“C’mon, Star. You can do this. Easy, boy. Steady. Steady.” As she encouraged Star, she pressed him harder and harder, praying to God, the moon, the stars, and the sun that he could handle it. “Please don’t buckle. Please don’t fall!”

Her eyes were on Brooke as she and Matthew raced forward.

Redwing was just inches ahead of Star. Somehow, the young horse couldn’t best him, but one stumble and both Star and Kali would be in dire straits.

Yet, it didn’t matter.

Brooke was screaming. Brooke never screamed.

Kali felt sick.

He had been trying to tell her. He had known something was wrong. He had been listening and trying to move Kali along, but she had been distracted with talk of Jeremy and Tracy and Sam.

Star and Kali slowed slightly as they reached Mouse and Brooke, but Matthew and Redwing flew past.

He didn’t stop to ask. He didn’t need to know. He charged toward the twins and the herd.

“What? What is it?” Kali screamed as she neared Brooke.

Brooke’s face was pale. “It’s Ramrod.” She panted, gasping for air and wrestling with Mouse as she tried to turn herself around again.

“What?”

“Ramrod. He crashed through the back fence. He got through . . . we didn’t see him. He . . . he came . . . he got Fancy. He hurt Fancy, Momma.” She began to sob hysterically.

“What do you mean hurt, Brooke?” Kali moved Star closer. “What do you mean, Brooke?”

“She’s . . . I don’t know.” Brooke shook her head. “She’s bleeding. She’s down and bleeding, and Danni fell—”

“No, no, no!” Kali scanned the horizon but saw nothing.

From Brooke’s description, they were on the other side of the hill, beyond the canyon. It was the only place where the Jorgenson property joined Buddy Mann’s and his demonic bull Ramrod’s grazing grounds.

“Brooke, go back to the house. Tell your uncles what’s happened. Now! Go!”

Brooke could only nod as she rode off, sobbing.

Whatever happened, Kali knew it had to be bad. Fancy was a good, strong horse. She wouldn’t go down and lose Danni unless something was very wrong.

Four strides into the hard gallop, Star stumbled and Kali screamed again. “No!” Why hadn’t she switched horses? It was too late. “C’mon, big man! You can do this! C’mon, baby.”

One ear rotated back toward Kali, taking in her words and the urgency of her voice, and the other was pricked with excitement. He steadied his hooves and bolted across the canyon.

In minutes, they were there, and then Kali faltered. It was Star who carried her forward.

The fence, or what used to be a fence, was flattened to the ground. It was crap wood that she had been after Buddy to fix for years, but he was too freaking cheap. Brooke had been right. Fancy was injured. The herd was scattered throughout the canyon with Fancy near the top by a mesquite tree.

Kali scanned the territory for her babies.

Matthew was already in the mix, trying to lure Ramrod away from the horses and girls, but Ramrod was locked on to something.

Snorting and blowing snot everywhere, he pawed at the ground, moving slowly but surely toward Jacks, who was throwing rocks at him.

Kali’s heart fell. Even if she had tried, Kali was sure no sound would come. Panic had frozen her lungs, and she nearly choked.

Jacks had secured Mocha in one spot, and it looked like Danni had tried to lead Fancy up the hill and out of danger.

It took a moment for the entire picture to register with Kali. Blood oozed from an open wound on Fancy’s rear flank, and Danni was seated beside her, at the base of the tree, curled in a tight ball with her arms wrapped around her legs.

“Danni,” Kali said almost in a whisper as she moved Star toward the edge of the slope.

He skittered a few feet, drawing the attention of the bull, and Matthew waved his hands at her.

“Kali, no! Don’t even!” Matthew was trying to work his way behind the bull in hopes of starting a chase and, no doubt, leading the bull back to his own property, but it was futile. This time of the year, the bull had just one thing on his brain. He wasn’t going to leave all the females without a fight.

“Jacks! Stop it!” Matthew hollered at her. “Get back on the horse and get out. Circle around to your momma. Git!”

Jacks wasn’t listening. She was crying and throwing rocks as hard as she could at the bull. “You stupid bull! You damn, damned bull!” She cursed with great fervor. “You hurt Danni! You—”

At last, Kali found her voice and screamed at the top of her lungs. “Jaclyn Anne Jorgenson!” She surprised even herself. Her voice seemed to carry for miles. “You get your ass on that horse right now, and get over here! Now! Now! Now!” Kali bordered on hysteria.

Jacks seemed paralyzed with confusion.

Star slid a little farther, and more rocks clicked and skipped down the dry wall of dirt.

Ramrod snorted as the sounds echoed.

No one moved. No one breathed.

Kali winced internally as she watched Jacks.

Decked out in her bright red, white, and blue shirt she had gotten last year, she couldn’t possibly have chosen a worse shirt to wear, but it was her sudden movement to get back on Mocha that alerted Ramrod. She had just one foot in a stirrup when Ramrod dropped his head and charged.

Kali screamed, “Go, Jacks! Go!”

Mocha took off with Jacks barely hanging on.

Matthew charged forward, hat in hand, whooping loudly at the bull, but there was no steering him off course.

Ramrod headed up the embankment hot on Mocha’s tail.

Kali kept screaming for Jacks to move out.

There was no way a bull would continue to chase down a horse like Mocha. She was fast and strong. He would give up the chase as soon as she was no longer a threat to his cows. Jacks knew this, but would she act on her own instincts? Kali knew that all Jacks was thinking about was Danni.

Jacks and Mocha tore up and over the other side.

The hill had slowed the bull considerably, and he began to rethink his strategy.

“Easy, Matthew, he’s coming back,” Kali yelled, even though Matthew already saw it coming.

Redwing was agile enough to move out of the way as Ramrod doubled back. He moved a lot faster coming back down the wall of the canyon.

While Matthew worked around him, Kali urged Star west toward Fancy and Danni. Danni still hadn’t moved, and Kali’s heart began to pound harder and harder.

Neither Star nor Kali made an attempt to run, cautiously approaching instead as rocks still slid out from beneath Star’s feet.

She wanted to rush in, to get her hands on her daughter and hold her close, but Kali knew she couldn’t without endangering them all. She also knew she couldn’t endure any more pain. Not Danni. Not her baby. She wouldn’t be able to see her baby hurt. Or worse.

She whispered. “Danni? Danielle?”

Time slowed to a crawl as Kali looked for any sign Danni was still alive.

“Momma?”

Kali’s heart lurched. “Oh, baby!” She slid from Star’s back and hit the ground hard. She wasn’t thinking. She couldn’t think. All she could see was her baby on the ground, curled up in the fetal position. She panicked as she slid like Star had, rolling over the tops of the rocks, and she fought to keep her position on the ground. She moved, practically crawling on her hands and feet, to get to Danni. “Oh, baby. What is it? What’s wrong? Where are you—”

“Kali! Kali!” Matthew screamed, and Kali looked up to see Ramrod repositioning.

Her movement had drawn the bull’s attention, and he was homing in on her. The only thing she could do now was run to Danni, scoop her up, and try to use the tree as a shield, but with her first step, she slipped farther down the slope, out of control and helpless.

“He-yah!” She heard Matthew whoop again, urging Redwing toward them.

Kali clawed frantically at the rocks trying to get her footing, and she realized she was screaming. She felt the earth shaking as the heavy bull charged forward. Shit, shit, shit!

Everything was moving beneath her.

“Momma!”

The earth gave way beneath her, dragging her body along with it, and everything slowed. Kali watched as she slid right into the path of Ramrod. There was no stopping him. Kali did the only thing she could—she went with it. Using the forward momentum, she pushed her body up and attempted to run. Her escape was to get downhill, on level ground, and get some traction, but the bull was moving faster.

Noise. There was so much noise. Ramrod’s snorts, and Jacks’ screams, even Matthew’s yelling was just noise.

It’s all about timing.

In a moment of great clarity, she remembered telling Jacks that, in rodeo, timing was everything. One hundredth of a second meant the difference between first place and not placing at all.

And here it was.

It would come down to a millisecond. How quickly she could get ahead of him, miss his horns, throw Ramrod off balance enough to dodge him . . . it was going to be milliseconds.

Then, he was there.

She had heard him first, but in her moment of panic, it hadn’t registered.

It was breathtaking.

It was exhilarating.

It was horrifying.

In the blink of an eye, the bull missed his target as Star thundered down the hill between them. Instinct took over as Kali reached up and she grabbed the saddle horn. Star didn’t stumble or slow as she grabbed on.

Kali caught a knee and, with a second bounce to the ground, drove her foot against the rocks, catapulted up, and found her seat.

Ramrod tried to turn but lost his footing and slid out, allowing Star and Kali to slip past.

“Woo-hoo!” Matthew hollered, standing up in his stirrups. His voice echoed in the ravine. He led Redwing toward the bull, ready to turn and run as the shot rang out.

The sound was deafening, and everything seemed to stop. The silence afterward was even more deafening.

Kali whirled in her seat to catch a glimpse of it. Ramrod staggered and came to a stop. Nothing and no one moved. Then, with a final snort, Ramrod fell over with a heavy, loud thud.

Kali blinked.

On the crest of the hill stood Tracy on Toby with Evan and Buckshot behind him. Both had drawn a gun, but Tracy was frozen like a statue, his rifle still positioned on his other forearm.

Stephen appeared on the other side, rifle in hand with Brooke safely behind him.

Good girl.

Brooke had made good time getting back to the main house and alerting the others. Ms. Kat would be frantic until they returned. Kali looked back at the bull.

“Son of a bitch,” Matthew groaned, looking at the legendary bull. “He’s dead.” He ran his fingers through his hair and wiped sweat from his brow.

“Momma?”

Kali jumped from Star’s back and clambered up the hill to Danni. “What is it, baby? Where are you hurt?” Danni looked so tiny and Kali wanted to cry. She fought the growing panic.

Danni moved a hand gingerly over her ribcage. “Here.” She winced.

“Did Ramr—”

“No. I smashed into the tree.” Danni gasped. “Fancy got hurt. Oh, Momma, how’s Fancy?”

“She’s right here, baby. She never left you.”

Danni groaned again. “I know. I tried to make her run but she wouldn’t.”

Kali smiled, looking back toward Fancy. The wound was deep but not fatal.

“She wouldn’t leave me.” Danni sounded miserable, but Kali couldn’t have been more pleased.

Fancy would live to a ripe old age and be rewarded daily for her loyalty to Danni. Kali would make sure of it.

“She’s going to be fine, babe. A little gimpy, but she’s okay.” Kali scanned the area for Star. He’d saved her life, too. She digested that for a moment as she spotted the old horse. She looked back at Danni. “Let’s get you out of here,” she said.

Time and events swirled around her head as Kali mounted Star and led Fancy back to Rainwash. “Evan, go, call Dr. Thom. I’ll be there soon enough.” She brushed Danni’s hair back. “You’ll be okay, baby. Momma’s coming.”

Brooke and Jacks followed attentively behind their sister, talking all the while.

“Son of a bitch, what are you gonna say to Buddy?” Matthew wondered out loud.

“Like I give a damn!” Tracy’s voice was unusually high- pitched. He was just as upset as the others. Ramrod was an expensive animal. It was a real loss for Buddy Mann and the rodeo circuit, not to mention no one on Rainwash liked the idea of killing an animal if it could be helped. “I wasn’t going to sit by and watch him hurt one of the girls!”

“Hurt, nothin’,” Stephen said. “He was going to kill Kali. You see that? Damn! And did you see Star in there? Like he was a two-year-old again!” He whooped with excitement.

“I’m just saying . . .” Matthew shook his head. “Hell, I just don’t want to be the one to tell Buddy his bull is dead.” None of them was listening to the other.

“Damn bull’s been tearin’ down fence lines from here up to the highway. This has been a long time comin’ . . .” Tracy blustered.

As their voices were drowned out by the increasing winds, Kali looked down to find Star’s reins wrapped so tightly around her hands that her knuckles were white and throbbing and her fingertips turning a dark purple. She didn’t know how she managed to do that. She flashed back to the only other time her hands had been in such a painful tangle.

Nicky.

She pulled her hands free of the leather and flexed the muscles. She collapsed on Star’s neck, ignoring the ball of the horn poking into her stomach, and sobbed.

She cried for everything and everyone. Danni and fear at the thought of losing any one of her girls. Tracy and her conflicted feelings about him. Sam and how well he knew her. She felt like raw nerve and was utterly confused by the rush of emotions. She forced her breathing to slow and reminded herself that everyone was okay. Thank you, Star.

Holding on to his massive neck, the world seemed to wash away. Fancy would be okay, she knew. Danni would be okay. Everyone was okay. And Star had proven himself again. She wished Nicky could have seen it. She wished—

“Ahem.”

Stephen, Matthew, and Tracy had ridden up behind her.

Kali snapped straight up in the saddle and wiped her eyes.

“Well, I’ll be damned. She cries. What do you know about that?” Leave it to Tracy. Shooting straight from the hip, he had to state the obvious. “It’s a bug. A giant bug flew in my eye.”

A few chuckles behind her, and the small group continued on. Little else was said until they returned to Rainwash.

The damage had been surprisingly minimal. While Danni recovered from bruised ribs, Fancy was stitched up and temporarily stalled. Star had been stalled as well. Although a cortisone shot had relieved much of his pain and swelling, she wanted to keep him quiet and in his stall until he had healed.

Life, it would seem, could resume with everyone counting themselves very lucky.

Still, Kali was restless. Unhappy. Dissatisfied. As relieved as she was to have all her babies safe and sound, she felt empty and alone.

Tracy walked up on Kali as she sat outside Star’s stall battling the urge to light a cigarette. “He’s a good horse, Kali.”

“Yeah, and you’ve been saying I needed to retire him,” Kali said, huffing slightly and Tracy smiled. It was Kali’s I told you so.

“He’s still not the horse for you anymore,” Tracy said. “He came through, though. I’ll give him that.”

Kali snorted.

Tracy found a place next to Kali and unabashedly studied her profile. “Just because he can’t work doesn’t mean you stop loving or caring for him.” He gave her a weak smile that told her they weren’t talking about Star anymore.

“He wouldn’t understand it, Tracy. I don’t care what you say. He doesn’t understand being left behind.”

As if on cue, Star nickered and rubbed his soft nose over her hands.

“No, what he won’t understand is when his leg completely gives out or, God forbid, he falls on you and breaks your leg. That, my love, he wouldn’t understand.”

Deep down, she knew he was right. As much as she loved him, she wouldn’t want her own daughters on his back. One hard stumble and they’d be thrown.

“Instead, you let him know you love him, but when you need to, you find another ride. Take Lightning. Young, strong. Full of life. He’s . . .” He kicked at the dirt. “Oh, shit, Kali. I’m not any good at all this speaking metaphorically stuff. I ain’t just talking about Star. I think you know that. You need to go, Kali. Find what makes you happy. Whatever it is, whoever it is, it’s not here. We all know that. And we don’t thi—”

“Do you guys sit up at night discussing my personal life?” she asked, turning on him. She was annoyed with this topic, but she hadn’t expected his candor.

“Yes’m. Yes, we do. We talk about you all the time. We talk about how we can bring our old Kali back. We talk about what’s good for the girls, and darlin’, your happiness is part of that. You think they don’t see how unhappy their momma is? You need to stop being afraid, Kali. I can’t say it any more plainly than that. You act so tough all the time that you actually had us fooled for a long time. I—” He shook his head. “I regret how I misread you, but enough is enough. You need to step out into the world, find someone to hold on to, find that kind of wild happiness you used to have.”

Kali stared at him, openmouthed.

“And we’ll be here when you get back.” He reached over and patted Star. “Just like the old man, here.”