The Devil's Walk

Matthew moved his stallion cautiously through the thick forest. He could sense that she was somewhere nearby, and he hoped that the outlaw had finally stopped to rest herself, and that badly limping horse she'd been leading for the past two hours. To be honest he had to admire her for her cleverness. He would of never believed that a woman could have stayed just out of his grasp for this long.

A short while later he came to the edge of a small clearing and quickly reined in his horse. There she was, lying on the ground, wrapped tightly in her bedroll. Matt dismounted and pulled his gun, walking quietly towards her. When be got to the outlaw he picked up the rifle that was lying on the ground by her side and placed it away from her. Then swiftly, he knelt down and yanked the blanket back.

'Don't move, Marshal' said an impudent voice directly behind him.

Matt gritted his teeth, realizing he'd been duped by the little renegade.

'Now, lawman, why don't you take that big gun of yours, and real slow like, toss it back here towards me.'

His deep blue eyes narrowing, the marshal glanced longingly at the gun in his hand, before standing up and throwing it behind him. He heard her walk over and pick it up then hurl it somewhere into the bushes.

'Now turn around.'

Matthew turned and for the first time got a good look at the outlaw known as Cat Prentiss. Silently, he stared at her. She was much smaller than he'd imagined and even though Quiller Larson had described her pretty well from the bank robbery, he had omitted one interesting detail. The banker had somehow forgotten to mention that Catherine Prentiss was a downright beautiful woman.

He saw her eyebrow rise at his lingering appraisal of her. 'Well, Marshall Hayes, it's nice to meet you too,' she remarked, her slanted green eyes slowly raking over him in retaliation. 'But unfortunately I've got to be goin'. All right, mister, I'd be much obliged if you'd lie down on your belly so we can conclude this little party.'

The outlaw took a step towards him, cocking the hammer back on her gun. Matthew hesitated for a moment then dropped down to his knees and stretched out as she'd instructed 'Not much of a talker are you, Marshal?' The outlaw commented as she walked over to him, a rope in her left hand. She already had the first slip knot made.

'Put your hands behind your back,' she demanded kneeling down beside him. With her gun pointed at the back of his head, she slipped the rope over his wrist then reached across his back to bring his two hands together.

It was that movement that Matthew had been waiting for.