Chapter 9Lucy Wilkes was loath to hang onto the desperado she was being forced to ride with, and that explained how she came to fall from the back of their mount. She fell awkwardly and hit the ground so hard that she lost consciousness for a time. When she came round, she was being hauled back onto the horse. Her ribs hurt terribly, and she wondered if she'd broken one or more of them. The pain was sufficient to cause her to fear another fall, and from then on she held onto the man's shirt or waist.
She wondered where they were taking her, and why they should want her with them; but whenever she asked them the first of these questions, they just said she'd find out. As to the second question, they reckoned the men in Fiveways would be wary of getting up a posse and coming after them, pre
