Beyond The Horizon Read Online Free PDF Page A

breast.
    The light brushing stroke was so fleeting, Shannon thought she had imagined it. But she didn’t have long to dwell on it, for Blade was already lowering her to the ground beside the Johnson wagon.
    “See that you don’t stray again,” he warned. Then he rode off toward the head of the long line of wagons, leaving Shannon flushed and confused.
    “My, he’s handsome,” sighed Callie, an incurable romantic. After her nap she had climbed into the seat beside Howie. Now she descended to join Shannon.
    Shannon snorted, an explosive, unladylike sound. “He’s a half-breed.” Her tone indicated no other explanation was necessary.
    “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more compelling man, red or white. He’s so powerful and outrageously virile that just looking at him frightens me.” Callie shivered delicately. “It’s no wonder he has all the young women on the wagon train agog over him.”
    “Not me,” Shannon denied, blue eyes snapping. “The other girls are welcome to him.”
    “Nancy Wilson will be glad to hear that,” Callie teased. “She was a mite worried when you joined the wagon train. Until you arrived, she was considered the prettiest single girl of the group. I know she hoped to be noticed by Blade.”
    “I have no desire to compete with Nancy Wilson,” sniffed Shannon, recalling the brown-eyed blond beauty who looked to be her own age. She traveled with her parents, three younger siblings, and an older brother. Shannon remembered Todd Wilson vividly, for he spent a great deal of his free time making cow eyes at her.
    After the first easy day, the emigrants camped that night beside a creek where water and firewood were plentiful. Blade had made the decision to ford the relatively placid water the next morning. Shannon saw little of Blade. He spent the evening going from wagon to wagon offering advice and words of encouragement. She noted that he ate with the Wilsons, having been invited by Nancy who, Shannon noted with a hint of disgust, hung onto his every word with breathless awe. Instinctively Shannon knew that these very people who depended on him for their lives would shun him like poison once the journey was over and they no longer needed him. She felt certain Blade knew it too.
    After supper was cleared away and the dishes washed and stashed in their places, Callie retired inside the wagon while Howie bedded down underneath. Previous arrangements called for Shannon to share the wagon with Callie, but she felt so guilty about separating the young couple that after she had donned her voluminous gown and robe, she sent Howie inside with his wife, insisting she’d rather sleep outside on such a warm night. But Shannon soon found she was too keyed up to sleep. Seeking a place she might be alone, she wandered to the outer perimeter of the camp and sat down on a rock, staring at the star-studded sky.
    “It’s a lovely night.”
    “Oh!” Startled, Shannon leaped to her feet, relieved to see Clive Bailey looming beside her instead of the intimidating half-breed. “You frightened me.”
    “Sorry,” Clive mumbled, his tone far from contrite. “How are you getting on with the Johnsons?”
    “Just fine. I’m positive it will work out well for all of us.”
    “Glad to hear it.” He paused, choosing his words carefully. “But if for some reason things don’t go as they should, I’d be more than happy to offer my own wagon for your use. I refrained from doing so in front of the half-breed, but please keep in mind what I have offered. You are a lovely creature, Shannon Branigan,” he added, his voice low and insinuating.
    Shannon felt the first prickling of alarm when Clive sidled closer, replaced by panic when his words and their barely disguised meaning left his lips.
    “Mr. Bailey, I’m not certain what you are suggesting, but I have no intention of leaving the Johnsons’ wagon—for any reason. Now if you will excuse me, it is time I returned to the wagon.”
    She turned to