A Love Beyond Suspicion: Wagon Train Romance (Love on the Trails Book 1) by Natalie Dean & Eveline Hart

Author:Natalie Dean & Eveline Hart [Dean, Natalie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kenzo Publishing
Published: 2018-04-04T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

The Platte River, too thick to drink and too thin to plow, complained the pioneers, was the major emigrant highway across the plains. The California, Mormon and Oregon Trail all followed the Platte River. The Oregon Trail would follow the south shore of the Platte River, cross it at California Crossing, then follow the North Platte and Sweetwater all the way to South Pass.

Rumors travel faster than trail guides can catch them. Three days after the wagons had finally dried out, and they were once more preparing to journey, a rumor circulated the camps. There was a man missing. People went missing all the time, some dropping behind to settle, some wandering off to other locales, but this man was riding with a companion, a middle-aged spinster with an impressive dowry. Shortly before the crossing of the Platte River, he had disappeared.

It wasn’t long before the rumors became confirmed as fact. The missing man was Johnny Blake. He had last been seen on the edge of the camp. It was said he was carrying a great deal of money. Suspicious eyes turned to the group of Irish lagging behind the main convoy. The group had been quite vocal in their opinions of Johnny Blake and what he deserved to experience.

It seemed inevitable that Bryon and his troops of orderly men would visit their camp. He was polite, even a little apologetic. “I need to look in your wagons and see what kind of weapons you own,” he told them. “And a few questions. Were any of you away from your camps during June ninth to June twelfth?”

“We don’t keep track of days too much,” said Liam slowly. “When would that be? Last Tuesday or Wednesday? We did some hunting. Shot a couple of elk with our musket loaders. Still have a bit of venison left if it’s to your liking.”

“We just need to know. We haven’t found our missing man yet, and we’re not here to make accusations, just covering ground.” He tipped his hat to all of them, but as he came to Rachel, he looked squarely into her eyes. “Ma’am,” he said, tipping his hat again.

A smile appeared coquettishly on Rachel’s face, quite recklessly below her broad-brimmed hat. Jennifer slapped at her. “Whatever are you thinking, child? You don’t know the man.”

“But he’s a right comely lad,” she protested jovially. “Such a nice, ruddy complexion.”

But while Jennifer and Rachel slapped and teased each other, Lenora felt a growing despair. What had the men been doing on those nights when they had slipped away into the dark? They hadn’t been hunting. It was an activity they reserved for the day. Had they trailed Johnny Blake? Had they lured him away from the safety of his circle? She knew nothing about Liam really beyond his reputation with women, his love for horses and his intense dislike for swindlers and thieves.

She could barely stand the building tension. Despite the narrower trail on the other side of the river, the other drivers gave the Irish team a wide berth.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.