The winter storm howled louder across the endless frontier while snow buried the frozen field beneath growing darkness.<\/p>\n
The young woman stared at the cowboy beside her.<\/p>\n
Fear trembling through every breath.<\/p>\n
And yet\u2014<\/p>\n
his eyes never wavered.<\/p>\n
Not once.<\/p>\n
Behind them\u2014<\/p>\n
two horses waited beside an abandoned wooden wagon half-swallowed by drifting snow.<\/p>\n
Leather reins snapped violently in the wind while the animals stomped nervously against the frozen ground.<\/p>\n
The cowboy stepped toward the nearest horse quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have much time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman looked again toward the pale white horizon.<\/p>\n
Nothing there.<\/p>\n
No towns.
\nNo lights.
\nNo shelter.<\/p>\n
Only storm.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know they\u2019re coming?\u201d<\/p>\n
The cowboy froze briefly while tightening the saddle straps with gloved hands.<\/p>\n
Snow collected across his dark beard beneath the fading evening light.<\/p>\n
Then quietly\u2014<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause men like them never stop hunting.\u201d<\/p>\n
A deep distant sound suddenly rolled through the storm.<\/p>\n
Not thunder.<\/p>\n
Horse hooves.<\/p>\n
Far away.<\/p>\n
But getting closer.<\/p>\n
The woman\u2019s face drained of color instantly.<\/p>\n
The cowboy grabbed her hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet on the horse.\u201d<\/p>\n
She hesitated only a second before he lifted her carefully into the saddle.<\/p>\n
The violent wind nearly stole her breath away.<\/p>\n
Then\u2014<\/p>\n
another sound.<\/p>\n
A rifle shot.<\/p>\n
BANG.<\/p>\n
The bullet slammed into the frozen wagon behind them.<\/p>\n
Wood exploded into splinters across the snow.<\/p>\n
The horses panicked immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey found us!\u201d<\/p>\n
Dark silhouettes slowly emerged through the white storm far behind them.<\/p>\n
Mounted riders.<\/p>\n
Five of them.<\/p>\n
Black coats moving through the blizzard like shadows.<\/p>\n
The cowboy pulled himself onto his horse and yanked the reins hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cRide!\u201d<\/p>\n
The horses exploded forward through the snow-covered wilderness.<\/p>\n
Wind screamed across the open field while snow blasted into their faces.<\/p>\n
Behind them\u2014<\/p>\n
more rifle shots cracked through the storm.<\/p>\n
BANG.
\nBANG.<\/p>\n
The woman cried out as bullets tore through the snow nearby.<\/p>\n
The cowboy rode beside her protectively.<\/p>\n
\u201cStay low!\u201d<\/p>\n
The riders behind them gained ground quickly through the blizzard.<\/p>\n
Torchlight flickered faintly through the white darkness.<\/p>\n
One of the hunters shouted through the storm\u2014<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t outrun winter!\u201d<\/p>\n
The cowboy looked toward the frozen mountains barely visible ahead through the snow.<\/p>\n
A dangerous route.<\/p>\n
Narrow cliffs.
\nHidden ravines.
\nCertain death for inexperienced riders.<\/p>\n
Exactly why he chose it.<\/p>\n
He turned toward the terrified woman riding beside him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we reach the pass, don\u2019t stop for anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her frightened eyes met his.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about you?\u201d<\/p>\n
The cowboy pulled a revolver from beneath his coat while snow whipped across his black hat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be right behind you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another gunshot exploded through the storm.<\/p>\n
His horse suddenly stumbled violently beneath him.<\/p>\n
Blood sprayed across the snow.<\/p>\n
The animal screamed.<\/p>\n
The woman gasped in horror.<\/p>\n
But the cowboy never fell.<\/p>\n
He forced the wounded horse forward beside her through the white chaos.<\/p>\n
Determined.
\nBleeding.
\nUnbreakable.<\/p>\n
The riders behind them grew closer beneath the darkening winter sky.<\/p>\n
And somewhere deep inside the storm\u2014<\/p>\n
the young woman finally realized the terrifying truth.<\/p>\n
The cowboy was not trying to survive the blizzard.<\/p>\n
He was trying to get her through it alive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The winter storm howled louder across the endless frontier while snow buried the frozen field beneath growing darkness. The young woman stared at the cowboy beside her. Fear trembling through every breath. And yet\u2014 his eyes never wavered. Not once. Behind them\u2014 two horses waited beside an abandoned wooden wagon half-swallowed by drifting snow. Leather […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2941,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}