Trail of Destiny (Hot on the Trail Book 5) by Merry Farmer

Author:Merry Farmer [Farmer, Merry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-02-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

The rest of the day was spent making plans, setting out rules, and gathering supplies. Jarvis was impressed—and amused—by how well Ginny and Howard worked together when they were discussing rules and means of “whooping each other’s backsides,” as Ginny described it later. They managed to agree on a specific point for each of them to start their fences, on the types of materials that could be used and what sort of fences would be built, and on which of their respective employees would be on each team. Even the neighbor, Carl Brannon, joined in what he called “the fun” and agreed to be the judge.

There was an element of fun to the whole thing, if truth be told. Everyone buzzed with excitement, from Ginny and Howard all the way down to the kitchen help. Jarvis supposed that having something concrete to focus on diffused a lot of the conflict that had enveloped the ranches for who knew how long. Still, he wasn’t convinced it was the best idea he’d ever had. Especially when Ginny dragged him back to her side of the property to help with preparations. He wanted to stay and talk to Alice, spend idle time with her at the very least, but he was out of luck.

It was an hour after dark before Jarvis finally had a chance to sneak away from Ginny’s house after she’d gone to bed and make his way across to Howard’s house. His back and legs were sore and his hands smarted from chopping wood for fence rails and loading the supplies Ginny already had into her wagon, but he wasn’t about to let a little pain keep him from where his heart was telling him to go.

He kept his eyes trained on the windows of the room where he knew Alice was staying as he walked to Howard’s house. When he got there, he caught his breath by searching the darkened yard for small stones, and when he found a few, he tossed them up at Alice’s open window. Instead of throwing them against the glass to make noise, he chucked a few right through the curtains. Either way, it worked.

Alice poked her head out the window. She searched the moonlit yard.

“Hello?”

“Alice,” he called to her.

Alice gasped and found him in the dark. “Oh, Jarvis. I was worried you might be Franklin thinking to serenade me.”

Jarvis chuckled. “I could sing a song if that would help.”

“No,” she laughed, then asked, “What are you doing here?”

“I came to talk to you.”

“Hold on, I’ll be right down.”

Alice pulled her head into the room. For several long moments, silence reigned. Jarvis paced in front of the window, eyes locked on the front door as he waited for her. When she snuck up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder, he jumped near out of his skin.

“Sorry,” she giggled. “I came out the kitchen door. Howard is still up reading in the parlor, and I didn’t want him to strike up another conversation about fences.

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