The Gambler Read Free

needing it when the sheriff gets here
to arrest you for attempted robbery.”
     
    Emmaline felt so defeated her chest ached
with it. What conscience this man had obviously wasn’t tortured by
the fact he’d killed someone. She’d watched him through the window
at the saloon, saw how confident he looked and knew just from a
glance he was a professional gambler. There was just something
about them. It was in the set of their shoulders, the way they
carried themselves. The smug look on their face as if the entire
world was theirs for the taking and this man was no different. He
towered over her and demanded answers he thought he deserved. He
wouldn’t get them. She’d die before she told him her name.
     
    Glancing at the door out of the corner of her
eye, she made a quick lunge for it but held her ground, waiting.
When he made a move toward her, she kicked out a leg, her knee
catching him the groin. He yelled, lowered both hands to cup his
groin and hit his knees in agony.
     
    Emmaline turned and ran, scrambled for the
door handle and was able to get it open moments before he grabbed
her ankle. She shrieked, kicked out again and planted the toe of
her shoe to the side of his head. When he fell, she ran, racing out
the door and down the hall and didn’t stop running until she was
clear on the other side of town.
     
    She stopped when she reached the tree line
and heaved in deep breaths of air, watching the main road. He never
came after her. When her heart stopped racing, she turned and
started making her way home. She’d have to think of something else.
She had to get that land deed back, even if that meant tailing that
gambler clean across the country. Her future lay on that land and
she wasn’t letting it go without a fight.
     
     
    * * * *
     
     
    Emmaline lifted the shotgun and pulled back
the hammer. She sighted in on the stranger riding up the road and
waited until she knew he was within hitting distance. She pulled
the trigger and grinned when he ducked, his horse dancing
underneath him enough to knock him from the saddle to end up
sprawled on the ground. He cursed as the horse ran a few feet away
and Emmaline sighted on him again and waited.
     
    He stood, dusted off his pants with his hat
and turned toward the cabin. One look at him and she knew it was
the gambler from last night. Butterflies started dancing in her
stomach. What did he want? She waited, watching him take a few
steps closer and aimed for a spot by his head and pulled the
trigger again. He shouted, ducked and hunkered low to the
ground.
     
    “Stop your damn shooting!”
     
    Holding his hands up as if to surrender,
Emmaline lowered the barrel an inch. “State your business.”
     
    He straightened and reached into his coat
pocket. Emmaline lifted the gun again. “Hang on a minute,” he said.
“I’ve got the deed to this property.” He waved it in the air and
took a few more steps closer.
     
    Emmaline let him get close enough to see his
face. He was handsome and his clothes told her he had enough money
to buy the place three times over. His brocade vest was a rich
purple in color, shot with gold threads throughout, his black
jacket tailored. His hair was blonde and cut short, which was
unusual for these parts, and she was sure he was up to something.
After their encounter last night, him riding out here to give her
the deed back was too ridiculous to think. “That’s close enough,
mister.”
     
    He stopped, repositioned his hat on his head,
and tossed her a smile she was sure was supposed to flatter her. It
didn’t.
     
    Glancing down at the paper in his hand for a
brief moment, he looked at the cabin and the surrounding forest.
“This is the Hunt place, right?” He stared at her, his head tilting
just a fraction before his brows lowered. “Are you the girl from
last night?”
     
    Emmaline raised the gun again. “Unless you’re
here to give me the deed, you’ve no business here. Now either hand
it over or go grab that horse