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not exactly what I had in mind.”
    â€œWell, that’s what you’re going to have to do to shake him loose. Believe me. I’ve tried everything else.”
    Since Eclipse had had his fill, Clint took his reins and led him away from the water. “For right now,” he said, “why don’t you just try trusting me and see if I can do something to dissuade our mutual friend?”
    Watching Clint sternly, Lynn let out a frustrated sigh when she saw him climb into the saddle and reach down to help her up. “Fine,” she huffed. “But I get to take a shot at him if this doesn’t work.”
    â€œIt’s a deal. Now, do me a favor and hang on.”
    With that, Clint snapped the reins and tapped his heels against Eclipse’s sides. The Darley Arabian stallion responded as if he’d been waiting for that order all day long, and bolted away from the lake as if his tail was on fire.
    It took Clint a few seconds to get settled and find Eclipse’s rhythm. Once he and Lynn were situated and not about to be thrown from the saddle, Clint looked over his shoulder. At first, he didn’t see a trace of the horses. Even so, he let Eclipse keep running for a while.
    When he looked back again, Clint could see some dust swirling over a spot of the trail that hadn’t been kicked up by Eclipse. Soon, he saw two horses break through the dust and fall into step a ways behind him.
    â€œThat’s Mark, all right,” Clint shouted over the thunder of Eclipse’s hooves. “Either that, or it’s someone else who wants to tag along with us.”
    Lynn tried to get a look behind her, but she wasn’t able to twist around very far without endangering her own balance. Facing forward once more, she said, “I told you so. Now what?”
    â€œNow you’ll hang on just like I asked before.”
    Lynn didn’t need to be asked twice, especially since Eclipse was already moving fast enough to make her nervous. She cinched her arms around Clint and pressed her head against his shoulder.
    Hunkering down a bit, Clint gave his reins an extra flick and coaxed a bit more speed out of Eclipse. But it wasn’t exactly speed that he was after. Instead, Clint wanted to allow the stallion to build up some momentum for what he had in mind next.
    As soon as he spotted a fairly clear patch alongside the trail, Clint steered away from the beaten path. Eclipse did as he was told, leaving the smooth dirt trail for the rougher terrain alongside it. For the first few yards, there wasn’t a huge difference. Before too long, however, it became clear as to why a trail was meant to be followed in favor of just riding anywhere the wind blew.
    Animals had dug holes here and there, which made the ground a bit unsteady. There were fallen logs as well as a few rocks scattered about. The farther Clint got from the trail, the closer he had to watch the upcoming ground for potential hazards.
    â€œYou’re right,” Clint shouted over his shoulder. “This country isn’t as dull as I’d thought.”
    But Lynn didn’t seem to be as amused as Clint. In fact, she didn’t even try to respond to what he’d said. She simply kept her face down and her arms wrapped tightly around him.
    Eclipse responded to the reins so well, it seemed as if the stallion knew what Clint was thinking. One subtle tug or flick here and there got the Darley Arabian to jump over a log or steer around the occasional hole. Although Lynn seemed to be breathing easier as the ride leveled out, Clint was hoping for a bit more to work with.
    Looking over his shoulder, he spotted the two horses doing a fairly good job of keeping on his tail. Suddenly, Eclipse left the ground and sailed a yard or two through the air to land with a jarring thump on the other side of a large carcass that had been lying in the way. Clint turned around so he could pay better attention to what was in front of him rather