Untethered Read Online Free PDF

not happen between Marie and Hudson Oliver on Friday. But whatever had taken her tranquility from her, Cricket felt serene in that moment at least.
    As she listened to the birds in the trees and the laughter of good friends—as Marie, Ann, and Vilma splashed and played in the water—Cricket thought there could be nothing so beautiful in all the world as the bright blue, cloudless sky above and the feel of the cool water rinsing her cares away.
     
     

Chapter Two
     
    Heath had half a mind to just slit Conqueror’s throat when he finally found him—slaughter him up and have himself a tasty beef supper. The bull was turning out to be a heap more trouble than ex-Texas Ranger Heathro Thibodaux had counted on. Still, he thought of the roll of paper money the rancher over in Thistle had paid him for Conqueror’s stud service and figured the bovine rascal was worth the trouble in the end.
    Heath was just glad old Fred Elmer had seen Conqueror heading toward the Morgan place—glad the stubborn bull hadn’t headed off toward Ralph Burroughs’s herd the way he’d done the week before. Not that Ralph Burroughs would have minded Conqueror consorting with his cows free of stud fees. But since Heath had quit rangering, he’d need every dollar his small herd of cattle and farm would allot him. He had plenty of money held up in secret, but a dollar was a dollar when a man was looking down the long, lonesome road of life.
    Heath swore under his breath as he saw Conqueror’s hoofprints in the soil. Yep—the bull had changed his mind and was heading straight for the Burroughs place.
    “Well, come on, Archie,” he said, spurring his buckskin to a trot. “Let’s get ol ’ Conq back home before Ralph Burroughs gets some calves he ain’t paid for out of it this time.”
    ❦
    It took more than an hour to head Conq for home and get him into the small corral. By the time the bull was secured once more, Heath was hot, tired, and cran ky. The heat of the day was beating down on him like fire and brimstone, and all he could think of to cool himself off was a dip in the old Morgan swimming hole. Nobody used the old swimming hole. The fact was the whole place was abandoned—house, barn, and swimming hole. As he rode Archie toward the swimming hole, Heath grinned. He liked the seclusion it allotted, and once summer had hit hot and dry, he’d taken to swimming three or four days a week. There was nothing quite like being alone out there in the cool water—listening to the birds in the trees and enjoying the modest summer breeze that would waft by every once in a while.
    Heath dismounted, loosely tethered Archie’s reins to a cottonwood, patted the horse on the flank, and mumbled, “You have at that new grass there, boy.”
    Tossing his hat to the carpet of soft, green summer grass under the tree, Heath unbuttoned his shirt and was just unbuckling his gun belt when he heard voices—female voices.
    Stripping his shirt off, wadding it up, and pitching it over to join his hat, Heath walked toward the swimming hole—all the while making sure he was well hidden by the brush. What he saw when he managed a good view of the water through the trees and bushes made him chuckle.
    Four young women were playfully splashing around in the water, entirely unaware that anyone was near—especially a man. Glancing around, he saw their discarded shoes, stockings, petticoats, and dresses scattered over a couple of fallen trees nearby. The mischief in him considered snitching their clothes for a moment—hightailing off with them and leaving the girls to figure on how to make it back to town in nothing but their underwear.
    Still, Heath knew better, and he wasn’t near mean enough to do such a thing to four little innocents—no matter what everyone in town thought. And all he needed was one more reason for folks to think he wasn’t worth a wad of mud.
    So he paused, listening to the girls’ happy prattle and their careless giggling. It was, after