Woman's A Cowboy

17

Samuel's POV

I swung into the saddle,  leather creaking as I adjusted my weight.  My head felt thick,  but I knew what needed to be done.  Spurring my horse into action,  I raced towards the Tucker ranch. 

Clementine's POV.

I paced the kitchen,  panic setting in.  Dean and the other two set at the table,  tracing my path with their eyes. 

Ebony frowned,  "dear,  there isn't much left you can do but wait.  Rhett and Will won't let anything happen to you. "

"Not to mention Riker," Raleigh chimed in from her spot by the window.

"Or us. " The trio added. 

I sighed, shaking my head,  "I know,  but Y'all haven't met my pa.  He's worse than Jeb. "

The room went silent at the echoes of the warning shot.  Everyone sprung from their seats and I pushed away from the table.  I reached my holster than my rifle.  Loading the gun,  I rushed to the porch. 

A rally of shots rang out and the trio decided to ride out to see what the commotion was about. 

I began to pace the yard.  Raleigh and Ebony were in the kitchen busy making food.  At the sound of an oncoming rider,  I looked up,  shocked to see my father astride. 

I lifted my skirts,  rushing for the porch while brandishing my own weapon.  I tried screaming,  but was grabbed my the rifle strapped to my back.  I was slung unto my stomach,  the pommel digging into my skin and knocking the wind from my lungs. 

My pa flicker the reigns then worked at stuffing a rolled bandana in my mouth.  He knotted the fabric in my hair and continued riding. 

Tears burned my eyes.  We continued on for what felt like hours.  I struggled to even stay on the horse. 

We reached a small cropping of boulders and pa moved expertly up the rise.  Dark clouds looked overhead and within minutes the sky had opened. 

The rocks grew slippery and a stone fell loose,  knocking the horse off balance, the group fell into a ravine like space.  My body slipped from the horse  pitching me onto a rough boulder.  My ankle landed differently and I cried out in pain against the bandana.  I watched as the horse and rider continued to fall until they reached the bottom,  a hearty drop. 

My father was beneath the beast,  and I doubted that anyone could have lived such a fall. 

Rain pelted my skin.  I reached up and wrenched the bandana from my mouth,  gazing down at my ankle.  I moved it right fine,  but it hurt something awful. 

I peeled off my boot and watched as the skin around my ankle began to swell. 

Tears burned trails down my face as I stared up at the wall in front of me.  I struggled to my feet,  testing my weight if my ankle.  It was painful,  but I needed to get up to the top if there was any hope for me. 

Finding foothold after foothold,  I pulled myself to the top.  My hands and face were scraped something fierce,  my arms bled and my bottom lip was cut. 

Stubbornly,  I moved in the direction from which I'd come.