Despite having been told to stay in the wagon where she would be safe, Jessica decided she would help stop her first stampede:
The flash of lightning illuminated the ground all around her and she
could see the steers quivering in fear. The crash of thunder that followed
shook the ground and echoed on and on … then she realised that it wasn’t the
thunder she could hear at all but the pounding hooves of the stampeding beeves.
Spurring her horse,
she galloped after them, trying to get in front of them, but it was impossible.
They weren’t running in an orderly line – they were fanning out into a front
nearly a mile wide. Waving her arms and shouting, Jessica tried to get them to
turn but she may as well have been invisible – the steers were running blindly,
in a panic. There was no escape. Twisting in her saddle to look around she
could see that she was surrounded by stampeding steers and there was no escape.
Her heart was in her throat as she took in the hundreds of Texas Longhorns
bearing down on her, getting closer and closer.
I’m going to die. Tonight, right here in the
wilderness, I’m going to get trampled to death by runaway beeves. The
realisation came as a shock, and she screamed. Reliving her childhood as her
life flashed before her eyes, her mind conjured up the image of Johnny. That
strong, handsome young man who had rescued her, who had been her strength
during the darkest moments of her life … that image stayed with her.
Spurring her horse,
she tried desperately to outrun the advancing steers but the front was just too
wide and it was moving too quickly. There was nowhere for them to go – the
steers were headed straight for them.
I stole these photos off Pinterest where I have a board dedicated to this WIP
Please check out the other WIPsters below!
Loved this Kelly. This was intense and had me gripped. Intriguing too, great teaser :)
ReplyDeleteHugs
Roz
Thanks so much Roz!
DeleteOooh, scary. And I learned a new word - beeves. Loved this, thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteThanks Ashe! Google is quite handy - that's where I discovered 'beeves' LOL. Oh, and on "Rawhide" of course :)
DeleteThis sounds really good! Intense!
ReplyDeleteThanks Adaline!
DeleteVivid snippet! Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteThank you :)
DeleteRiding in a storm - brave girl.
ReplyDeleteEither brave or stupid :)
DeleteWhat an exciting excerpt. I can't wait to see how this turns out. But I'm betting someone is going to come to her rescue. ☺
ReplyDeleteSomeone is indeed :) Thanks!
DeleteOh no!! I'm hoping that some big strong person comes to her rescue!! She should have listened. Great snippet!
ReplyDeleteThanks Meredith! Her rescuer is handsome as well as big and strong :)
Delete