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Authors: Johanna Lindsey
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plan for a longer stay. You can consider this a holiday for the duration. I’ll visit you tomorrow when I come back to mail Mama’s letter and let you know how wonderfully this is going to work out.”
Tiffany gave Anna a hug and walked out of the hotel before Anna could change her mind and voice any more objections. Only one of the brothers was waiting for her outside the hotel. She was glad it wasn’t the grouchy one.
“I’ll need a coach for my trunk,” she told Cole. “It’s rather heavy.”
He stared at her blankly for a moment. Tiffany sighed to herself. She probably shouldn’t be giving him orders. She was going to have to be more careful about that if she hoped to fool them into believing she was a servant.
Cole laughed, explaining, “No coaches round here, ma’am. John’s gone to borrow a wagon and pick up the new wheels for our broken one. He’ll meet us at the train station.”
“Excellent. And if you could point me toward the telegraph office in the meantime? I need to let my family know I’ve arrived safely.”
“Don’t have a telegraph office, but we do have a telegraph. I’ll show you to it.”
“Thank you.”
It was a short walk back across the street. At least no other riders went by just then to stir up any more dust clouds. He was taking her to the Nashart Stage Depot. Scribbled on the lower half of the large sign above it were the words AND TELEGRAPH.
“I’m surprised the railroad didn’t put the stage line out of business,” Tiffany remarked.
“Still towns north and south of here that the tracks don’t reach. If you don’t mind, I’m gonna wait out here to keep an eye out for any Warrens. Rather not get in a shoot-out over snatching you out from under them.”
That was an alarming statement, but since he grinned as he said it, Tiffany decided he wasn’t serious and went into the office without him.
She marched up to the counter to send the telegram, but paused when she realized the man she was giving it to might warn her father. Didn’t everyone know everyone else in a small town? So she arranged to have the message, which she didn’t sign, delivered to R.W. at the hotel in Chicago where Rose was staying. How many guests could they have with those initials?
The telegram read, “Change of plans. Give Papa excuse for extended delay. Letter explaining to follow.”
Chapter Nine
T IFFANY SAID NOTHING TO the Callahan brothers about the vehicle they were forcing her to ride in, but she was highly indignant about having to travel anywhere in a freight wagon! The driver’s bench she sat on had no backrest, and no canopy either to protect her from the June sun, which was getting hotter as the day progressed. She had the appalling thought that she might start sweating by the time they reached the ranch or, even worse, get sunburned!
If she knew whether her parasols were in her remaining trunk, she’d ask the brothers to stop so she could take one out, but she hadn’t done the packing so she didn’t know, and she’d be embarrassed if she made them wait while she dug through that trunk and then came up empty-handed. Her fancy bonnet was a fashionable wardrobe accessory and was of little use in protecting her from the sun, so she settled for using her hand to shield her face. It was obvious now why men in the West wore hats with such wide brims. She’d even seen a couple of women in town wearing hats like that.
As Cole drove the wagon and John rode alongside, Tiffany sat stiffly erect as was proper, but her back was already getting sore from the effort. Her mother would cry if she could see the discomfort Tiffany was suffering because of a promise Rose had made. No, actually, Rose would probably just say something encouraging like “You can laugh and tell your grandchildren about this someday.” Tiffany would have scoffed because her grandchildren were going to be proper New Yorkers who would be horrified that she had to endure this. But she heard Rose whispering
Tiffany gave Anna a hug and walked out of the hotel before Anna could change her mind and voice any more objections. Only one of the brothers was waiting for her outside the hotel. She was glad it wasn’t the grouchy one.
“I’ll need a coach for my trunk,” she told Cole. “It’s rather heavy.”
He stared at her blankly for a moment. Tiffany sighed to herself. She probably shouldn’t be giving him orders. She was going to have to be more careful about that if she hoped to fool them into believing she was a servant.
Cole laughed, explaining, “No coaches round here, ma’am. John’s gone to borrow a wagon and pick up the new wheels for our broken one. He’ll meet us at the train station.”
“Excellent. And if you could point me toward the telegraph office in the meantime? I need to let my family know I’ve arrived safely.”
“Don’t have a telegraph office, but we do have a telegraph. I’ll show you to it.”
“Thank you.”
It was a short walk back across the street. At least no other riders went by just then to stir up any more dust clouds. He was taking her to the Nashart Stage Depot. Scribbled on the lower half of the large sign above it were the words AND TELEGRAPH.
“I’m surprised the railroad didn’t put the stage line out of business,” Tiffany remarked.
“Still towns north and south of here that the tracks don’t reach. If you don’t mind, I’m gonna wait out here to keep an eye out for any Warrens. Rather not get in a shoot-out over snatching you out from under them.”
That was an alarming statement, but since he grinned as he said it, Tiffany decided he wasn’t serious and went into the office without him.
She marched up to the counter to send the telegram, but paused when she realized the man she was giving it to might warn her father. Didn’t everyone know everyone else in a small town? So she arranged to have the message, which she didn’t sign, delivered to R.W. at the hotel in Chicago where Rose was staying. How many guests could they have with those initials?
The telegram read, “Change of plans. Give Papa excuse for extended delay. Letter explaining to follow.”
Chapter Nine
T IFFANY SAID NOTHING TO the Callahan brothers about the vehicle they were forcing her to ride in, but she was highly indignant about having to travel anywhere in a freight wagon! The driver’s bench she sat on had no backrest, and no canopy either to protect her from the June sun, which was getting hotter as the day progressed. She had the appalling thought that she might start sweating by the time they reached the ranch or, even worse, get sunburned!
If she knew whether her parasols were in her remaining trunk, she’d ask the brothers to stop so she could take one out, but she hadn’t done the packing so she didn’t know, and she’d be embarrassed if she made them wait while she dug through that trunk and then came up empty-handed. Her fancy bonnet was a fashionable wardrobe accessory and was of little use in protecting her from the sun, so she settled for using her hand to shield her face. It was obvious now why men in the West wore hats with such wide brims. She’d even seen a couple of women in town wearing hats like that.
As Cole drove the wagon and John rode alongside, Tiffany sat stiffly erect as was proper, but her back was already getting sore from the effort. Her mother would cry if she could see the discomfort Tiffany was suffering because of a promise Rose had made. No, actually, Rose would probably just say something encouraging like “You can laugh and tell your grandchildren about this someday.” Tiffany would have scoffed because her grandchildren were going to be proper New Yorkers who would be horrified that she had to endure this. But she heard Rose whispering
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