Coyote: The Outlander (with FREE second screen experience) Read Online Free Page A

Caesar didn’t respond. Coyote sighed and tied the bedrolls in tight bundles. She fastened them to either side of Shenanigans. With strong fingers, she tickled the horse’s long neck, and he bobbed his head in response. Coyote smiled. Like her, the horse was eager to get moving.
    Fifteen minutes later, they were on their way.

    Birds, hidden in between the lush foliage, sang a chorus of shrill notes as Coyote and Caesar rode up. Old Man Roberts’ wooden house lay well hidden between the bushes and trees, only its roof visible from a distance. Coyote dismounted Shenanigans some length from the old man’s dwelling, and Caesar followed her lead. He tied his mount, a sweet-natured brown mare called Opal, to a low hanging tree branch. Coyote didn’t bother to tie Shenanigans down; the horse wouldn’t abandon her for anything. She inhaled deeply, letting the fresh air into her mouth through her clenched teeth, feeling the cold rush on her tongue.
    “Let’s do this.”
    From one of the saddlebags, she pulled a lilac dress. With a soft curse, she took off her bowler hat and her coat, and pulled the dress over her head. It wasn’t modern dress, or pretty, and it was at least two sizes too big, but it would have to do.
    “Where did you get that?” Caesar eyed her with a hint of amusement in his dark eyes. The corners of his mouth twitched as Coyote held out the hem of the dress, lowering herself in a clumsy curtsy.
    “Does it meet your approval, kind sir?” she asked in her most dainty voice.
    “No, it is a hideous dress and far too large on you.” There was a laugh in Caesar’s voice as he spoke.
    “I got it from Miss Pond,” she said, referring to her silver-haired landlady. “One of her guests left it behind. I don’t think she was too keen on me wearing it, though.” Coyote put her derby back on. “She offered to buy me a proper dress, but I told her I was perfectly capable of buying a dress, should I need to. In fact, I do actually own dresses, but I needed one I could slip over my travelling gear that didn’t have complicated corsets and hoop skirts. This one only needs to fulfill its purpose for a short while.” Coyote shrugged. Lily Pond’s exasperated face was burned into her mind’s eye. The landlady had actually tisked when she tried on the dress for the first time.
    Coyote and Caesar had been renting a room in the Lily Pond boarding house for several years now, and it was their home away from home. The landlady was like a member of their family, the mother figure that Coyote had missed for many years.
    “You are very practical,” Caesar said, shaking his head. She knew he didn’t really care what she wore; her partner had no expectations of her social etiquette.
    “I just don’t want the old man to give me grief again, like last time, and I can’t be bothered to stop off in a hotel just so I can change into something more ladylike. He’s very adamant about women wearing dresses.” Coyote bent down and rolled the legs of her jeans up to her knees so that they couldn’t be seen under the dress. “Which is rather funny, because he has no problems with my profession, or the fact that I know how to shoot a gun. I would go as far as to say that he encourages it.”
    “Mister Roberts is a curious man,” Caesar said. “He seems to have adapted a world vision all of his own. However, he is a knowledgeable ally to have.”
    “Old Man Roberts is one of my father’s old friends. They all have a quirky world vision. Some of them are a few eggs short of a basket, so to speak.” Coyote tucked a loose strand of hair under her derby and shot Caesar a miserable look. “Well, let’s get on with it and give the man his gun back.”
    They walked through an unkempt and dense garden, making their way through the thick brambles and patches of nettles. There was a path through the underbrush, though not an official one, made by many feet treading over and over again on the plants that sprang from the fresh