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Episode Ten concluded with:
Rance stepped outside of the house before Lila
could see the smile on his face. Lila Tantrall was not good at deception. She
had tried to conceal her feet but hadn’t quite succeeded. Lila Tantrall was
barefoot. Dehner’s earlier notion had been right. The young woman had taken off
her footwear to avoid detection and then returned to her father’s office door
to listen in.
But why? Dehner was purposely slow in retrieving
his saddle bags. He wanted his hostess to have ample time to get her shoes back
on: best to let her think the trick had worked.
Episode Eleven
***
Lila
Tantrall sat alone in her dark room and looked out the window. The night was
beautiful, but she couldn’t enjoy it. Time was passing slowly. She wanted to
read but lighting the lamp in her room would send a bright patch across the
bottom of her bedroom door. No one in the house must know she was still awake.
Feelings
of guilt and anxiety caused the young woman to wring her hands. Father had
always been so good to her. It seemed wrong to deceive him, but…
The
hour finally arrived. The house was completely quiet. Lila climbed through the
window in her room and made her way quickly to the grove of trees behind the
barn. Her palomino was waiting there, saddled and ready at the spot where she
had tethered him hours before: a necessary act of secrecy. Opening the barn
door might have awakened her father or maybe that detective.
She
rode off slowly and then increased speed as she got further from the ranch. She
had missed having her own horse while attending school in the East. When she
returned to the Circle T, her father had made her a gift of this fine palomino.
Once again the young woman experienced a pang of guilt and once again she shook
it from her mind.
She
had made this late night journey several times before and her horse knew where
to go. Lila experienced a sense of excitement as they galloped up the mountain.
The palomino slowed as they neared their destination.
Lila
dismounted, tied up her horse, and walked toward the flicker of red that came
from the cave entrance. Suddenly, the young woman stopped. She thought she had
heard something. She stood still and listened. Her horse nickered and small
critters made scampering sounds in nearby bushes. The woman inhaled deeply. “I
have to stay calm,” she whispered to herself. “There’s too much at stake.”
With
a sense of determination, Lila Tantrall calmed her jitters and entered the
cave.
Monday: Episode
Twelve of Night Riders
