Big Sky Brazen

By Dawn Luedecke

After she discovers a cut fence and her horses missing, DeEtte hunts down the dirty outlaws who took the herd from her ranch, only to find things aren't as they seem. John, the man who stole her horses and her heart, must now prove he is indeed as innocent as he claims -- a task that makes it difficult for him to woo the headstrong woman. Two-timing outlaws, deadly secrets, and finally DeEtte's ability to find danger in any situation challenge his love and determination. John needs to settle his score with a man from Texas, protect DeEtte not only from murderous outlaws but from other suitors, and meanwhile convince her he's trustworthy enough to marry. Can he clear his name and at the same time keep her from running headfirst into a range war and possible death?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dawn Luedecke
• Release date: Sep 25, 2018
• ISBN: 9781718017672

Dawn Luedecke

A country girl born and bred, Dawn Luedecke has spent most of her life surrounded by horses, country folk, and the wild terrain of Nevada, Idaho and Montana. As a child she would spend many afternoons reading books, watching western classics, and Rogers and Hammerstein movies. When she grew up she decided to leave the quiet country life for a chance to find adventure by serving a successful tour in the United States Coast Guard. During that time she found her soul mate (and alpha male) and started a family and writing career. She enjoys writing historical and paranormal romance and spends as much time as she can working on her current manuscript. For more information visit www.dawnluedeckebooks.com.

Book preview

Chapter 1

It was just plain old bad luck. First, three of DeEtte’s best mares went missing, and now her whole herd disappeared into thin air. What else could possibly go wrong? She yanked the buckskin gloves from her hands, slapped them against her thigh, and turned in the saddle toward her sister and cousin as they rode up beside her. "What do you think?’

Her sister, Dolly, leaned on the pommel and twisted her face in concentration. All signs point to the outlaw Moonshine Molly and her partner, Break Neck Leonard. We’ve been tracking them for a while now. But you never know. Anything is possible. Either way, I’m going to kill whoever stole them.

Cousin Johnny simply nodded in agreement. DeEtte had nicknamed him Slim when they were younger, but now she wondered whether it should have been Silent Slim.

DeEtte’s sister, bounty hunter that she was, was right; the situation she now found herself in wasn’t good. No matter what happened to the horses or who had them, she was belly deep in trouble.

When are you expecting Uncle Hank? Dolly asked.

They should reach Montana in a few weeks with the longhorn herd, and they want the mustangs to be ready to ride as soon as they get here. I can’t break ’em if I don’t have ’em. DeEtte let out an agitated sigh and adjusted her large-brimmed hat.

She lurched forward when Slim slapped her shoulder. We’ll get them back, cuz. Don’t you worry! Your sister and I are good at our job, not to mention Ezekiel being out on the outlaws’ trail as we speak. Ezek’s the best tracker I’ve ever met. He won’t let us down, trust me.

She threw her cousin a forced smile and spurred her beautiful palomino mare, Buttered Biscuit, around the pasture. She needed to search the dimples in the dirt and the dense underbrush for any sign of the way the large group of horses had gone so they could follow Ezek.

DeEtte Larson had a responsibility to her brother, Dalon, and his two friends, Holt and Jackson, who rode for her and helped maintain the ranch. Losing the herd would not sit well with them, let alone all the other ranchers in the area, who viewed her as a joke simply because she was an unwed woman and owner of the Triple D Ranch in Lolo, Montana.

She motioned for the group to split up the search and reined Biscuit around to walk the west side of the pasture. Halfway down the line, she found what she searched for – the sign she needed to give a clue to where the horses had gone. DeEtte jumped off her mare and ran to study the cut fence wire she’d discovered earlier. The print of a shod horse with a loose nail marred the powdery dirt next to the twisted barbs and a broken wooden pole. Damn rustlers! She cussed her bad luck and motioned for her sister.

Dolly and Slim galloped toward her, and Dolly leapt from her horse to study the print. After a quick examination, she glanced up at Slim. The pony will have what? Two hundred miles until the shoe falls off? If not sooner.

Slim nodded. My guess is it’ll be either Spokane, Washington, or Lewiston, Idaho, depending on which way they go.

The group mounted and started to follow the obvious trail of the hundred head of horses. A mile into the ride, they spotted the red cloth marker their scout, Ezek, had left. It had taken DeEtte and the rest of the group over an hour to collect all of the supplies needed for the trip, which was why they had sent someone to ride ahead.

Stars glittered in the sky as they entered a clearing and found Ezek. He sat next to a campfire and stood when he saw them approach. As they dismounted, he dusted his hands against his leg. The trail’s old enough we can have a fire tonight, but I suspect we will be living in cold camps in a couple of days.

A rabbit roasted on a spit above the flames while the horses grazed on the lush green of the pasture. DeEtte hadn’t realized how hungry she had become until she smelled the deep roasted smell of the meat. Her stomach rumbled and she sat, ready to dig in.

When we get closer to the herd, we need to post night guards. Dolly motioned to the men and herself. We usually have designated lookout, but with you here to help, sis, we may be able to get a bit more sleep. We can take two-hour shifts. Ezek stood and checked the meat, opened a can of beans, and stuck the tin in the hot coals near the base of the fire as Dolly continued, Which one do you want, little sister?

I’m not sure. I’ve never had to stand guard like this before.

The easiest would be the lookout from midnight to two in the morning. That’s the time when most people are sleeping. I’ve never had any action at that time of night.

All right, then, I’ll take that one, DeEtte said, slightly disappointed. She liked action and experiencing the anticipation mere moments before the height of the tension. Excitement brightened her day, and she really didn’t want to take the easiest lookout. DeEtte mentally shrugged. Her sister had more experience in this than she did, so she’d concede…for the time being.

John stood from his crouched position hidden deep in the brush surrounding DeEtte’s camp. He didn’t know why he’d given her a false name when they first met at the barn raising a few weeks ago. Panic, maybe? Perhaps it was best she believed him to be Adam Marks, since he did just take the horses she thought belonged to her.

Weeks ago, she hadn’t guessed the real reason he was in the area. He couldn’t tell her why he’d come to Lolo, but for some reason he had wanted to just turn around and ride back to Texas without completing his mission. He didn’t, though. After all, the telegram he received shortly after getting to Montana said she was an outlaw—although she sure didn’t seem like one. His job was simple—get the horses the Texas man said she’d stolen and bring them back to Waco.

Taking horses from a woman should have been an easy task. So why do I feel like I’ve dishonored my family name? Oh, well, he couldn’t go back now. Moreover, there was a large sum of money waiting for him at the end of the trip. It would be enough to purchase the land for his own ranch, so he could get out of his independent detective agency. He’d started the business for the sole purpose of earning enough money to buy the land, and he was almost there. Only a hundred dollars more and those acres in Texas were his.

John walked around the outskirts of DeEtte’s camp without making a sound. He’d done his homework on his target and all her acquaintances. DeEtte posed as a so-called rancher and owner of the Triple D, while the three who rode with her were, in fact, bounty hunters, and damned good at their job. But John had something they didn’t – the hunting skills of the Dakota Sioux tribe, taught him by Sacred Eagle Feather. No one in the group knew he circled the camp. No one even flinched when he crossed briefly out into the open. They all sat snuggled against the campfire, eating their meal, as John snuck away.

It was a thirty-minute ride back to his camp, and he’d barely started when the exhaustion from the day’s events slid like a wave over his body. Within minutes, the shadows of the night started to play tricks on his mind. A dark ghost dog ran across his path, and he halted his horse to squint into the night as the figure turned back into the shadowy nothing of a bush’s underbelly. The creak of a tree deep in the forest sounded like an animal’s call and caused his heart to race until he realized the source of the noise.

The dim glow of a campfire against the rocks of a nearby cliff seemed like another trick of the night, except it didn’t disappear when he concentrated on it.

He shook his head to clear the fog of sleepiness, stopped his horse, and looked at the scene once more. It was definitely a fire, and not in his or DeEtte’s camp. The flickers of flames glittered off the rock wall from this particular angle, and if he moved left or right the fire was invisible. The position of this camp tucked deep into the rocks didn’t sit well with him. Someone was out here in the woods and didn’t want to be visible to anyone who chanced to be in the area.

John took a quick glance around to find a prime direction from which to sneak to the outskirts of the camp. A small animal trail snaking through the rocks caught his attention and he slid off his appaloosa gelding, Dallas, and tied him to a branch hidden from sight in the brush off the common mountain trail.

As silently as before he traversed the trail that led to the top of the mountain. From a vantage point above the rocks he would be able to lean over and view the camp. In no time at all he slid onto his stomach and peered over the edge of the cliff. Below sat a man and woman, their faces covered by the large brims of their cowboy hats.

The woman kicked a pebble that ricochet off the rock face and bounced a few feet as she pivoted and faced the man. I don’t care, Leonard! I want them gone. The damned bounty hunters and that woman are trailing someone, and it isn’t us. I don’t think they even know we’re here. We’ll take ’em out while they sleep.

When?

Tomorrow, or the day after. No one will even know what happened to them. We’ll strike when the time is right, sometime before they reach town.

John watched as Leonard poked the fire. What happens if we don’t get them before they reach town?

The woman paused for a moment as if thinking, then answered, We’ll make it seem like we’ve been caught. They won’t expect what will come next. Either way, we’ll take ’em by surprise.

John had heard enough. The couple down below must be the famous Montana outlaws Moonshine Molly and her partner. The information he’d gleaned made his stomach churn. Although DeEtte was a horse thief, he didn’t want to see her murdered. Tossed into the nearest jail cell? Sure. But not dead.

He edged back from the scene below and picked his way down to his horse. The tired feeling no longer bothered him. The only thing he could think of was getting back to his partner and forming a plan of his own.

That night went by without incident for DeEtte and her band of bounty hunters.

Damn it! DeEtte thought the next morning. She wanted action, but hadn’t so much as seen a bear, let alone the men who stole her horses. Before the sun peeked over the mountain, she and her posse packed up camp and started on the trail to gain as much ground as possible.

By noon, the group stopped to rest the horses and eat a quick lunch of hard tack and jerky. The trail the stolen horses had forged became increasingly fresh as the hours ticked by and DeEtte’s band grew closer to the scoundrels. By mid afternoon, a little meadow next to a bubbling stream was the perfect spot to stop and rest for a bit before continuing after the herd.

The dried pine needles on the ground crunched beneath her feet when DeEtte got up from the fallen log where she’d been sitting and headed toward her horse. She stepped over a fallen branch and saw it – a hoof print with a missing nail. She beckoned the rest of her group over and showed them the indentation.

DeEtte looked around the ground and found a broken horseshoe nail ten feet away, mixed in with the many horse tracks. She picked it up, turned it around in her fingers, and stuck it in her pocket. Then, with a quick spin on her heels, she walked over and, without using the stirrups, swung onto her horse.

For the rest of the day they followed the trail. Each hill they peaked was dense with trees and vegetation. Forest dominated most of the land in these parts of the West. Even in June the air was chilly in the shadow of the mountain. It was rumored some of the towns north of where they now rode sometimes got snow during the summer months. DeEtte had never seen such a phenomenon, though.

The trail stayed warm and was getting warmer, but they were still far enough behind the herd that it irked DeEtte. It wouldn’t be long before they caught up with the horse thieves, and when they did, the bounders would pay! With their lives, if need be. After she extracted justice, DeEtte would bring her horses back and life would return to normal.

The hours on the trail ticked by without any excitement, except for the large bull elk they’d spooked from his bed under a large pine tree. The majestic animal must have been downwind of them, and he spooked the horses when he jumped up and ran deep into the forest. It took all of DeEtte’s patience to calm her horse enough to continue.

A few hours after that, they stopped for the night and made camp.

What are we going to do about Moonshine Molly and Break Neck Leonard? Dolly asked when they settled down for supper that night. She loaded a plate with the potatoes and meat from the cast iron pan cooking above the fire and offered it to DeEtte, who took it and settled her back against her saddle she’d placed on the ground earlier.

Ezek shook his head as Cousin Johnny spoke up, We’re gonna have to wire Missoula’s sheriff, Don Barker, and ask him to keep a look out.

I’ll wire him as soon as we get to Spokane, Dolly said and took a bite of food. Chewing, she continued, With any luck, we can catch the rattlesnake horse thieves shortly after that. Then we can get back to Moonshine’s trail.

Both Ezek and Johnny nodded their heads in agreement and turned their attention to their supper. DeEtte sat listening to the group gobble their food loudly, and talk about plans for the outlaws. She felt a little guilty that her sister had to postpone her manhunt for her, but in reality, it was the fault of whoever stole her horses. Therefore, she would take her anger out on them, whoever they may be.

How would I punish them? she wondered. She could turn them over to the law, but that would be too easy. DeEtte chewed her food with slow, careful bites and looked into the darkness of the trees surrounding the camp. Her sister, Slim, and Ezek were talking about something not at all interesting to her, which gave her the perfect opportunity to let her mind wander.

Turning the thieves in to the sheriff wasn’t enough of a punishment. They needed more for the stress they were putting her through. I could shoot them, but that would be too nice. I could run them under the herd of horses, but that would be too mean. Perfect, DeEtte said aloud, and looked around in surprise at her unintentional outburst, but no one had paid any attention. She would tie the bounders up to a tree and smother them in honey. Then she would leave. Either they would get loose or a bear would find them. She would let a higher power determine their fate. If she got the opportunity, she would do it!

DeEtte smiled to herself, finished her meal, and started to clean the dishes. She straightened up camp and retired to her bedroll. The watches started that night, just in case they’d gotten closer to the herd than anticipated. She wanted to be rested for the long hours ahead.

Chapter 2

Her body shook, and the fog started to fade from her hazy head. She jolted upright and frantically looked around. Ezek chuckled from somewhere nearby. Easy, girly, I’m waking you for lookout. Not much going on. The night’s as quiet as a cougar’s footstep.

DeEtte glared at Ezek through the blackness. Thanks. Now I’ll be on the lookout for cougars.

Anytime, Ezek said, his chuckle fading as he settled into his bedroll. I put some Arbuckle’s in the coals to keep warm.

Thanks, coffee is the one thing I need right now. DeEtte pulled on her boots, strapped her shooters around her waist, and tied the strap to her thigh. Pushing herself up from the ground, she moved into the light of the fire to sit next to the heat. A kettle of coffee sat simmering in the coals next to the blazing fire. She poured herself a cup and leaned back against the log, enjoying the much-needed drink.

The night was calm. Few sounds came from the thick blackness. She leaned forward and poked the fire, stirring the coals and wood to heighten the flames.

She took a deep breath and stilled, listening to the night. The soft rush of the stream trickled twenty yards to her right, and the timber of the large trees creaked as they swayed in the gentle nighttime breeze. Slim let out a loud snore as he slept in his bedroll. The horse’s hooves stomped slightly and gave an irritated snort.

DeEtte tensed. Something had caused the ponies to wake and become irritated. She closed her eyes for a minute, expanding her hearing as far as possible. A gentle footstep fell in the leaves—something larger than a squirrel or rabbit, not quite as big as a bear. A wolf or cougar? There was no telling. She mentally gauged the location of the animal, directly to her right, thirty feet away, and hidden deep in the brush and out of sight.

Her skin tingled as if eyes followed her every move, watching, waiting for her to make a move. The air flowed thick with anticipation and potential danger.

This is perfect! Finally, some action! She smiled an almost wicked grin as she stood and stretched, whatever was out there didn’t stand a chance. She looked around and went into the bushes to her left, directly opposite the predator.

When she was certain she couldn’t be seen, she took out one of her six-guns and made a wide circle around the camp. As quietly as possible, she crept up to the bushes in which she’d thought the predator had hidden.

Empty.

Not a trace of any kind of living creature. She slowed her breath in order to expand her hearing. The predator stood somewhere. If not here, then where? Turning on her heels, she surveyed the dark ominous trees, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She walked farther into the vegetation, pistol held high at the ready.

The click of the handgun echoed in the night when she cocked the hammer and trudged on, deeper and deeper into the trees.

Nothing.

The night was silent, so she turned to walk toward the safety of the fire.

Like a ghost, he stood in her path, the white of his shirt and tan of his pants illuminated by the shimmering streams of moonlight. The dark hat he wore hid his face in deep shadows. The pistols on his hips caught the moon’s rays and shimmered like a warning. The rough silky tone of his voice shot through her as he spoke, What are you doing out here?

She swallowed—scared and thrilled all at once. Her heart pumped hard in her chest and her mind whirled with uncertainty. It took her a minute to gain mental strength enough to speak. She shook off the feelings he evoked and mustered everything she could.

She crossed her arms over her chest. For some strange reason, she knew this mysterious man wouldn’t hurt her, as if she should know who he was and where he came from. With a quick breath to calm her runaway heart, she mustered the brazen attitude she normally possessed.

"Who are you and what are you doing here? This is my camp." Her breath hitched when he took two steps closer, which took away the moonlight and shrouded him in shadows.

Maybe I’m camped here, he replied in an oddly familiar voice.

I’d have realized that a long time ago, she tossed back. We have four in our camp, and you are definitely not one of them. If you don’t leave immediately, I will shoot you. I tend to aim for the parts that will hurt the most.

A low rumble of a chuckle rippled from his chest. Her breath sucked out of her lungs as he took another step toward her, grabbed her arms below her shoulders, and kissed her.

Danger! Her mind screamed breathlessly. Blessed danger. She grew dizzy, enriched– controlled by the lure of the unknown.

Her mind lost, she was unable to control her arms, which hung lifelessly at her sides. His lips were warm. His breath smelled like a mixture of gently spiced meat and coffee. It became an elixir of intoxicating drugs overpowering her senses.

Her conscience screamed for her to step back and shoot the liberty-taking snake, but her body stood in his arms and took pleasure in his kiss.

Her eyes closed.

For a brief moment the pressure of his mouth intensified, and just as suddenly it disappeared.

Abandoned.

She opened her eyes to empty darkness. The man had gone as he came, like a ghost. Her chest heaved, and her body descended from the lust-filled dream.

He wasn’t a dream, though. His body had disappeared into the night, but his scent still spiced the air. She remained motionless and willed her mind and body to return to normal.

Like the split end of a whip, her mind snapped together. Outrage shot from her body like a bullet. She kicked the dried leaves and twigs and cursed her momentary lapse of judgment. She should not have given such liberties to a complete stranger, and a dangerous one at that. For anyone who walks around at night is not to be trusted.

Never again, she vowed.

She would never let her body be controlled by some unseen force; she didn’t even know the dirty scoundrel. DeEtte huffed her way back to the camp and sat next to the fire. The end of the stick that she used to poke the blaze flamed in the hot embers and mirrored the inferno now burning in her eyes.

She slowly settled as her two quiet hours of watch ticked by. After checking the time on the timepiece she’d tucked into her saddlebags, she woke her sister and settled into her bedroll. They had only four more hours to sleep before daybreak, and she needed to be alert enough to find the tracks of the man who’d visited her camp.

It felt like she’d barely fallen asleep once more when her sister shook her awake with jarring force. I’ll punch you square in the jaw if you ever do that again, she grumbled and turned onto her side, away from her sister.

I’ll punch you back. Now get your lazy butt up or you’ll miss the coffee. We need to get going, Dolly called from behind her.

DeEtte grumbled as she pulled herself out of bed, cleaned up her gear, and swigged some coffee. She walked the vicinity of the camp, checking for signs of the intruder.

Nothing…again.

She shook her head in dismay and mounted Biscuit to follow her sister down the trail.

The air was hot and dusty while they wound around the path the horses had taken, and it was still morning. By noon, the sun could beat against the riders or they might get a quick summer rainstorm to cool them down. The weather was unpredictable here in the Bitterroot Mountains. A rider could go out in the morning and expect nothing but sunshine and soon find herself soaked to the bone in a flash rainstorm—or worse, freezing in a midsummer snowfall. It was widely known throughout Montana that one should always be prepared for any type of weather.

Today, however, DeEtte fully expected the sun to remain hot and angry against the back of her neck. Thank heavens she had a cowboy hat on. Each horse's footstep threw clouds of grit and dirt, enough to make DeEtte yearn for a large tub of hot water, or at least a cold creek bed in which to wash. There were some things a woman couldn’t live without, and a bath was one of them.

In another two days, they would be near Spokane. DeEtte had been watching the tracks of the outlaws, and each day that horse’s shoe came closer to coming off. Tonight they would be too close to the horse thief’s camp for a fire. At night, they would watch the darkness and spy on the herd if they were close enough.

DeEtte gritted her teeth and thought about her horses. She was close to them but unable to do anything until her sister, her cousin, and Ezek were ready. She really wasn’t a patient person.

Those lowdown yellowbellied thieves had better hope I don’t get there before my sister. They may end up losing an important limb, or tied up to a tree somewhere near a bear den. She spent the rest of the afternoon envisioning different ways to make the horse thieves suffer.

Late that night, a barn owl from nearby let out an eerie hoot when DeEtte picked her way through the dark to take her post on the outskirts of their cold camp. She tried hard to keep her mind focused, but couldn’t. Who is the man from last night? He seems familiar. She couldn’t quite figure out where or how she knew him, but she knew him from somewhere.

Another hoot from the owl and her mind focused on the night. She walked ten feet into the bushes, turned left, and slowly strolled. Although they were close enough to the outlaws to need a cold camp, they were far enough away she wasn’t in danger of exposing herself to their camp.

She had rounded her second loop through the trees surrounding the fire when she heard a rustle in the bushes ahead. Pulling out her six shooters, she crept to the noise and had just about reached the shrubbery when the man from before stepped out into the open. Like the night before he was dark—shrouded by shadows and mystery.

John could hear the clumsy footsteps of a novice. The crunch of leaves and twigs beneath DeEtte’s feet echoed in the night as she drew closer to his hiding spot. For some reason, he wanted to teach her how to stalk the night unseen and unheard. Maybe when she got out of jail for stealing horses he would teach her the silent tricks of the Dakota Sioux – if she ever got out of jail. He shook his head, disappointed she would lower herself to rustling and then have the guts to act like she was as innocent as a blushing bride on her wedding night.

We meet again, Miz DeEtte, John said, stepping out of