A Little Time In Texas

“We can’t let him get away with stealin’ her like that,” a cowboy grumbled.

“Who said we’re gonna?”

“What’s that you got there? Dynamite? What’re you gonna do with that?”

“Blow them to Kingdom Come. Or leastwise trap ’em in there till Judgment Day.”

“You can’t—”

“Who’s gonna know? They ain’t gonna tell. ’Sides. It’ll serve ’em both right. If we can’t have her, nobody can.”

“I ain’t so sure about this,” one cowboy said.

By then it was too late. Several sticks of dynamite had been lit and tossed into the cave entrance.

Angel only had a second to acknowledge the fact that they were doomed. Anger flared. She wasn’t ready to die trapped in the dark. She wrenched free and started running for the opening of the cave. She had to escape!

She heard her captor swear low and mean as he chased her. He grunted with effort as he threw himself bodily at her. His forward motion forced her down hard as he covered her with his body.

Mere seconds passed before the first explosion came, followed by a second and a third. The sound was deafening. The repercussions rocked the inside walls of the cave. Angel choked on the settling dust, but only a few pebble-sized rocks fell near them.

“Where the hell did you think you were going?” the man asked as he sat up and brushed himself off.

“I would think that was obvious.” Angel tried peering through the gloom. She coughed from the dust. “Do you think we can dig ourselves out of here?”

“Not hardly.”

“At least we’re alive,” she said. “We—”

“Shut up and listen.”

“I don’t hear—”

He clamped a hand over her mouth, and she heard it. The ominous sound of cracking rock. The man cursed vehemently as a low rumble began, sending a shudder through the cave.

Suddenly he bolted upright and yanked her to her feet. “If you want to live, you’ll run. Run like the devil is at your heels!”

He took off in the dark, his hand clamped like a vise on her wrist. Angel careered after him, her arm stretched out of the socket as her short legs valiantly tried to keep pace with his long strides.

The rumbling sound seemed to follow them, until finally it caught up with them. Angel felt herself being propelled off her feet by a blast of air. With the kind of strength she could only imagine, the seventh man pulled her into the protective circle of his arms before they were both thrown forward.

“Get ready! Here it comes!”

Angel wanted to ask “Here what comes?” but it was already too late for that. There was no way she could have prepared for what followed. Behind them the cave began to collapse. Thousands of tons of rock fell, blocking their way out and sealing them in what had become their tomb.

When the dust settled again, Angel was surprised to realize that she could breathe easily. She wondered how long the air would last…and whether her kidnapper would take advantage of their remaining time alive to take what he had risked both their lives to get.

The man sat up and put a hand on her shoulder. “You okay?”

“Of all the stupid, shallow-pated, lack-wit questions I ever heard, that one—”

“Whoa, there, lady. That’s no way to talk to someone who just saved your life.”

Angel sat up abruptly, scooting backward out of range of his hand and stared into the dark. She knew he was there, she just couldn’t see him. “You have me all to yourself now,” she said bitterly. “For all the good it’ll do you. I have no intention of relinquishing my virtue to some varmint who—”

“Whoa, there,” he said. “I have no designs on your, uh, virtue.”

“Then why did you drag me in here?” she demanded.

“I was rescuing you, dammit!”

“Rescuing me! In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re trapped in here. We’re going to die! We’re—”

“Whoa, there, lady.”

“If you say that again, I’m going to scream,” Angel warned.

When the cowboy chuckled she said, “I’d like to know what you find so funny about this situation. We’re going to die. We’re trapped.”

“No, we’re not.”

“I don’t know where you’ve been for the past few minutes. To refresh your memory, this whole cave just came down practically on our heads. There must be tons of rock between us and the only way out of here.”

“That wasn’t the only way out.”

Angel was afraid to hope that she’d heard him right. “What?”

“There’s another way out. I’ve been in this cave before, but I’ve never come in this direction. Today I wasn’t paying attention and I took a wrong turn. I didn’t realize there was another way to daylight. You have no idea how surprised I was to see you.” He whistled long and low. “Sure looked like you planned to give those cowboys a run for their money.”

“I wouldn’t have made it easy for them,” she agreed. “You’d best be warned and watch out yourself.”

He laughed then, a rich, full sound. “Lady, I wouldn’t dare make a move on a hellcat like you. By the way, what’s your name?”

“Angel.”

That made him laugh again. “Far as I can tell, you’re anything but.”

“Now, look here, Mr.—”

“Name’s Dallas. Dallas Masterson. Pleased to meet you, Angel—Angel what?”

“Taylor.”

“Pleased to meet you, Angel Taylor.”

She imagined him tipping his hat. Only she was pretty sure he wasn’t wearing one. “If you know the way out, why are we still sitting here?”

“There is a slight problem.”