AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Dented metal spoons and matching, dinged-up metal bowls fit nicely into a leather pouch. Spices in tiny shakers and small pots for cooking rough went in the saddlebags, and Lenny wasn’t shy about loading Buck with weaponry from the gun rack near the front door.
Four canteens were filled, and they were off just as the sky turned a deep purple-gray.
Eliza patted the saddlebag with the small bundle of letters she was to send if they chanced through town. She had already sent two bundles to her uncle Frederick, but he would love to hear from her as often as possible.
Buck woke up a bit, and seemed excited and jittery for the adventure. At times it was hard to keep him steady. Her buckskin gelding looked like a new horse. He’d lost a noticeable amount of weight and laziness. Along with Lenny’s mare, he still sported a braided mane and tail, and though Garret rolled his eyes when he saw them, he didn’t say anything rude, as was his normal response. Maybe he really was trying. One could hope.
The ride into town was a hushed one. Unable to speak for the others’ silence, for her it was just nice to get lost in the beauty of a wild Texas morning. That kind of sanctuary in the magic hour before others woke required quiet reverie.
At the edge of town, Garret asked Burke if they should go around. Whitfield’s ranch was fifteen miles west of town. Burke said going through town should be fine, much to Eliza’s relief. She asked if they could stop at the post office on the way through, and Garret agreed. The Jenningses had no reason to be in town this early anyway.
When the group pulled their horses into town, her thoughts were firmly planted on Uncle Frederick, who would have surely received the first bundle of her letters by now. She wished he could see her now—riding a horse alongside her husband and friend, headed for a Wild West cattle drive adventure with blistered hands, and cactus needle rash, and braids in her hair, wearing trousers. Would he like this new person she had turned out to be? She hoped so.
Burke escorted Lenny and her to the post office near the train station while Garret headed for the jailhouse to find the sheriff. He wanted to apprise the sheriff of their cattle transaction in case anything happened to them. He wanted to give the law somewhere to start if they disappeared.
Eliza posted the letters to her uncle, and waited patiently as the clerk behind the desk checked for any addressed to her.
Her heart beat faster the longer the man shifted through the drawer of letters behind the counter. How very much she wished for written word from her uncle. Any news on how he fared would be reading material to be taken in repeatedly for the next few days.
Her disappointment at the slight and sympathetic shake of the man’s head was so potent, it took her a moment to recover enough to thank him and leave the small building.
What could her uncle’s delayed correspondence mean? They had parted on good terms, and he had promised to write her immediately. Frederick Hall was a noble and honorable man who never broke his word.
She met Burke and Lenny outside. After meeting up with Garret, they rode out of town, headed west in the opposite direction of the Lazy S. The Whitfield land was the ranch directly in front of the Jennings’s territory, and the thought of riding ever closer to the snake den brought an uncomfortable flutter to her stomach.
Garret dropped back and rode alongside her. “No letters from him then? Your uncle?”
“No, not yet.”
“I have to admit something.”
“Okay.”
“I can smell some of your emotions.”
“You can…smell me?” she asked, confused.
“Yeah. Say you’re angry, there is this bitter scent. Happiness smells more earthy. Right now you smell like you’re worried. Are you?”
“A little. It’s just, he is the only real family I have in Boston. Besides Aunt Elizabeth, of course, but she wouldn’t claim me. He promised to write me the day I left for Rockdale, and to send letters frequently. It is an odd feeling, being cut off from the only family you have left. It is…unexpected.”
“Well, what about your aunt Elizabeth? I know you don’t think too kindly of her, but surely she can’t be that bad. Why do you say she wouldn’t claim you?”
What was it, truly, that made Aunt Elizabeth loathe her so? She had some time to explain, since they had a straightaway for a while. “When I was a child and new to Boston, I thought it was my red hair that offended my aunt so, for she spoke of the atrocious color of it often. And my mother—whom I loved, God rest her soul—never spoke against her cruel tongue, so I thought what my aunt spoke must be truth. As I grew older, I started to realize the unfortunate events that resulted in my birth, and my mother and her family’s fall from London society. I think my aunt blamed me, for she never had an unkind word for my mother, whom I guess Aunt Elizabeth saw as my victim.”
Garret drew his eyes to Lenny and Burke, who rode amiably some distance back. “Your red hair don’t bother me none. Never did,” he said. “I like it fine.”
Lips pursed, she tried to control the heat creeping up her neck, peering straight ahead lest he see her so affected by one compliment from his mouth. “It was easier when I got older because the color of it darkened, and one could only see the obvious red when I was in full sunlight. Her complaint then became how plain I was.” She wrenched her inflection to a high-pitched and crotchety old voice. “Elizabeth Flemm, you are certainly the plainest child I have ever lain eyes on. Not only are you a bastard child with no natural talents or appeal, your homely face has voided any chance you had at attracting a wealthy husband stupid enough to ignore your unfortunate breeding.”
Laughter pealed from her at her impression, but Garret didn’t seem to find it funny. Surely he would if he knew how accurate her impression had been.
“Did you have an escape?”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Did you go to school? Have friends? Travel?”
“No. Aunt Elizabeth thought it improper for me to go to finishing school with other children, for fear of me leaking our family secrets into Boston society where she had etched out an esteemed position for herself. She had married my Uncle Frederick, and she had become very wealthy. She hired governesses, and convinced my mother I was to stay in the manor as much as possible to avoid gossip. I excelled in reading and literature, and I found my escape in writing. You’ve read some of that,” she said, arching her eyebrow at him in disapproval.
