Connie shivered and drew her jacket more closely about her. She could feel the cold numbing her fingers.
Rainbow Ranch was still many miles away. The narrow road wound and twisted as it steadily climbed toward Eagle Pass. Just ahead was a short tunnel bored in the rock. As they approached it, Silvertail quivered and pricked up his ears.
“What’s the matter, old boy?” Connie asked softly.
She thought someone might be approaching from the opposite direction but she heard no one. It had grown so dark that she could not see far ahead. Yet for some reason Connie shared Silvertail’s uneasiness.
She rode into the tunnel. As the walls closed in about her, she glanced nervously over her shoulder. It was as if she could feel a presence. Yet of course there could be no one in the tunnel.
Connie breathed easier as she saw a circle of light ahead. The tunnel had not been longer than fifty feet yet it had seemed six times that length.
Connie relaxed in the saddle, and just at that moment, as she emerged from the tunnel, she heard a horse nicker from the bushes at the side of the road.
Before she could turn her head to look, a man rode out in front of her, deliberately blocking the way. A blue bandana handkerchief had been pulled high over his mouth, and a revolver dangled carelessly from his hand.
“Pass over the money,” he said in a low, grim voice. “And don’t try any tricks!”