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Nicole almost spoke up to tell him that it mattered not to her if the girls were talking, but decided against it. After spending so many hours in the coach with this man, she knew that his word was law to his family. To them he was almost a god!
Her fellow travelers were a family of Mormons, which included four little girls and two wives. The man’s name was Jeremiah Schrock, and his wives’ names were Nancy and Martha.
But Nicole had not been told the names of the girls. When she had entered the stagecoach, the man had introduced himself to her, as well as his two wives. From that point on he had remained silent except for when he found reason to scold one daughter or the other.
Though he did not speak to her, he continued to give Nicole looks that made her very uncomfortable. He was a man of fine appearance, with a square jaw that was prominent even though he wore a beard.
He had sparkling blue eyes, and was dressed in a suit of black that revealed muscles bulging against the tightness of the fabric. Nicole knew that he was the sort to attract many a woman’s eyes to him.
But not her. She hated the way he looked her up and down, as though he might be sizing her up to be his third wife!
That thought repelled her. This man had already taken two wives, seemed to enjoy lording it over them. She had no desire to be the third.
During this long trip on the stagecoach, Nicole had avoided the man’s stares by gazing out the window, while feeling pity for the poor things that he had already claimed as his.
They were timid women, who hardly spoke a word during their entire time in the stagecoach.
She now looked out the window just in time to see that the stagecoach was approaching the small town of Hope, where a small community of Mormons had been established.
Nicole strained her neck to see as much as she could of the place. She found it to be a lovely, quiet community of small, yet pretty, houses, all painted white.
Many children were running around outside, laughing and playing. She saw women hanging wash on lines. She saw a vast garden planted with everything needed for survival.
Just as the stagecoach drew to a stop, Nicole smiled and waved from the window to a little girl. The child stared back at her from between a man and woman whom Nicole concluded were her parents.
Nicole flinched when one of the wives who was departing the stagecoach, the one named Nancy, stepped on Nicole’s foot. She realized quickly that it was no accident when Nancy glared at her as she stopped to meet Nicole’s gaze.
This woman had quietly sat by as her husband measured Nicole’s appeal, but she was obviously seething at the idea that Nicole might be her husband’s third wife.
Nicole wanted to tell Nancy that she would never consider joining their family, but kept silent as the woman joined the others outside. The members of the small community took turns embracing the new comers.
The girls were soon gone, holding hands with new friends, giggling, as they ran off to play.
The stagecoach lurched forward, jarring Nicole so much that she almost fell from the seat. She settled in again for the rest of the journey, thank goodness, this time alone.
She smiled as she thought about what lay ahead…her family’s very own town. She envisioned it being neat and pretty, and as peaceful as the Mormon town that was now far behind her and soon forgotten.
Sighing in relief at having the coach all to herself, Nicole was pleased to see that she was now traveling through a beautiful setting of lush trees and thick, green grass.
She enjoyed smelling the scent of flowers that grew wild amidst the grass. Their varied colors gave the countryside the look of a patchwork quilt.
She gazed farther from the window and saw one of the tallest mountains she had ever beheld.
She had been told about this mountain before boarding the stagecoach. It was said that many Navaho people lived on it, renegades who had gone there to avoid conflict with the U.S. government.
She had heard that the Navaho had fled high up on that mountain to be safe from the cavalry, and also other enemy tribes.
She shivered as she recalled someone saying, too, that no one but the Navaho should go on that mountain or they might wind up being scalped.
Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by the shocking sight of rolling black smoke in the distance.
What alarmed her most was that the smoke was coming from the direction of Tyler City.
She stiffened when she heard the approach of a horse. A lone rider came up to the side of the stagecoach and shouted at the driver that he should turn the stagecoach around and drive quickly back in the direction they had came from. He told them to flee for their lives, and Nicole felt sick inside when he explained why.
He was saying that things had gone crazy in Tyler City.
Murder!
