Saving the Gunslinger

Prologue

Saving the Gunslinger

Prologue

The wind blew through Samantha's long red hair, whipping it wildly behind her. Bending over Athena's neck, the duo raced over the hills and across the plains. As she pulled Athena to a stop at the top of a hill, Samantha chest rose and fell rapidly. The sense of freedom coursed through her veins.

Out here, with the wild surrounding her and her best friend Athena as her companion, Samantha always felt the most at peace. "I believe our ride is going to be cut short today, Athena," Samantha sighed as she scratched at the palomino mare's neck and the scent of rain teased her nostrils. Storm clouds were gathering above them and the wind carried the promise of ugly weather.

Samantha was in no hurry to return home. Life had been hard for as long as she could remember, but it had gotten decidedly worse in the last several years. Samantha's father had always been a weak man addicted to liquor and the thrill of a gamble—and he was also a man who seemed unable to tell a good bet from a bad one. With the death of her mother five years ago to a sickness and the death of her brother in a drunken saloon brawl, Samantha's father had only grown worse.

Patrick lived for gambling. Samantha was left to attempt to keep them fed and warm with what little crops and money she managed to salvage from their tiny farm before her father gambled it away. She knew that selling Athena could provide a decent amount of money to live off for a while, but Samantha would sooner part with her left leg than her beloved horse.

A drop of rain fell on her cheek and Samantha turned Athena around. "We better get home, girl. Father will be expecting supper soon anyhow."

The rain had intensified, and Samantha was soaked to the skin by the time she reached home. She swiped her wet hair from her face as she hopped off Athena's back and led the mare into the tiny barn. "Charles?" she called out, wondering if perhaps the elderly man who lived in the barn and helped with farm had taken refuge in the loft.

Silence followed her greeting. The rain beating upon the thatched roof and the wind whipping through the cracks in the barn walls were the only sounds to be heard. A chill passed through Samantha's body that had nothing to do with her soaked clothes or the chill of the wind. Something was wrong.

Athena shifted restlessly, tossing her head. Samantha knew the mare was sensing whatever she herself was sensing. Leading a spooked Athena to her stall, Samantha was stopped in her tracks as she turned the corner.

"Charles!" Samantha cried, dropping Athena's reins and rushing into the stall. She dropped to her knees beside the lifeless body of the man who had lived and worked with her family for as long as Samantha could remember. "Charles, wake up," she all but begged as she gripped his shoulder gently and gave him a gentle shake.

There was no response. His open eyes remained unseeing and staring at the rafters above them. Tears blurred Samantha's vision. What had happened? Bile rose in Samantha's throat when she noticed the blood beneath Charles' head, soaking the straw and staining his gray hair. With trembling hands, Samantha turned Charles' head to the side and quickly vomited upon the straw when she saw that the back of his head had obviously been struck by something large and was nearly completely caved in.

Leaping to her feet, Samantha ran from the barn, back out into the rain. Gasping, she sucked in breath after breath of fresh air. Who would have done that to Charles? The man was kind and quiet and never had a mean or harsh word to say to anyone. Her father would be devastated by the loss of his friend...

Her father! Whipping around, Samantha noticed a black cart parked beside her home. Due to her rush to get out of the storm, she hadn't noticed it when she had first arrived. Was that who had attacked Charles? Was her father the next victim? She had to help him.