Read Online It's Your Misfortune and None of My Own (Code of the West) by Stephen Bly - Free Book Online

smiled. “I’m Miss Suzanne Cedar. I’m afraid I’m so new around here I don’t know a soul.”
    “I knowed it. I knowed it! Why, I almost guessed you was the one.”
    “The one what?”
    “The one with golden hair and green eyes. Early this morning a fella came in for supplies. He just bought a ranch north of here, and he said he was lookin’ out for a green-eyed, golden-haired lady by the name of Suzanne Cedar. And, ma’am, you’re jist as pretty as he described. Let’s see, what was his name? Hancock? No, Hatcher. That’s it. Zachariah Hatcher.”
    “He was here?”
    “Yes, miss, and I do declare he was anxious to see you.”
    “Is it possible to ride out to that ranch this evening?”
    “I’m afraid it would take the most part of a day. And I’m not real sure where the place is, but from the description, it would be just about on the state line.”
    “In that case, I’d like to have a room for the night.”
    That evening at the supper table Pepper was introduced to the other guests as Miss Suzanne Cedar. The meal was tasty, the conversation light and pleasant, the company congenial.
    Later, in her well-furnished large room, she lay under clean cotton sheets amidst ruffles and lace and stared at the dark ceiling. Ever ything seemed so peaceful.
    No shots fired in the street.
    No fights downstairs.
    No women screaming, cussing, or crying.
    And none of the men tried to waltz her up to her bedroom.
    Miss Cedar, I enjoyed being you tonight. Those people thought I was somebody important. The men were polite, the women cou rteous. No one was drunk. I fancied their words, and they seemed to appreciate mine. Now by tomorrow, this game might be over, but at least I got to have one night at bein’ somethin’ other than a dance-hall girl.
    I like it.
    I like it very much.
    From her second-story window facing the mountains, Pe pper saw Stack Lowery leave right after daylight. She waved, but he didn’t see her. She opened her window slightly, allowing the chilled air to cool her. Pinning her hair behind her head and wearing the only dress she owned that was too modest for the dance-hall crowd, she went downstairs to breakfast.
    “Will you be goin’ out to Hatcher’s ranch t oday, miss?” Bob McCurley asked.
    “I know this must all sound strange, but Mr. Hatcher and I just keep missing connections, so I will need to ride out there.”
    “If you like, the wife and I could drive you in the buggy. We ain’t been in this country too long ourselves, and we’ve been meanin’ to see that district up on the state line.”
    “Oh .  . . Mr. McCurley . . . that’s mighty generous of you. I just couldn’t ask you to do that.”
    “You ain’t askin’,” McCurley insisted. “I’m offerin’. That’s an entirely different matter.”
    “If you put it that way, I’d be as happy as a . . . I’d be delighted.”
    By 9:30 A.M. Pepper was riding comfort ably on the back bench of a two-seat carriage with Mr. and Mrs. McCurley sitting up front. By the time they stopped to rest the horses and have a nooner, she had told them the entire story of the correspondence with Zachariah Hatcher and the decision to get married.
    Bob McCurley responded first. “Ranchers can get to be a real crusty lot. Hope you got a strong back and plenty of sand.”
    “It sounds terribly romantic to me, Miss Cedar,” Mrs. McCurley interjected. “None of us really know each other too well before we get married, no matter how many times we’ve been together. When will the wedding be?”
    “We will have to make that decision after we’ve had time to talk. I’m really gettin’, eh, a little nervous about it.”
    I should never have had them come out here. If Hatcher doesn’t buy this Suzanne Cedar impression, I’ll curl up and die. It’s got to work. It’s just got to!
    “Looks like a rider comin’ in from the north.” Bob McCurley pointed with his knife blade, which served as his eating utensil.
    “Two of them, isn’t