Turning the barrel so the honey ran onto the ground, she began to make her way down the mountain toward the cabin, leaving a thick trail in the leaves and grass.

Lee’s horse stood ready and saddled in front of the cabin, and Blair managed to remove the cork from the second barrel of honey without any noise before she tied it on the back of the saddle. For a moment, she hesitated about what she was doing, because if Françoise took too long to cut herself loose and the bears smelled the honey first, then the bears could go for the horse before it had a rider. Timing was everything.

She climbed in the cabin window and saw, even in the dark, Lee frowning at her because she’d taken so long. As quickly as she could, she removed her medical uniform. She wanted to look as if she’d just wakened.

Françoise was lying on the floor and Blair could see that there were raw places on her wrists where she’d tried to get out of the bindings. Blair’s stomach lurched. She’d taken a vow to relieve suffering, and she hated to be the cause of pain in anyone.

Françoise opened her eyes as Blair walked by.

“I guess I haven’t recovered since you tried to starve me,” Blair said, as she sliced a piece of cheese from the chunk on the corner of the table. “It won’t be long now before the sheriff will be here.”

“If he were coming, he’s had time. The man who came with Leander has been killed by now.”

“Too bad,” Blair said nonchalantly. “He’s Taggert, the one with the money.”

With a fierce yawn, Blair put the knife on the table and picked up the piece of cheese she’d cut. “I’m going back to bed. Sleep well,” she laughed before leaving the room.

As soon as she was out of sight of the woman, she began to dress, slowly and silently, while she placed herself so that she could see Françoise. The outline in the moonlight showed that the woman lost no time in taking the knife from the table and even less time in cutting her bindings. She was out the door in seconds.

“Let’s go,” Lee said as soon as he heard his horse take a step.

“Let me guess, more walking,” Blair said heavily, feeling very tired.

“When we get through with this, you can stay in bed for a week,” Lee said. “With me.”

“That sounds restful,” Blair said sarcastically.

/> Lee led her down a sheer rock face. She had an idea that if she were to see this place in daylight, she’d refuse to try to climb it. As it was, she didn’t seem to have a choice. They had to beat Françoise back to the box canyon.

Lee stopped abruptly and below them lay the canyon. It was quiet around the darkened little cabin, and she wasn’t sure there was anyone in there.

“They’re waiting for her. I don’t think they make a move without her telling them what to do.”

“Lee, it’s taken Taggert a long time, hasn’t it? Do you think he’s all right?”

“I don’t know. There were many of them against one of him.” He moved to the mouth of the canyon and began to place the dynamite. “As soon as we get them sealed in here, I’ll ride back to Chandler and get help.”

“Ride? On what?”

“Here, hold this,” he said, handing her a fuse. “I’ll show you later. Now, it’s all set. We just have to wait for our lady outlaw.”

They sat there in silence for a few minutes. “She should be here by now. I hope she isn’t lost.”

“Or gone elsewhere,” Blair added. “Lee, I think I should tell you something. It’s about the honey. I—.”

“Quiet! I think I hear something.”

It was nearing daylight and in the hazy dawn they could just see the outline of a rider on horseback. The horse was giving the rider a very hard time, and the slim woman was having difficulty controlling it.

“Up there! Now!” Lee ordered Blair, and she began to run to the safety of the higher rocks.

The next minute, all hell broke loose. Françoise began screaming and, in the canyon below, men started running and shooting their guns before they even knew what was wrong. Blair stopped on her way up to look back, and she saw the Frenchwoman on the big stallion, fighting to control the animal, and behind her were two bears, loping along, stopping now and then to lick the rocky ground.

Blair heard a muffled sound from Lee, and the next thing she knew, he was tearing up the hill, his arm catching her about the waist. All the while, he was whistling in an odd way, two short, piercing tones, then repeated.

“Get down,” he said and shoved Blair so that she scraped her elbows on the rock. She scooted forward until she could see into the chaos in the canyon below. The horses in the corral were going crazy now that the bears were in the canyon with them, and the people were running around trying to shoot the bears, calm the horses and escape the confusion. Françoise was pulling on the reins of Lee’s horse, and screaming and pointing at the entryway, as she tried to get the men to listen to her.

Suddenly, Lee’s big horse reared and dumped her onto the ground, then the animal turned and started running toward the entrance, oblivious to the bears that stood in his way.

Tags: Jude Deveraux Montgomery/Taggert Historical
Source: readsnovelonline.net