Mountain Moonlight Read Online Free

she could see the dark silhouette of Superstition Mountain against the lightening sky. On the flat land to the left, a lone saguaro cactus thrust up two giant arms as though welcoming her back to the country where she'd been born.
    Vala knew that Phoenix was a green oasis in the midst of dry country but she hadn't clearly remembered how desert-like the surroundings actually were. Not sand dune desert but arid country where little grew except cacti and small trees like the palo verde that could make do without much water. She'd grown accustomed to the greenery of the east coast but somehow this starkness seemed right to her, giving her a strange feeling she'd come home.
    Could this feeling have anything to do with seeing Bram Hunter again?
    Vala shook her head in denial. She'd already made one mistake in choosing a man; she had no intention of making another. Not that Bram had given her any reason to believe he wanted to be chosen! In fact, she'd gotten the impression he didn't think much of her.
    He'd made it very clear that in his opinion the map was a fake and he'd blamed her for encouraging her son to believe in a treasure. She was well aware Bram was guiding them only because he'd taken a liking to Davis and had come to the conclusion that nothing he said would prevent her from bringing her son into the Superstitions with or without a guide.
    I wouldn't want it any other way, she told herself firmly. Since Bram's not interested in me, I can relax and not worry about being more or less alone with him for the next week.
    In any case, the presence of a nine-year-old was a powerful deterrent to romance, even if this particular one, once he fell asleep, couldn't easily be roused by anything less tha n a twenty-gun salute. Besides, she didn't want a romance. Not now, and not with Bram Hunter.
    The sun was up by the time they reached Brenden's Bronco Corral--something out of a western movie. Davis was entranced, looking around excitedly as Mac Brenden greeted Bram with the ease of a long acquaintance, then sized up her and Davis. Davis seemed to pass muster but she thought Mac's shrewd blue eyes saw through her brave assertion that "any horse will do."
    Tense with foreboding, she could only make a pretense of enjoying the excellent pancakes and sizzling sausage. All too soon, the time came for her to actually get into--or was it onto?--the saddle of her mount.
    "Susie Q's a real easy-goer," Mac assured her. "Getting on a bit but that makes for a smart trail horse. You can't go wrong with old Susie."
    Her son and Bram were already mounted, Bram on a frisky chestnut gelding named Fremont and Davis on a much smaller gelding that Mac had called a Morgan. "Wish I had a dozen as dependable as Nate," he'd said. "You can't beat a Morgan for stamina combined with an even disposition."
    Taking a deep breath and reciting under her breath what her son had told her, Vala approached the mare. From the left. Standing even with the saddle, facing Susie Q, she took the reins into her left hand, then placed that hand firmly on the mare's neck and her right on the saddle horn. Relieved that Susie Q didn't move, she managed to get her left foot into the stirrup and tried her best to brace her knee against the horse. Now came the tricky part.
    Pushing with her right foot. She sprang up until she was standing in the stirrup. At this point she almost lost her balance but leaned forward in time to avoid a fall. She then swung her right leg over the saddle and there she was, sitting square in the saddle, on top of Susie Q.
    Flushed with triumph, she glanced around only to discover nobody was watching her. They'd all, even Davis, taken it for granted she could mount a horse. This is only the beginning, she reminded herself. Keep your mind on what to do next--heels down, hold the reins neither loose nor tight with your index finger between the two strips of leather. Don't ever hang onto the saddle horn.
    In addition to the three riding horses, Bram had