Read To Have and to Hold (Cactus Creek Cowboys) for Free Online Page B

slamming into the wagons and blinding anyone who didn’t turn his back. Despite the onslaught, Colby went from wagon to wagon telling everyone to put out buckets and pans to catch water for cooking and watering the livestock. Just then a bolt of lightning lit up the sky and sent several mules bucking in their traces.
    Men fought the rain to get their teams unhitched before they broke the traces or got tangled up in the harnesses. The rain was coming down so hard that within minutes everyone was sloshing through water up to their ankles.
    “Get inside,” Dr. Kessling called to Colby.
    A bolt of lightning struck the ground practically under his feet. A woman screamed, and an ox bellowed in fear. Within moments the lightning strikes were so numerous it was practically like daylight. Raindrops struck with stinging force while the wind threatened to throw Colby off his feet.
    That didn’t help when hail as big as pigeon’s eggs started plummeting to earth. Over the wind Colby could hear it bouncing off the canvas coverings of the wagons and pinging as it landed in pots and pans. It was as though the elements were furious he had invaded their domain and were determined to drive him out.
    “Come inside!” Ben Kessling urged.
    Colby didn’t bother answering. The wind would have ripped his words away before they could reach the boy. He needed to make one more circuit.
    Once he was sure everyone was inside their wagons with both front and back flaps secured, he turned his attention to the animals milling about inside the circle of wagons. Colby didn’t like oxen. Not as strong or as temperamental as mules, they were generally placid animals easy to control—except during a storm. They didn’t mind the wind and rain, but the lightning dancing all around caused their eyes to bulge and their placid nature to turn skittish. Having someone around generally helped to calm them.
    Crossing between two wagons, he was surprised to see a rain-drenched figure moving among the restless animals. He was shocked when he realized that figure was Naomi. “What are you doing out here?” he shouted when he was close enough for her to hear.
    Naomi spun around, her eyes wide with shock.
    “You’re drenched,” Colby shouted. “Get back in your wagon.”
    Naomi pulled the rain slick lower to shield her face. “Mr. Greene said oxen can get frightened during thunderstorms, that they sometimes run off.”
    “I’ll make sure they don’t stampede. Now get back to your wagon.”
    “There’s no reason you should be the only one to be cold and wet.”
    “I’m paid to get cold and wet.”
    Yet Naomi didn’t leave. Colby didn’t know when he’d met such a stubborn woman—or one who was willing to take on a man’s job and act like there was nothing unusual about it.
    “It’s my job to take care of the livestock. It’s your job to stay safely in the wagon so I can do my job.”
    Naomi didn’t answer.
    “If you don’t go, I’ll carry you.”
    The rain and the slick made it impossible to see her expression even with the constant flashes of lightning, but anger mingled with surprise in her voice. “You have no right to force me to do anything.”
    Colby admired her courage, but this was not the time or place to display it. He scooped Naomi into his arms and headed toward her father’s wagon. She wasn’t a small woman, but he was surprised how light she felt. He suspected she hadn’t been eating well for quite some time. He’d have to talk to her father about that.
    “Put me down!”
    He didn’t bother answering. It should have been obvious he wouldn’t have picked her up if he’d been willing to put her down the moment she objected.
    “I’ll have you fired for this.”
    He laughed. It would be a relief to have only himself to worry about rather than a dozen families who should have stayed on the other side of the Mississippi River.
    “I thought you had a streak of decency, but you’re just as barbarous as every other man I