Only 05 - Autumn Lover

it was as though she was standing at arm’s length. The midnight shine of his hair and mustache intrigued her, as did the shape of his lips and the winter glint of his eyes.
    As she watched, Hunter’s expression changed from alertness to a leashed savagery that chilled her. Smoothlyhe raised his rifle and sighted down the barrel.
    Whoever the approaching rider was, he was known to Hunter.
    And hated by him.
    The sound of more horses approaching at a gallop came on the wind.
    Slowly, reluctantly, Hunter lowered the rifle.
    “Watch that stud, ma’am,” Morgan said. “He catches scent of a lot of horses, he’s likely to whinny.”
    Elyssa closed the spyglass, shoved it into Bugle Boy’s saddlebag, and went to Leopard’s head. She put one hand on the bit. The other settled on the horse’s nose. She murmured to him in a low voice.
    “What about Bugle Boy?” Elyssa asked quietly.
    “He knows better. So does my pony.”
    Through the screen of willows Elyssa watched four horsemen ride by. They were perhaps three hundred feet away. They were joined by a fifth man, who was riding on a big sorrel mule.
    Morgan took one look at the mule and began to speak so softly that Elyssa couldn’t hear individual words. The expression on Morgan’s face left no doubt that he was cursing.
    Leopard’s barrel swelled as he sucked in air, preparing to whinny a challenge to the intruders.
    Elyssa’s fingers clamped firmly down on the stud’s flaring nostrils. He shook his head. Her fingers stayed in place. Leopard settled back into silence.
    After a few moments the five men rode off in the direction of Wind Gap.
    Not until the last faint sound of hoofbeats faded did Hunter leave his vantage point and return to the bottom of the ravine.
    “Culpepper,” Morgan said.
    Hunter nodded curtly.
    “Gaylord?” Morgan offered.
    “No. Ab.”
    The quality of Hunter’s voice chilled Elyssa.
    “Ab,” Morgan muttered. “The head devil hisself.”
    Hunter grunted.
    “Well,” Morgan said, smiling coldly, “we’re getting close, then. A week, maybe two. Ab ain’t a patient kind of man.”
    “Wonder where he’s been,” Hunter said.
    Morgan shrugged. “Back and forth between here and the Spanish Trail, last I heard. Some of his kin was with him.”
    “Which ones?”
    Morgan shrugged again. “Don’t matter. You won’t need to worry about them. They’re chasing Spanish treasure. Digging for it, so I hear.”
    Hunter shook his head at such foolishness.
    “Ab don’t have much patience with anything like work,” Morgan said, “so he comes north every few weeks. Beau and his bunch are on the way, too.”
    “Beau, Clim, Darcy, and Floyd won’t be joining Ab,” Hunter said with satisfaction.
    “Heard something like that. Colorado, wasn’t it?”
    Hunter nodded.
    “Lot of Yankee dollars on those boys’ heads,” Morgan said to no one in particular.
    “The folks who earned the reward money didn’t want it,” Hunter said.
    Morgan looked surprised.
    “I sent the money back to Alex,” Hunter said as he stepped into Bugle Boy’s stirrup.
    “Too late,” Morgan said as he mounted.
    Hunter nodded curtly and reined Bugle Boy around.
    “Hope his mother gets it,” Hunter said. “Her husband came back from the war with one arm and no legs.”
    Realizing that she was going to be left behind if shedidn’t move quickly, Elyssa scrambled onto Leopard with the help of a handy boulder. She thanked Penny’s scissors and thread every bit of the way into the saddle.
    It was a lot easier to ride without a mass of cloth twisting around her legs every time she tried to mount or dismount.
    “Are we going to track the men?” Elyssa asked.
    Hunter shook his head.
    “Why not?” Elyssa asked.
    “They’re five to our two.”
    “Three,” she corrected. “I can shoot.”
    “Have you ever shot a man?” Hunter retorted.
    “No, but I’ve been real tempted lately.”
    Morgan hid his smile.
    “Want me to track them, ramrod?” Morgan asked blandly.
    “All right,” Hunter said. “But when you get on B Bar land, turn back.”
    “ If you get there,” Elyssa corrected instantly. “There’s no guarantee that’s where those men are going. They might just be passing through.”
    “Where to?” Hunter asked sarcastically.
    “The other side,” Elyssa shot back.
    “ Adiós ,” Morgan said.
    No one answered. Hunter and Elyssa were too busy glaring at one another to notice Morgan leave.
    “Why is there bad blood between the Ladder