kid, or your brains are gonna cook.”
    That earned Jonah a sullen stare. “Didn’t have much time to grab my hat,” he rasped, “what, with the hangin’ going on and all.”
    “When we reach San Antonio, I’ll get one for you.” Jonah made the offer grudgingly. Like he should care.
    “Don’t do me any favors, Marshal ,” the kid said, looking straight ahead. “And my name is Cade.”
    “Fine, suit yourself, Cade ,” Jonah shot back, annoyed by the kid’s lack of gratitude.
    They rode on in silence. The hours passed slowly, each minute marked by the infinitesimal progress of the sun trekking along its familiar path. Above them the sky stretched endlessly in a crisp blue.
    They made several stops to rest the horses and drink from Jonah’s dented silver canteen. Cadence imagined it must have been with him through some wild times, and wondered what the story was behind those dents. He looked like a man with stories – lots of them.
    Every time they stopped, Jonah would untie her hands, giving her brief moments of relief from the tight binding. The bandana helped a little, keeping the rough fibers of the rope from making direct contact with her raw skin.
    It was evident, in the way he treated her with that kind of consideration, that he was a man who believed in fairness, even though he knew she’d killed his brother. It said a lot about him, as a U.S. Marshal, and as a human being. She admired his devotion to a set code of ethics, no matter how personally involved he was.
    Robert, on the other hand, had been cruel and self-indulgent, had seemed to take pleasure inflicting pain on another. Maybe he hadn’t always been that way, but unfortunately, it had been her only experience with him.
    But then Jonah was not a man to cross. The look in those quicksilver eyes of his told their own story – of deeds done and of choices made, unavoidable in his line of work. His expression showed that he’d hardened himself against any tender emotion, yet he allowed her a reprieve from the rigors of the trail, and the discomfort of her bindings.
    They rode on, the sun now at their backs, suspended low on the horizon like a huge red-orange ball. Cadence figured they’d soon be stopping for the night, and looked forward to the opportunity to be on solid ground again for more than a few minutes.
    Her muscles ached from constantly adjusting to the rocking motion of the horse. Since she’d done most of her traveling at night, as the Pantera, she’d had no need of a horse, and wasn’t used to long hours in the saddle. In addition to her other ailments, her thighs and bottom felt bruised and tender.
    “Why did you do it?”
    The sound of Jonah’s deep voice was startling after all that silence. Cadence didn’t know what to say, wasn’t sure how to answer his question without giving herself away. Would it be so terrible if he were to discover his prisoner was actually a woman? She didn’t know yet if she could trust him, although her instincts told her he wouldn’t behave as his brother had. And there was the bothersome