Love of a Bounty (Sequal to Unexpected Romance but can stand alone)

Chapter Three

Tessa walked out of the hotel at dawn the next morning. The stranger had given her fifty dollars and so she walked over to the stable to see about getting a horse. She needed to chase after that damn man and get her gun back or else she could forget about going after Trigger.

She walked in and the old man that ran the stable looked at her and shook his head.

"I ain't got that horse no more." he said. " A man said you stole it and he came in and took it back."

"I know." Tessa said. "He said I stole it because I did steal it." The mans eyes widened.

"You know horse thieving is a hanging offense don't you?" he asked.

"Well obviously he didn't tie a rope around my neck did he?" she asked. "Now I got fifty dollars and I want to buy a horse off of you. I know you have several in the corral behind the stable."

"Fifty dollars huh?" he asked as he rubbed his bearded chin. Tessa nodded but she could see that the old man was hoping to cheat her.

"I'm gonna warn you that I'm a fair judge of horseflesh so don't try to give me some old nag." she said. The old man nodded and led her back around to the corral. He pointed to a medium sized brown mare with a white star on it's head and blond mane and tail. The horse looked healthy enough and she nodded.

"I'll take her." she said. "I need a saddle." The old man shook his head.

"I don't know what to tell you. That horse is fifty dollars. If you want a saddle it'll cost you another ten." Tessa crossed her arms over her chest and thought. She pulled her father's pocket watch from her pants pocket and looked down at it. She knew it was worth at least what any saddle he would have would be worth. She didn't want to part with the watch but didn't see that she had much of a choice.

"Here. This ougtta cover the cost of a saddle." she said. The man took the watch and looked it over then nodded. He walked back to an empty stall and pulled out a simple leather saddle and reins. Tessa pulled the fifty dollars from her pocket and handed it to him as he handed her the saddle. She walked around to the corral, saddled the mare and slipped the reins over her head. Then she jumped on the mares back and started out of town in the same direction the stranger had taken last night.

888

Richard poured some bitter coffee into his tiny tin cup and took a long drink. Sure wasn't the best coffee he'd ever had but then again it wasn't the worst either, he reminded himself as he thought about the few times he had had the misfortune to taste Bianca's coffee.

He pulled a pouch out of the saddlebags and pulled out a piece of jerky and a stale biscuit. He was chewing on the jerky when he heard hooves pounding toward him. He pulled his gun quickly and turned to see that skinny ass boy from the night before.

"What the hell do you want?" he demanded as the boy rode closer.

"My gun." Tessa replied. Richard holstered his gun and sat back down shaking his head.

"Nice horse. Did you steal that one too?" he asked. Tessa shook her head as she jumped from the mare and walked over. Richard looked up at her and she couldn't stop the gasp that came from her.

His face was dark and tan and covered in scars. Three long scars ran down his right cheek while smaller scars were all over his left. Even his lip had a small scar across it. She saw that his eyes were bright blue and seemed very alert as he looked at her.

"What happened to you?" she asked before she could stop herself. Richard shrugged.

"Got lucky." he said. She was puzzled by his answer.