A Sleigh Ride for Millie (Sleigh Ride) by Patricia PacJac Carroll

Author:Patricia PacJac Carroll [Carroll, Patricia PacJac]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: PacJac Publishing
Published: 2024-08-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Preston went to the barn to check on Midnight Song. He was still kicking himself for taking the mare instead of his father’s powerful stallion. Of all the Chadwick sons, he was the one who always fell short when courage and strength were needed. A disappointment to his father.

He inherited his mother’s merciful, tender heart, but in the West, that was considered a weakness. So, he’d gone with learning to heal rather than harm others. Mother was pleased, and Father was disappointed.

He patted Midnight’s velvety muzzle. “I’m glad you’re up to a ride today. Snow or not, we’re going home.”

The horse nickered.

With a sigh, he led the horse out of the stall and saddled her. He was still in the barn when he heard hushed words just outside the door. Preston pulled Midnight into the stall and hid in the shadows.

He recognized the gravelly voice of Mr. Mullins, the man who ran the mine for Father. Preston wasn’t sure of the other voice, but the two men weren’t happy with one another.

“Stupid kid is snooping around and asking questions. We need to do something about him, or he’ll ruin everything.”

“We can’t let the old men find out.” Mr. Mullins’s words came out in a gush of anger.

Preston was surprised. He’d never heard Mullins talk about his father with such contempt. He put his hand over Midnight’s muzzle to keep her quiet and listened.

“All I know is Frank won’t stop. He might need an accident. The rest of the family members don’t come down here anymore. Once we got those two old men mad at each other, we had it made, but Frank is going to cause trouble for us.”

Mr. Mullins grunted. “At least neither of the families pay Frank any mind. The boy spent too much time getting into trouble.”

Hard chuckles answered him, followed by footsteps indicating the men had moved away.

Preston would have stepped out, but he didn’t have a gun with him. Another silly oversight on his part. He knew better than to leave home without a rifle in the saddle scabbard. He shook his head as he imagined the berating his father was going to give him when he got home.

Preston knew he’d be questioned about why he hadn’t confronted the two men. The answer? He wasn’t sure. Maybe he should go to the two mine directors right now and demand an answer. Then again, he’d been gone for four years and wasn’t sure of what was going on with the mines or anything else. Besides, it wasn’t his nature to rush in and start trouble.

If he didn’t straighten up, Father would send him back to Boston. Maybe that was where Preston belonged. It was a land of civilized people where strength and bravery weren’t valued as highly as intelligence and culture. Though he didn’t think he was a coward, Preston was bothered about his reluctance to rush headlong into trouble. Frank would. Father certainly did. Ernst? He was a puzzle and stuck mostly on the business side of things.

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.