Glory Read Online Free PDF Page B

horse.
    Glory spied the boots sitting beside the dress in the window and grinned, pressing her nose against the cool glass. Now there was something she could use. Her boots had holes in the soles. She’d patched them with a bit of leather, but nothing lasted long, and the stitches let in water.
    If she was careful where she stepped, she could wear her old boots out in the woods, but thick briars punched through the patches and the leather was soon eaten away again. When the snows had come, she’d padded the soles with rags to make do, but that was powerful lumpy to walk on and caused hurtful blisters.
    Eyeing the durable leather boots, she thought about the gold in Poppy’s pouch hidden under her belt. She didn’t know how much it amounted to, but it was enough to get Amos riled. She could spend some of the money on a new pair of boots, but she didn’t dare show it. If Amos was so bent on getting the gold, then others would be too. Besides, if she were to begin a new life without any skills, it would take every bit of the gold she had to stay alive until she figured a way to make a living.
    “It is quite remarkable handiwork,” Ruth observed, her eyes fastened on the window display. “Look at the fancy stitching along the bodice, and the way the skirt hangs so beautifully from that point in front.”
    Harper made a disgusted noise. “Where would anyone wear something like that?” But Glory noticed Harper didn’t look away; she just kept staring at the pretty red dress like it was a pork chop bone and she was a hungry pup.
    Jackson Lincoln came out of the mercantile and whistled shrilly. Glory jumped at the sound, but the girls, apparently accustomed to this signal, turned immediately from their daydreaming and started back toward the wagon. Glory trailed behind.
    Jackson grinned as the girls approached, and Glory admired his right fine-looking eyes. They were blue, the color of eggs she’d found in robins’ nests each spring. And when he smiled, his white teeth flashed and his cheeks creased like he smiled a lot. “All set, ladies?”
    Ruth nodded, smiling back at him pretty as you please. “Got the supplies ordered?”
    He chuckled as if he really liked her, and Glory felt funny inside, kind of empty.
    “They’ll be ready first thing in the morning.” He glanced at Glory, and his smile reappeared, making her feel warm inside. “Had decided to buy our staples when we reached this point of the journey. We’ll be camping right outside town tonight. You’re welcome to stay with us.”
    “No,” Glory said, dying inside to accept his kind offer. She wasn’t looking forward to seeing that prairie schooner leave without her. “I’m starting my new life, so I might as well get to it.”
    Swallowing against a dry throat, she glanced up the street, her gaze taking in the orange glow of the setting sun. Things were settling down a bit, not as busy as they’d been earlier. Loud music now spilled from a doorway; men were coming and going from the building.
    Gunshots rang out suddenly. Glory jumped, automatically crowding closer to Jackson. The crowd scattered like buckshot, ducking behind posts and water troughs. Then two men wearing tin stars on their shirts appeared from another building and quickly took in hand the two men who’d beenstaggering down the street and shooting off their guns. Glory didn’t understand what was going on, but she’d just as soon it hadn’t happened.
    When the excitement cleared, Jackson took her arm and steered her down the street. “You’re sure you won’t stay the night with us? This town looks kind of rough.”
    “You don’t have to start your new life this very minute,” Mary encouraged. “You can spend the night in camp with us, then return in the morning when we come for our supplies.”
    The other girls chimed in to agree, and Glory felt real proud to have such good friends. She’d never had even one friend before, unless she counted Poppy, and now she had a bunch.