They jumped up and mounted their horses, galloping through the midnight darkness across the pastures. As they approached the scene, Anna could make out, under the starlit sky, five men on horseback herding about thirty head of cattle from Belle's herd. The men were guiding them through the cut wires of the fence, into the wilderness, far from the sparse civilization of the area. They closed in on the rustlers, getting within twenty yards of the nearest man at the edge of the herd. Anna slowed her horse to stay level with Duke as he aimed his rifle.
The rifle's blast boomed, tearing through the wind's howl. The bullet missed, but it drew attention. The men turned and started shouting orders to each other—to move fast and escape. Anna wondered how Duke planned to stop them. They couldn't let the rustlers get away with this.
"Anna, stop!" Duke called as her horse began to overtake him. "Are you insane? What are you doing?"
"We can't let them go!" she shouted back, raising an arm in their direction.
"It's too risky," he warned. "We needed to catch them earlier. Now we need backup. They'll likely be back."
Anna's heart raced, but she slowed her horse, allowing Duke to catch up. They exchanged looks of anguish and determination.
"Better to be safe and missing a few cattle than dead!" Duke shouted. Anna conceded with a furrowed brow and a nod.
Suddenly, two of the men turned and galloped up the hill towards them, guns drawn. Anna pulled her pistol from her pocket, her face contorted with determination and excitement. As her horse's hooves thundered against the ground, she screamed at the men, "You won't get away with this!"
This was her chance to stop them. She refused to be seen as weak, especially by lowlife cattle thieves. The men, grimy and desperate...
Her thought was cut short. There was no time for contemplation now. She had never fired a gun before, but she cocked the pistol, aimed, and fired. The recoil surprised her, but she managed to stay on her horse. Her shot struck one of the rustlers in the arm, and he slumped over, his horse halting mid-stride.
The other man continued to charge at her and Duke. Duke looked apprehensive. "We can't take them. We need to retreat," he said.
Anna's cheeks burned with anger. She hadn't thought Duke a coward, but she wasn't about to back down.
"We can!" she insisted.
The outlaw drew his pistol, firing in her direction. Dodging was difficult in the darkness. A shot rang out, and before she realized it, a man emerged from the darkness, shoving her. She heard Duke screaming, the sound of struggle, horses whinnying, and the last thing she saw was her horse's legs as she tumbled to the ground with a jarring, painful thud. The world faded to black, and a dizzying swirl took her out of consciousness.