Read Online Lauraine Snelling - [Wild West Wind 01] by Valley of Dreams - Free Book Online

Why had she never noticed that before? What if something happened to him on this journey? She looked back at Micah. “Thank you.”
    The question in his eyes said he didn’t understand, but then she didn’t really either. “How do you know when it’s done?”
    “When you get tired of waiting?” He shook his head and, with a slight smile, continued since she didn’t react. “All depends on how hot the fire. Watch so it doesn’t burn.” He lifted the iron skillet and pulled the bean pot forward to the hotter part of the stove and then set the frying pan in the back.
    “What about the coffee?” She watched him, learning to wait for his response. Had he been making a joke with his comment about getting tired of waiting? Micah making a joke? The thought was intriguing.
    “It will have to wait—no room.”
    “Sure smells good.”
    “Yeah, but you always have to start with raw meat.”
    Raw meat. One man wanted her to cook it, the other wanted her to shoot it. While they both tried to help her, she knew she was the only one who could overcome her trepidation. Or was it outright fear?

    That night after they had all turned in, she lay in the darkness thinking of all the changes she was being subjected to. All thanks to dear Uncle Jason. She felt like spitting out his name. What perfidy. His name and the thought of his hightailing it for the train left a bitter taste in her mouth. What would her father do in this instance? Or more appropriately, what would her mother do? After all, she had fallen in love with a Wild West performer and left her high-class life behind, knowing she would never see her family again. From the stories she told, her father had forbidden her to see the brash young American. No matter that he owned a touring company that had a reputation for superior entertainment and management.
    Down in the bottom of her trunk she had a picture of the two dashing young newlyweds, her father so dark and handsome, her mother so fair and regal she could be called a snow queen. They had met when the show played in Oslo, Norway.
    “I fell in love instantly,” she had told her daughter, one of the many times Cassie pleaded for a story of her life in Norway. “When your father rode into the arena on that magnificent black horse of his, I coveted his horse first, and then he doffed his wide-brimmed white hat and smiled at me. I am sure my heart fluttered right out of my chest and united with his—right in that moment.”
    “And then what happened?”
    “And then he asked my father if he might call on me.”
    “And he did.”
    “And he did. When the show was about to leave Norway, I packed my trunk and met him at the wharf, much to the amazement of everyone, including me. I had always obeyed my father, just as you must obey yours. And now it is time for you to go to sleep, my sweet.” She leaned over and kissed her daughter’s rounded cheek. “Let’s say your prayers, and then your father will come in to kiss you too.”
    Cassie found herself speaking those prayers in her mind, both the Norwegian one and her own, blessing everyone and everything she could think of to prolong the time with her father. His mustache always tickled her face when he kissed her, and he always smelled like cherrywood from his pipe smoke and the out-of-doors.
    We were supposed to make this trip together, all of us, with wagonloads of household fixings, blooded horses, and thriving cattle. The only thing that remained from their dreams was the Gypsy Wagon—and their little girl all grown up—without them. Cassie lay still, listening to the wind pleading entry into the snug wagon. The ice pellets rattled on the roof like someone was throwing gravel. She heard Chief get up and go out to check on the animals but fell asleep before he returned. Her last thought made her blink. What if they had to stay right there and not get any closer to the valley?

7

    T he snow left as quickly as it arrived.
    “So we continue on today?” Cassie