Read Online Rocky Mountain Dawn (Rocky Mountain Bride Series Book 1) by Lee Savino - Free Book Online
Authors: Lee Savino
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stopped to stay with family in Kansas, she lost all her female friends.
"I don't mind taking women along, as long as they know their place," the trail master told her. "Men to the right, women to the left, I always say. Of course, a woman as pretty as you is welcome anywhere she goes."
Esther thanked him, privately rolling her eyes.
"It's as if he wished women lived like the djinn, waiting in a lamp for a man to summon her," she told her husband later, when they cuddled together under the stars. "On and on about women knowing their place."
Johnathan chuckled, his fingers sifting through her golden hair. "I'll tell him the truth of it: correct a woman as needed, but otherwise treat her like a queen, and then she will grant you every wish."
Rolling onto her husband's long body, Esther did just that.
The next morning, happy, but still wanting to give the driver a piece of her mind, Esther wandered around the wagon and saw the driver. Approaching, she realized his partner was standing facing away from the wagon, with an arc of golden liquid splashing on the ground.
"Mrs. Shepherd," the driver sputtered, and the standing man automatically started to turn, his breeches still undone.
"Oh, forgive me." She whirled, and hurried to "her" side of the wagon.
When she imparted this story to Johnathan later, he covered his face with his hand.
"I suppose that's what he meant when he said 'women on the left of the wagon.' I thought there were some special goings on the men were keeping me from, as a joke. But no, it was only for privacy."
She glanced at her husband, whose shoulders were shaking.
"Are you all right?"
A second hand covered her husband's face.
"Johnathan. Are you laughing at me?"
"I can't...Esther," Johnathan gasped. "Will you never stop getting into scrapes?"
"No," she said cheerfully. "It is my way. My mother always said my husband would beat it out of me."
"Never, dear cheek, never." He pulled her into his arms. "You are always to keep your silly ways."
*****
But as they neared the second half of Kansas and the end of their journey, Esther wondered more and more what her role on the frontier would be. Was she destined only to be the pretty minister's wife, no more useful than a trophy in a case? What use were all her studies and wide-eyed dreams?
She tried hard to be a good nurse to her husband, but even there her skills were limited. This came home one day when a horse, spooked by a jackrabbit, threw its rider. The man lay moaning as Johnathan examined him. "There's a break in the skin from the bone. We must set it quickly."
Esther offered laudanum to the patient, but the man waved her away.
"He wants whiskey," the wagon master crouched to put a flask to the rider's lips.
Before Esther could argue, her husband drew her up. "Let them be. These men have their own remedies for pain. Besides, we're low on supplies." He looked down at the man groaning on the ground. "We must straighten the leg."
"I'll help." Esther started forward.
"No, Esther. You're not strong enough." Her husband set her aside, and motioned to the wagon master.
Dismissed, Esther hurried away, wincing at the screams of the man behind her.
"You gonna faint?" one of the men asked, seeing her pale face.
Shaking her head, she found a quiet place by the stream, and hid. It would be better if Johnathan had come without her. All she did was wear on his precious stores of food and patience. Here, in a camp full of men, she had as much use as a three-legged mule—less so. At least, with a mule, you can shoot it.
Picking up a rock, she threw it into the pool, and watched the ripples spread.
"I want my life to matter," she whispered.
That night, she woke to pain stabbing her, over and over again just below her stomach. Doubling over, she tried to stifle her moans. Johnathan slept beside her, exhausted from a long day on the trail, and then the work of setting the man's leg.
After a long hour of gritting her teeth, she crawled out
"I don't mind taking women along, as long as they know their place," the trail master told her. "Men to the right, women to the left, I always say. Of course, a woman as pretty as you is welcome anywhere she goes."
Esther thanked him, privately rolling her eyes.
"It's as if he wished women lived like the djinn, waiting in a lamp for a man to summon her," she told her husband later, when they cuddled together under the stars. "On and on about women knowing their place."
Johnathan chuckled, his fingers sifting through her golden hair. "I'll tell him the truth of it: correct a woman as needed, but otherwise treat her like a queen, and then she will grant you every wish."
Rolling onto her husband's long body, Esther did just that.
The next morning, happy, but still wanting to give the driver a piece of her mind, Esther wandered around the wagon and saw the driver. Approaching, she realized his partner was standing facing away from the wagon, with an arc of golden liquid splashing on the ground.
"Mrs. Shepherd," the driver sputtered, and the standing man automatically started to turn, his breeches still undone.
"Oh, forgive me." She whirled, and hurried to "her" side of the wagon.
When she imparted this story to Johnathan later, he covered his face with his hand.
"I suppose that's what he meant when he said 'women on the left of the wagon.' I thought there were some special goings on the men were keeping me from, as a joke. But no, it was only for privacy."
She glanced at her husband, whose shoulders were shaking.
"Are you all right?"
A second hand covered her husband's face.
"Johnathan. Are you laughing at me?"
"I can't...Esther," Johnathan gasped. "Will you never stop getting into scrapes?"
"No," she said cheerfully. "It is my way. My mother always said my husband would beat it out of me."
"Never, dear cheek, never." He pulled her into his arms. "You are always to keep your silly ways."
*****
But as they neared the second half of Kansas and the end of their journey, Esther wondered more and more what her role on the frontier would be. Was she destined only to be the pretty minister's wife, no more useful than a trophy in a case? What use were all her studies and wide-eyed dreams?
She tried hard to be a good nurse to her husband, but even there her skills were limited. This came home one day when a horse, spooked by a jackrabbit, threw its rider. The man lay moaning as Johnathan examined him. "There's a break in the skin from the bone. We must set it quickly."
Esther offered laudanum to the patient, but the man waved her away.
"He wants whiskey," the wagon master crouched to put a flask to the rider's lips.
Before Esther could argue, her husband drew her up. "Let them be. These men have their own remedies for pain. Besides, we're low on supplies." He looked down at the man groaning on the ground. "We must straighten the leg."
"I'll help." Esther started forward.
"No, Esther. You're not strong enough." Her husband set her aside, and motioned to the wagon master.
Dismissed, Esther hurried away, wincing at the screams of the man behind her.
"You gonna faint?" one of the men asked, seeing her pale face.
Shaking her head, she found a quiet place by the stream, and hid. It would be better if Johnathan had come without her. All she did was wear on his precious stores of food and patience. Here, in a camp full of men, she had as much use as a three-legged mule—less so. At least, with a mule, you can shoot it.
Picking up a rock, she threw it into the pool, and watched the ripples spread.
"I want my life to matter," she whispered.
That night, she woke to pain stabbing her, over and over again just below her stomach. Doubling over, she tried to stifle her moans. Johnathan slept beside her, exhausted from a long day on the trail, and then the work of setting the man's leg.
After a long hour of gritting her teeth, she crawled out
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