Lonestar Sanctuary by Colleen Coble

skittishness spooked her even more. The
scream didn't come again, but Allie had localized it just past the big
rock at the edge of the piiion grove. She stepped off the porch. Her
toe slammed against a rock, and she winced.
    Jem, the ranch border collie, whined and touched his nose to her
hand. The warm contact strengthened her. "Come with me, Jem," she
whispered, slipping her fingers under his collar. Limping, she picked
up the pace. At the grove, the trees blocked out the moonlight, and
she hesitated before stepping into the darkness. She should have brought
a flashlight. Maybe she should wait for the men.

    The unearthly scream came again. Were there ghosts in these mountains? She'd heard of the Marfa lights, the centuries-old unexplained
phenomenon of lights with no apparent origin.
    The men were slow. Some protectors they were.
    She pointed the gun and sidled toward the trees, inhaling the
scents of vegetation. "Where are you? Are you hurt?" The trees
bounced her voice back in her face. There was no other sound beyond
normal night noises. She stepped cautiously away from the safety of
the clearing and farther into the darkness. Her own breathing sounded
harsh and fast.
    A twig snapped behind her. The sound of rushing steps came
toward her, and she whirled to run. Before she made it two steps,
someone grabbed her. In several quick moves, hard hands flipped her
around, yanked the gun from her hand, and pinned her against the
bark of a pine tree.
    It was too dark to make out more than a hulking shape. "Let go of
me," she said, jerking her arm in the man's grip.
    "What do you think you're doing?" Rick's voice was a low growl.
    She should have been relieved it was only him, but her terror
fueled anger instead. "Get your hands off me."
    His big hands lifted from her shoulders. "What in the sam hill are
you doing wandering outside with a mountain lion on the prowl?"
    "Mountain lion?" She clutched the fabric of her shirt in her fists.
"I -I heard what I thought was a woman screaming"
    "Oh brother." He grabbed her arm and hustled her back toward
the porch. "You don't have any shoes on either. You want to get snake
bit or stung by a scorpion?"
    "Wrong time of year," she said, dragging up a bit of defiance.
How stupid of her. A mountain lion. She glanced over her shoulder, expecting to see yellow eyes or a large cat springing toward them, but
there was only darkness. "Wait, what about the rifle?"

    "Leave it."
    "We can't leave it. Betsy might find it." She jerked her arm out of
his grip. "You threw it down. Where is it?"
    "Feel free to get it. I don't carry a firearm. Not for any reason."
    A cowboy that didn't carry a rifle? What did he do about snakes
and other varmints? If only the moonlight were brighter here in the
trees. She'd like to study his expression and try to determine what was
behind his odd statement. His voice was as prickly as a cactus too.
    She retraced their few steps and felt around on the ground for
the rifle. Her hand touched stiff grass, rocks, and sand. Then her
fingers settled on cold steel. She picked up the rifle and hurried
back out of the tree cover, all the while expecting to feel the teeth
and claws of an angry panther. When she started back to the clearing, she realized he'd followed her. At least he hadn't left her at the
lion's mercy.
    It was probably long gone by now, and she was being skittish for
no reason. She nearly ran from the trees into the warm wash of moonlight and Rick's solid presence.
    "The least you could have done was come with me," she said.
    "You made enough noise to scare away a pride of lions. The cougar
was long gone."
    "Do you have mountain lions here often?" she asked him. The
breeze, laden with the scent of pine from the piiions, touched her face.
    Rick didn't reply. They stepped into the moonlight, and he
stopped for a second, then took off running for the barn.
    Allie darted after him. "What's wrong?" Then she saw. The gate
gaped open,