Chapter One

      Near Big Horn, Wyoming, April 1898

      Edward Kent studied the gaping hole in the barbed wire fence and the trampled posts. This wasn’t the work of an animal—at least not the four-legged kind. Anger heated his neck more than the weak spring sunshine did as he slapped his cowboy hat against his leg.

      “How many horses wandered off?” he asked his ranch foreman, West McCall.

      “Ten, maybe fifteen. Some of the boys are rounding them up now.”

      Edward dipped his chin in a curt nod. “Good. See that one or two of the others repair the fence.”

      “Yes, boss.”

      “We’ll put as many of the horses in the main barn and the corral as we can at night, for the time being, so we can post guards.”

      “Will do.” McCall mounted his horse and rode off in the direction of the large barn and the wranglers’ quarters.

      After jamming his hat back on his light brown hair, Edward wrestled one of the toppled fence posts until it stood moderately upright. New wire and fresh postholes would fix the fence. But it wasn’t likely to fix the rash of mysterious occurrences hobbling operations around the Running W ranch or end the threatening notes he’d been receiving over the past four weeks.

      Go back to where you came from, Brit, the last one had said. Or else there will be trouble.

      Edward cringed at the memory. His gaze swept the rolling hills and scattered trees where they touched the feet of the Big Horn Mountains. If he squinted, he could almost imagine himself back home in England. Though that wasn’t where he wished to be—not since leaving five years ago. The longstanding stigma of being a castoff, a throwaway, as the third son of an earl, stole over him and gripped his throat in a choke hold.

      Coughing, he climbed onto his horse, Napoleon, and steered the animal toward the ranch house. Even at a distance the white, two-story home with its three-sided porch stood out like a pearl against a velvet-green backdrop. A swell of pride loosened the bitter taste of old memories. He’d come here, armed with only a dream and his inheritance. And now he ran the largest horse ranch in the Sheridan area.

      But all his hard work would be for naught if he couldn’t figure out who was sabotaging him. He urged Napoleon faster, his stomach grumbling with hunger. McCall had come to the house at the start of breakfast with the news of the damaged fence and runaway horses. Edward had left without eating a bite.

      Outside the small stable near the house, he dismounted and led his horse inside. “Time for your version of tea and crumpets, isn’t it?” he murmured affectionately to the black horse. The gelding whinnied and tossed its head, eliciting a chuckle from Edward. The horse wasn’t as tall as its predecessors, hence Edward’s choice of name. What the animal lacked in overall stature, though, Napoleon made up for in strength and agility.

      Once he’d given the horse its grain and a rub on the nose, Edward headed into the ranch house through the front door.