Wild Is My Heart Read Online Free PDF

about fifteen minutes and Sam had just finished an awkward bedbath and pulled on a voluminous white nightgown Sanchez removed from her bureau at her direction when the door to her bedroom burst open.
    “Sam! Thank God! I thought that lop-eared jackass killed you. Who is he?”
    “Will!” Sam cried, joy suffusing her drawn features. “Where have you been? Where is the gold?”
    “It’s safe, Sis. But first tell me what happened. Are you hurt badly? I heard the shot but daren’t turn back.”
    Will Howard was a big, strapping lad for his fourteen years. With little education save for what Sam was able to instill, at times he seemed immature for his age. After his father’s death he seemed to depend on Sam to the point of surrendering his own independence. Though Sam could not see it, Sanchez did, and worried over the boy’s lack. Some boys were men at fourteen, but if Will did not have a strong male to guide him, his own masculinity would surely suffer.
    “Thank the good Lord you didn’t turn back,” Sam replied, glad that Will showed sense enough to follow orders. She should never have involved him in this wild scheme in the first place. “If you did, we’d both be in a heap of trouble. It was damn rotten luck that a Texas Ranger was riding the stage that day.”
    “Texas Ranger! You mean the man who shot you is a Texas Ranger? Where did he go? I watched the house until I saw him ride off.”
    “His name is Colt Andrews. He went to Karlsburg to talk to Sheriff Bauer and Mayor Mohler. He intends to turn me in as soon as I’m well enough.”
    “Sam, no, he can’t do that! I won’t let him.”
    “There’s nothing you can do, Will.”
    “I’ll give back the gold!”
    “No! If you do that, everything we’ve done will have been for nothing. I’m a woman, Will, they’ll be lenient with me. But even if they put me in jail, you’ll have the means now to continue without me.”
    “How badly are you hurt? I’ll take you with me and we’ll hide in the hills where no one can find us.”
    Sam shook her head. “You don’t know Colt Andrews. He’d not rest till he found me. Besides, I’m far too weak to be traipsing through the country side. The bullet caught me in the chest. Colt removed it and I’m healing nicely, but it will be days before I’m able to leave this bed.”
    “Tell me what to do, Sam,” Will said worriedly. “Today is the last day.”
    Colt cursed the luck that made Thunder throw a shoe barely out of sight of the house. Now he’d have to walk him back and ride Sam’s mount into town. Perhaps Sanchez could put on a new shoe while he was in Karlsburg. Leading Thunder into the stable, Colt was surprised to see a strange horse in one of the stalls calmly munching hay. Upon closer inspection, Colt recognized the horse as belonging to the second bandit and cursed roundly. Evidently the bastard was just waiting for him to leave before coming for Sam. Then he chuckled. Thunder had done him a favor by throwing a shoe. He’d have both of them now.
    Moving with the stealth of a cougar, Colt entered the house through the back door, pausing outside Sam’s bedroom. The door stood ajar and Colt could hear every word spoken by the couple he assumed to be lovers as well as partners in crime.
    “Tell me what to do, Sam. Today is the last day.”
    “Where is the gold, Will?” Colt smiled nastily. It was the second bandit, just as he suspected.
    “It’s hidden beneath a loose board under the bed in that old line shack in the north pasture,” Will revealed, proud of his cunning. “That’s where I’ve been stayin’. Did I do all right, Sam?” It was obvious that Sam’s approval meant a lot to him, and she gave it unstintingly.
    “You did just fine, Will,” Sam praised. “A sister couldn’t ask any more of her brother. Pop would be proud of you. It’s up to you now to carry on.”
    “Not without you, Sam. I’ll think of somethin’. I won’t let that blasted lawman turn you in.”
    His