Chapter Seven
Charger didn’t return in a day or a week. It was feared he’d been taken on the sly by the most cunning thief in years to terrorize the local ranchers. The hope was that the man would be smart enough to know that he couldn’t get away with the crime forever and that he’d soon move on to fresh pickings.
As long as they feared the man might still be in the vicinity, Lacy was cautious, Travis was cautious, and for the long month of August, the horses were hardly allowed to stray from the close pastures. Like shepherds tending their sheep, the ranch hands guarded them with shotguns in hand, whenever the animals were outside the stables. No one felt safe. Lacy lived with a prickly feeling at her neck, day to day. Travis was watchful to the point of being obsessive. And they
