A Fortune for the Outlaw's Daughter

A shiver tickled her spine. “That’s a town.”

“Yep. Bittersweet.”

“I didn’t expect a town,” she said.

Lucky started down the hill. “With any luck, darling, we’ll be sleeping in real beds tonight.”

A chill, not from the wind, seemed to start in her toes and didn’t stop tingling until it hit her head, setting a good number of thoughts into motion. The only reason Bass had taken her into towns along the trail had been to leave her there. A warning from Trig flashed through her mind, too. Don’t let him go off on his own, his uncle had said. He likes to do that.

Her gaze settled on Lucky’s back. If he thought she’d just trekked halfway across the world, tugging two stubborn mules in her wake, just to be left in town while he went out looking for gold, he had a whole other think coming. She didn’t care if she ever slept in a real bed. She would, of course, once she was rich, but until then the ground was just fine. Had been all her life and would continue to be for a while longer. She didn’t need his shoulder for a pillow, either. But she would not let him sneak away. Would not.

Hours later, for the town was much farther away than it first appeared, as it usually was when looking down upon things, Maddie had worked herself into a good, steaming fit of anger. Lucky was dang near running toward Bittersweet.

Trig had outfitted her for the excursion, including pocket money, and she was good at finding gold, but Lucky had the map. Therefore, she was trekking just as fast.

Several other sets of prospectors had left Dabbler before them. Their camps had littered the trail, but it hadn’t been until the downward trek that she’d seen how many others there were. All afternoon the trail ahead of them had been dotted with people, scurrying toward the town as quickly as she and Lucky. A glance back up the hill told her how many traveled behind them, too. All the time she’d thought it had been just the two of them in this vast wilderness, they’d just been two among many. Another thought had forced its way into her mind, too. Mad Dog. She hadn’t thought of him for weeks. That wasn’t like her. She still didn’t believe he’d follow her all this way, but others were here, and they were after the exact same thing she was. Gold. She had to get to it first.

“Let’s see if there’s a livery where we can put up the mules and then find a place for ourselves,” Lucky said. “Hopefully everything’s not full.”

“It most likely is,” she said. “With the number of folks ahead of us, I think we’d be best just to continue on.”

His grin had the effect of cactus needles on her—biting deep and leaving a sting. “Can’t hurt to check,” he said, all bright and cheerful.

Swallowing a growl, she kept her frustration out of her voice, but did tell him, “If you’re that tired we’ll just pitch our tent on the edge of town. There isn’t any reason to spend money frivolously.”

“Yes, Maddie, my girl,” Cole said, “there is.” He wanted a room—two rooms—almost more than he wanted gold. One more night of cradling Maddie in his arms might just be the death of him. He woke every morning, stiff and sore, neither from the hard ground, and desperately needed a reprieve.

If his uncle had been anywhere at hand, he’d have belly punched him. Putting a man in this type of predicament was flat-out evil.