Detour Trail by Joy V. Smith

Author:Joy V. Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: women, historical fiction, help, thief, native americans, enemies, mule, travels, wagon train, oregon trail, off the beaten path, wagon master, detour trail, joy v smith, on her own, settling the frontier, westward bound
Publisher: Melange Books LLC

Chapter Ten

~ Prospecting for Settlers ~

Lorrie had hoped to take Starlight with her this trip, but she couldn’t go. “When I told Mother about being called half breed at the fort, she wouldn’t let me go back there or anywhere, it looks like.”

“Did you tell your father, too?” Star nodded. “Oh, I bet he was mad as hell.” Star nodded again.

Lorrie didn’t want to take Dennis ’cause that would slow her cabin down, among other chores that needed to be done, and Carrol was torn between wanting to go and finishing her garden and helping with other projects. They both decided it was best for her to stay.

Once on the trail, Lorrie relished her freedom, though. It reminded her of the beginning of her solo journey. She liked the challenges, as well as the people she met along the way. She spent her time on the wagon seat making plans and thinking about the future. She knew, from talking to Carrol, that she wanted to find a husband and make a home. Lorrie searched her thoughts and decided that she liked being free. She watched Jake running alongside the wagon, when he wasn’t behind or ahead of it. He obviously appreciated not being harnessed to a wagon.

She decided not to go back to the towns she knew. She had never explored Rocky Falls. She didn’t even know how big it was, and it would be interesting to find out what had happened there, after she and Dennis left. She’d be cautious though and see how Ink behaved, before venturing into town. She was grateful that Territory Tales was on the edge of town.

She left the wagon behind the building and didn’t unharness the horses in case she was in a hurry to leave. She went in the back door; the press wasn’t running so the building didn’t shake, and she could look through the rooms quietly. She found Ink leaning back in his office chair reading a newspaper and marking the pages with a pencil and muttering.

“Too many typos?” she asked.

He lowered the paper, and looked up at her and smiled. “I have an apprentice who makes up his own words,” he informed her. “I have your paper in a drawer here,” he told her. “More than one in fact. The town got pretty excited. You’ll enjoy the story where the sheriff was chased out of town and a new one elected. No proof that he was involved, or they’d have hung him,” he added soberly.

“What did they find? I’ll take the papers—and pay you, of course.”

“No need. I owe you for the scoop. Well, I talked to some people I knew would be interested, including Mrs. Collins and her family, which is quite a clan, by the way, saying only that someone had reported vultures at the old trail stop and that something might have happened there that needed to be investigated. That person told me because it was news and because maybe the sheriff couldn’t be trusted. I

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