The Outrider (Redbourne Series #5 - Will's Story) Read Free

ship for the right price. Soon, he’d make a name for
himself outside of the ranching community and he would make his parents proud
instead of constantly worried.
    “Darius Fenton,” his mother finally told him,
pulling a cloth from her pocket and dabbing at his wounds.
    Will’s brows scrunched together.
    “That was his name. The marshal. Darius Fenton.”
    Will winced.
    “Sorry. Mrs. Jenkins sent her young Phillip with
a message as soon as the lawman stepped foot inside her store. We’re lucky the
man didn’t stop at the telegraph office first. Mrs. Hendersen would have
marched him out to the ranch herself.”
    They both laughed. Will’s chuckle mixed with a
pained groan.
    If Fenton was sniffing around, it didn’t bode
well. Of course, there weren’t many men who could go up against the Redbourne
clan unscathed. And other than Levi, all of his siblings were living in one
place or another on Redbourne Ranch.
    Technically, he hadn’t broken the law. He was
settling a score with a man who’d disrespected his family. It wasn’t his fault
the fight had drawn the attention of many of the men from town and the
surrounding ranches who’d wanted to watch.
    Will scoffed at his ability to rationalize. If
the marshal needed something from him, he would stand up and take
responsibility for any of his own actions.
    Cole stepped back into the barn, breathing heavily
from running from the house. He twisted the lid from the small clear jar filled
with their mother’s special healing concoction and held it out for her, along
with a freshly filled bucket of water and a rag.
    “Thank you, dear,” Leah said with a warm smile,
dipping her fingertips into the creamy substance. She stood and turned to face
Will, shaking her head and gently placing her hands over the wounds on his
face.
    He clenched his teeth as she grazed over the cuts
and bruises on his jaw, cheek, and the sensitive area just below his eye, but
he refused to show discomfort—suddenly grateful his mother had not been in
England to witness the aftermath of some of his most brutal fights there. Some
of which even he wanted to forget.
    Especially his last one.

CHAPTER TWO

     
    Three
weeks later, Saturday
     
    Glass broke.
    The faint echo of Caspar’s bark penetrated the
barrier of Elizabeth’s restless dreams.
    “What is it, girl?” she managed groggily, still
unsure if the sound had been real or imagined.
    The barks grew louder and more frequent. She slowly
opened one eyelid, but quickly closed it again. The sun hadn’t risen yet, so
why should she?
    The weight of Caspar’s body as the pup pounced on
top of her jolted her awake. Elizabeth’s eyes drew wide and the sweet stench of
wood-smoke filled her nostrils. She sat bolt-upright in bed. Thick grey swirls
of haze filled the room, lit only by the faint light of the moon. She coughed,
the smoky air burning her lungs as she drew breath. She threw back the covers
and jumped out of the bed and onto the chilly floor, pushing her way through
the haze toward the door.
    Flames licked at the frame of the house, but the
stairs had yet to be touched. Elizabeth slipped down to the main floor, ran
into the kitchen, and grabbed her bucket of soapy water and a woven rug. After
several attempts to beat the flames down, Caspar barked a warning, grabbing
onto the bottom of her nightshift with her teeth, coaxing her from the burning
house.
    “Oh, no,” she exclaimed, waving a hand in front
of her face. “My books.” An entire bookcase, full of her most prized works of
literature and study, was ablaze, scorched pages turned to ash and floated
menacingly through the air.
    After a few more unsuccessful slashes at the
fire, Elizabeth dropped the singed rug and relented, coughing heavily as she
fought her way through the smoke into the kitchen. Caspar’s pups whimpered,
their high-pitched barks calling out to her. She swooped their basket into her
arms, grabbed a few of her favorite books off the shelf, an old pair of