Glory Read Online Free PDF Page A

so many people in the world! On second thought, she decided that there weren’t any more people; they all had to be here in Squatter’s Bend.
    Buggies and wagons pulled in and away from the fronts of buildings, their wheels rattling on the dirt road, kicking up dust. Men whistled to their teams and threw friendly shouts at each other as they rode off. Mamas, their arms full of fat bundles, herded small children across the street like protective hens. Glory strained to get a better look at the packages. What could they have bought? Probably most anything they liked. And the smells! She sucked in drafts of mouthwatering aromas, most notably that of baking bread, wishing with all her might that she could smell butter, too. Her mouth pooled at the thought of hot bread and butter, and she swallowed repeatedly, craning her neck to try to see everything at once.
    Mr. Jackson Lincoln sawed on the reins, and the wagonrolled to a stop in front of the tallest building, which sported a wide, white porch. After setting the brake, he carefully wrapped the reins around the handle before he turned to the girls. “Stay close. I don’t want to have to hunt you up when I’m finished.”
    “Yes, sir, anything you say, sir.” Harper’s dark eyes flashed back at him as if he’d said something he shouldn’t have. Glory wondered if the girl plain flat out carried a chip on her shoulder. This morning at breakfast, Jackson Lincoln had asked Harper to pass the butter, and she’d told him to get it himself—she weren’t his servant. Jackson had gone on eating like the butter wouldn’t add to the biscuit, but Glory had known it would. She had jumped up and gotten the butter for him herself. Even dug around in the box and found some apple butter to go with it. No, it just seemed to her that Harper didn’t like taking orders from a man—least of all Jackson Lincoln.
    “It won’t take me long to get staples ordered. We’ll pick up the supplies before we leave town in the morning.” He glanced at Glory. “You gonna be all right here by yourself?”
    “Yes, sir.” Glory swallowed the sudden, growing lump in her throat. “I’ll be just fine. Thank you, sir.”
    Leastwise, she sure hoped so. She’d never been away from the shanty, and she didn’t know what to expect. Fact was, nothing she’d ever known had prepared her for this, but she guessed now that she was on her own, she’d learn to handle it.
    The wagon master smiled, a right nice smile, and shenoticed a dimple in his left cheek. She couldn’t say his age—hard to tell. But he was older than she and probably forty years younger than Poppy. As she watched, he jumped lithely from the wagon to the ground and disappeared into the general store. A bell over the door tinkled when he opened it, a sound Glory had never heard before but liked. It made a nice, welcoming noise that she thought sounded peaceful.
    Harper climbed onto the seat Jackson had vacated and sniffed the fragrant aroma of baking bread. Closing her eyes, she grinned, her even white teeth flashing in the early morning sun. “Now don’t that smell like paradise?”
    Glory thought it smelled better than anything she’d ever smelled before, especially since she hadn’t eaten much lately. With Poppy gone and supplies running low, she’d gone to bed hungry more often than not the past few weeks. And there hadn’t been an abundance of vittles since she’d left the cabin. Shooting game hadn’t seemed worthwhile, and then she’d accepted a ride with Jackson Lincoln and the girls, and she hadn’t wanted to be any more trouble than she already was. That thought reminded her of why she was here with Jackson Lincoln: Amos.
    A shudder leaked out when she thought of her narrow escape. Was Amos trailing her? Of course he was. Last night she’d told herself he’d give up, but she didn’t really believe it. The more likely question was how long would it take him to find her? And when he did, he’d take her pouch of