Ball & Chain(61)

Somewhere in the woods to their right, a tree branch snapped, the sound so loud it startled the horses. A moment later there was a thump and another crack, and Zane would have sworn it sounded like silenced gunshots.

The horses both reared, neighing in terror. Ty’s grip on Zane’s waist tightened, and they both managed to stay in the saddle. Out of the corner of his eye, Zane saw Nick hit the ground. The lantern in his hand went rolling with him, casting garish shadows on the trees around them before it disappeared into the ditch along the side of the path and extinguished, throwing everything into complete darkness. Kelly’s horse bolted, and Zane’s galloped off after it.

Zane fought with the reins, trying to turn the horse, to stop it. They heard shots behind them, not silenced this time, but booming through the wet night. Kelly struggled with his horse, trying to force it to turn back for Nick, but it was too spooked by the gunfire. Zane finally got his horse to stop in the middle of the path. Ty pushed off him, dismounting and hitting the ground with a grunt.

“Go get him!” he shouted.

Zane turned the horse, spurring it to a gallop into the inky darkness.



Nick lay in the middle of the road, staring at the moon through the creepy, bare branches of the trees. He had his gun in his hands, still pointed at the trees on the side of the path. He hadn’t emptied his revolver, even though that had been his first instinct. He had two shots left.

He heard the pounding hooves seconds before he felt the vibrations beneath his shoulders. The fall had nearly knocked the sense out of him, and he didn’t think he could move. That horse was probably going to trample him, and he still couldn’t find the ability to scramble off the path. Instead he raised one hand, aiming his gun into the night sky like he could hit Orion’s Belt. He waited until he could see the outline of the charging animal and then fired into the air.

The horse reared, bucking and trying to retreat, and Zane cursed, trying to calm it.

“O’Flaherty!” Zane shouted.

“Don’t let that thing step on me,” Nick called back.

The horse sidestepped toward him, still nervous but calming as Zane cooed to it. Zane hit the ground just feet away, and then knelt beside him, keeping the horse between them and the woods.

“Are you hit?”

“Stag,” Nick said to him.

“What?”

“It was a stag. I shot it.”

Zane looked over his shoulder into the woods. “It wasn’t shots fired?”

“Nope. Bigass deer. Help me up, huh?”

Zane pulled him up to sit, giving him a moment to make sure nothing was broken before dragging him to his feet. He stretched and shook himself out, managing not to whimper. “I think I broke my ass bone,” he said, and they both grinned.

The other horse trotted up, Kelly and Ty in the saddle. “Are you okay?” Kelly cried.

“I shot dinner,” Nick said.

Kelly snorted. “Look, Hannibal, you can shoot back if they’re shooting at you, but it’s still not okay to eat them afterward.”

Zane retrieved the light, converting it back into a flashlight and holding it up so they could see into the woods. The stag Nick had shot was lying a few yards away, the bullet holes right at its heart, steaming in the night.

“Nice shot,” Zane murmured.

“It was a deer?” Ty asked. “Goddamn, I would have sworn those were shots.”

Nick squinted into the woods, shrugging. That was why he’d started firing back, but he supposed the wet pop of the underbrush with the weight of a deer that size would be as loud as what they’d heard. If not, they’d probably all still be taking fire.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Zane said as he stood. He took the reins and pulled himself into the saddle, then held his hand out to Nick. “You okay to ride?”

Nick gave him a disgruntled nod and hefted himself onto the horse behind Zane. He groaned when he got up, resting his forehead on the back of Zane’s shoulder. “Corpsman up,” he said pitifully.

“Did you break your coccyx?” Kelly asked, just barely keeping the laughter out of his voice.

“You can check it for me tonight,” Nick said wryly.

Ty made an offended sound and followed it with a simple, “Nope!” before spurring the horse into the darkness.





“It bothers you, doesn’t it?” Zane asked as Ty paced in front of the fireplace in their room. Ty hadn’t even shed his dirty clothes yet; he’d been too busy thinking about what Nick and Kelly were probably doing next door.

“No,” Ty insisted. He winced, realizing the lie in his answer. He turned to Zane almost desperately. “Yes. A little. Should it? I feel like it shouldn’t.”