Four Winds (River of Time California, Book 2) by Lisa T. Bergren

Author:Lisa T. Bergren [Bergren, Lisa T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lisa T. Bergren
Published: 2016-11-23T05:00:00+00:00

Her frown deepened. “Of course not. I shall have a boy run them to your hotel within an hour or two.”

“I see,” I repeated as if that should have been obvious to me. I didn’t know whether some poor seamstress was chained to a machine in the back of the shop, but apparently this was just part of the deal.

“By the time you finish with your bath,” she said with a sniff, not appreciating my B.O. any more than I did, “your gowns will be delivered.”

“Wonderful. And I’ll need some underthings as well. A new camisole, stays, petticoat.”

She waved me off impatiently. “Of course, of course,” she said. “All will be in order, señorita.”

She left me then to dress again in my tattered gown, after which I padded out to look at fine leather boots. Javier had already placed a crisp white shirt, pants, and jacket on the counter. Together we added a horsehair brush, lilac-scented soap, and a jar of cream.

“The girl needs this,” said the merchant, placing a small brown hat with netting on the pile, “to go with her new bronze gown. And this,” she said, reaching for a comb with freshwater pearls on it, “to go with the gold.”

“Oh, I couldn’t,” I said hurriedly. It all must be adding up to a lot of money, and I didn’t have a dime—or whatever currency they dealt in here.

“We can,” Javier said, opening his heavy purse and sliding out five gold coins.

“Javier, it is too much,” I said, belatedly thinking it all through. “I can just get the yellow dress and the boots. And the…” I felt the burn on my cheeks as I searched for the right word to describe all the feminine unmentionables.

“We’ll take it all,” he said firmly, staring straight ahead to the proprietor.

Her fat cheeks spread into a Cheshire-like grin. “Very good, sir,” she said. As she slipped the coins into a box behind the counter and fetched his change, she seemed to think of us as people-people for the first time. “May I ask how long you plan on sojourning in Monterey?”

“A few days,” he said. “We are to meet with a sea captain here. Captain Mendoza. Have you met him by chance?”

“Captain Mendoza?” she repeated. “I fear not. But the town is not all that big. Ask about him, and you’ll likely be sipping port together within the hour.”

“I hope so,” Javier said innocently, as if instead of slowly strangling Mendoza, he meant to toast his health. He wrote down the name of our hotel and our room numbers, and then we departed.

I breathed a sigh of relief to once again have socks and shoes. You could make it in flip-flops in a beach town. But, with your feet cut up, and stirrups and dirt roads, barefoot-and-bandaged was pretty much the worst idea ever. A huge infection waiting to happen.

But these boots felt tight and confining after those I’d borrowed from Hector. I hoped it was just because they were new. Probably would take a bit to break in.

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