Abby asked. “The best way we can help is by getting you back to the fort.” Bryce couldn’t decide whether he was more relieved to see that Abby was safe or angry that she could do something so crazy and suffer no consequences to make her understand how dangerous it was. To keep from thinking of the many grisly fates that could have befallen her during that lonely ride, Bryce had rehearsed what he’d say when he found her. Hearing gunfire, he’d expected to arrive to find Abby and Zeb in a desperate fight with the rustlers. It hardly made him feel any better that she was preparing to catch them in a crossfire. Now that she was safe and they were headed back to the fort, all the dangers poured into his mind like an onslaught of screaming devils. Did she have any idea of the number of ways she could have been killed by now? Had she given any thought to what the rustlers might have done if they’d captured her? Feeling as if he was about to explode, he realized his feelings were as much a release of tension as an expression of frustration.
