Snippet #2005710

So leaving Gunsmoke hadn't been the best decision. The horse she'd chosen, while athletic and fast, was inexperienced and nervous, and gave Kate a fair amount of trouble as she urged him forward. He wasn't fond of strangers with spurs, but Kate wasn't fond of uncooperative horses, and she gave him a good slap on the rump to get him going.

The startled horse jumped forward, but swerved sideways, and Kate muttered a string of foul curses under her breath as she struggled to get her steed back on course. The marshal was gaining ground, and Kate was growing desperate. It was time to shoot him and put an end to this wild chase, never mind the no-kill policy. She looked over her shoulder, ready to train her pistol on the marshal's head, but he'd vanished. Whipping back around, she found him to be right beside her, riding hard and fast. The horses were running side by side, Kate's horse actually glad to have the company of a confident mount. Some getaway horse he'd proven to be.

Kate's eyes flashed surprise, and she struggled to reposition her pistol, determined to blow a hole through the gut of the cocky lawdog who dared to challenge her. Her fingers fumbled as her horse's hoof picked up a rock, and she cried out in alarm as she saw the marshal preparing to launch himself at her. In a last ditch effort to escape him, she jerked the reigns left, but this only served to aggravate an already frightened horse, and her mount clung to Gale's side.

As the large form of The Sentinel flew towards her, Kate ducked low and sat deep, hoping her minimal mass and sheer determination were enough to keep her in the saddle.

No such luck. The air left Kate's lungs in a terrific whoosh as the marshal crashed into her full force, driving her from the saddle. It was like being hit by a freight train. The outlaw hit the dirt with a thud and yelp, taken aback by the pain of hitting the ground after being tackled from a horse galloping 40 mph. The few seconds it took to get her breath back seemed an eternity to Kate, but when air finally filled her lungs again she took to thrashing and bucking and like a bronco, all the while trying to regain her grip on her pistol and blow the marshal into the next state.