Taming of Jessi Rose by Beverly Jenkins

Author:Beverly Jenkins [Jenkins, Beverly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical, General
ISBN: 9780061736872
Google: yi2I1c0cHWQC
Amazon: B000O76NQO
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2009-10-13T00:00:00+00:00

The new Clayton clan went into town the next morning, and as they rode down the center of the main street, everyone on the walks and in the shop doorways stopped and stared. In the ensuing silence, only the horses’ steps could be heard. No one taunted Jessi with ugly names. No one said a word.

“Awfully quiet,” Preacher said, as he rode slowly at Griffin’s side.

“That it is,” Griffin replied, eyes cold. He wondered where the folks were who’d yelled out whore on the last visit. Were they too afraid now? Griff hoped so because he planned on taking on the first one who had anything vile to say about Jessi, and he doubted the Twins would show any restraint or mercy, either.

The Darcy Hotel came into view and as they rode by the large white structure, Griff was pleased to see the wood nailed over the shattered glass. He spotted Minerva and Roscoe standing out front by their carriage on the edge of the street, but Griffin spared them hardly a glance.

The Clayton party stopped first at the sheriff’s office. Hatcher wasn’t pleased to see them. “What do you want, Blake?”

“Good morning to you too, Sheriff Hatcher. These are my friends: Neil July, his brother Two Shafts, and Vance Bigelow. You may know Vance as the Preacher.”

Hatcher stilled. “The bounty hunter?”

Preacher tipped his black hat. “One and the same. Pleased to meet you. Sheriff.”

Watching from the doorway, Jessi thought Hatcher seemed even less pleased now.

“What do you want?”

“To see your Wanted posters,” Griffin said, “and before you say no, we are here in an official capacity. All of my friends are deputies, too.”

Hatcher’s jaw tightened. He yanked open a drawer in his desk, reached in, and pulled out a fat stack of posters. He tossed the stack on the desk top. “Here, help yourself,” he told them tightly.

Griffin said, “Jessi, come and take a look, you’d know the faces.”

Jessi didn’t recognize anyone in the first five or six that she glanced at. The men were of all races and were wanted for everything from bootlegging to murder. There were a few women, too, and one face vaguely rang a bell. “You know, if this woman weighed about thirty or forty pounds less and changed her hair, this could be Minerva Darcy.”

Griffin studied the face. He didn’t see the resemblance. “I don’t know, Jessi, I think you’re grasping at straws on that one.”

Jessi shrugged, but went ahead and read the bulletin anyway. The woman’s name was Eula Grimes. Rhymes with crimes, Jessi thought to herself. Eula was wanted in St. Louis for embezzlement, in Kansas City for counterfeiting, and in Denver for embezzlement and arson. The two embezzlement charges were for marrying men and then disappearing after the wedding. In both cases substantial amounts of money had vanished with her. Jessi still thought she resembled Minerva in an odd sort of way, but Griffin was probably right, she was just grasping at straws.

The faces on the rest of the warrants weren’t familiar at all.

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