Read Online The Fugitive Son by Adell Harvey, Mari Serebrov - Free Book Online

“I know you Mormons don’t think this has been translated correctly, but it sure helps me when I’m in trouble or in need of guidance. Will you promise me you’ll read it and ask God to help you understand it?”
    He paused for a moment, then added, “And if you come to a part you think has been mistranslated, just skip that part and read somewhere else.”
    Reaching for the book, Andy promised. “But will you answer me something first? Why are you being so kind to me? I’m the enemy. You could have shot me in cold blood.”
    The major laughed. “Do I look like somebody who could shoot anybody in cold blood?” He paused and reflected. “I know I’m a soldier, and possibly if I had to kill to save an innocent life, I might be able to pull the trigger. But basically, it turns my stomach to think I might have to kill a man some day.” He laughed again. “Guess I’m a lover, not a fighter!”
    Andy felt as though he’d finally met a kindred spirit. “My feelings exactly,” he confessed. “When I see all the killing going on among the Mormons, I try hard to understand, but I know I couldn’t slit a man’s throat to ‘help him into Paradise.’ Makes no sense to me.”
    Major Crawford contemplated Andy’s confession. “I just pray I’m not faced with having to kill anybody. Soon as my time is up with the cavalry in a few months, I’m resigning my commission and heading out to Oregon to look for Ingrid.”
    Andy reached out and shook his hand. “I wish you Godspeed and hope you find both her and the baby well. Thanks barely seems enough for sparing my worthless life, but thanks will have to do!”
    “Just keep reading the Good Book and keep your carcass out of trouble!” The major smiled as he mounted his horse and headed back down the trail, leaving Andy to his lonesome thoughts.

    Cairo, Illinois
    The cacophony of dozens of steamboat bands, each trying to outplay the other, reached Elsie’s ears long before she saw the dock at Cairo. It looked like a hundred boats were moored there. Following their enforced layover on the sandbar while the rudder was being repaired, Elsie had worried she’d miss hooking up with the steamboat to St. Louis. With that many boats headed upriver, however, there would surely be another on which she could book passage if her original choice had already left.
    John and Mary Montgomery joined Elsie on the promenade, near the point where they would disembark. “Would you care to join us for a tour of Cairo?” John asked. “I’ve been here several times and would be glad to escort both of you lovely ladies. And I’ll assure you, Cairo is no place for a lady alone. It has nearly a hundred saloons, all of which are full of revelers!”
    Elsie was thankful for the invitation. She had no desire to be ogled, accosted, or pushed into close contact with a drunken sailor or unsavory gambler. And even though Illinois was a free state, people might not take too kindly to her seeing the sites accompanied only by Isaac.
    “They tell me,” John continued, “that each time a new saloon is opened, the owner throws the key into the river to show the door will never be locked. The revelry goes on day and night, as the saloons provide gaming rooms and betting parlors for the riverboat pilots and crews, as well as traveling businessmen.”
    Mary and Elsie exchanged worried glances. “I declare, maybe we shouldn’t leave the boat after all,” Elsie said without thinking.
    “But we must,” Mary countered. “How else will we get our tickets and book passage on a boat going north?” She looked toward the dock as their ship angled into a slip. “We’ll be loading onto one of those big ones, while our little paddle-wheeler turns around and goes back up the Ohio.”
    The confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers spread out before them. As they drew closer to the action, Elsie could see the riverfront was a rough place. She watched from the top deck as card sharks and ne’er-do-wells