Mail Order Bride: Bitter & Pregnant, An English Widow Heads Off to Her Cowboy Rancher In California (A Clean & Wholesome Historical Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page A

dumb. "I'll have Horace go to town tomorrow to send a message.
We should have the money soon." She put her head on his shoulder.
"I can't wait to be married to you!"
    "Sure," said Jack. "Hey, Horace, do you need
to do something special for your boss?"
    "Yes," said Horace, carefully. "He needs
something."
    "A special code," said Francine.
    "Yes, a special code," said Horace. "Only the
three of us know a part, so we all have to go, actually."
    "All right," said Jack, and he pulled up to a
house. "You lot go to sleep. I'll be back in the morning to take
you into town."
    "We can manage," said Jeanne.
    "I said I'll take you," said Jack. "Shut up
and listen."
    He dropped them off and rode off towards the
desert.
    Horace said, "I wonder where he's going?"
    "As do I," said Jeanne. "As do I."
     
     
    Joseph was lying on his side. He had spent
the past few days rubbing his bonds on things in the hope that he
could saw through them. Whoever had trapped them was thorough and
had completely neglected to leave anything sharp or breakable in
the room. Furthermore, Joe and Henry were getting more hungry and
thirsty by the day and there was a real chance that they'd
dehydrate or starve if no one came to save them. Suddenly, they
heard a door open and the heavy footfalls of a man. Their door
opened slightly and four dishes were shoved into the room. Two had
water and two had some sort of gruel.
    Joseph asked, "How do you expect us to eat
this without our hands?"
    Their captor said, "Woof woof." It was oddly
familiar.
    "Better than starving to death, I reckon,"
said Joseph and he eased himself over to a dish, Henry did the
same, and they ate and drank. While they might not die of
starvation or dehydration, Joseph was sure he'd surely die of shame
if anyone caught them doing this.
     
     
    Jeanne was still asleep when the door was
thrown open. Jack was standing in the doorway, filled with a deep
anger.
    "Time to wake up, Miss Priss," said Jack, and
he slammed the door. Jeanne got dressed, muttering all the while
about how much she disliked this man and met with her friends in
the kitchen. Jack was also there and as Francine went to the pantry
to cook them breakfast, Jack blocked her path. "What do you think
you're doing? We've got an errand to run."
    "Not on an empty stomach," said Francine.
"Especially now, Jeanne. She's with child. Remember?"
    Jack's face reddened with rage and Jeanne was
sure something was going to pop, but he regained what little
composure he had. "I'll get you people breakfast in town. A real
American breakfast. You're French or something, right?
Spanish?"
    "English," corrected Horace. "Rough and
tumble Londoners. I grew up on the mean streets, so to say. Don’t
cross me, boyo!"
    "Let's just get going your highness," said
Jack, and he left.
    Francine mused, "Your highness? Is that the
best he can do?"
    They were on the wagon once again, pulled by
the same old nag, and they rode to town. The land was actually
quite beautiful in the morning, and Jeanne was rather happy she had
come to this part of America. She wasn't happy that her suitor had
either entirely misrepresented himself or completely vanished, but
she would solve that problem later. They rode right to the
telegraph office and Jack led the trio into the office.
    "Get to it," he said. "'Cause I'm so excited,
see?"
    "I bet you are," muttered Horace, and he went
to the desk and said, "I need to send one overseas telegraph, name
of Thackery in London. He'll be paying the charges, just tell him
it's from Horace Johnson."
    "Very good," said the man. "What do you need
to say?"
    "Just tell him we're in California safely and
we need to request some funds for the nuptials," said Horace, and
Francine elbowed him. He looked at her, confused and then realized
what needed to be done. "Also, let him know that the lion's
den..."
    "...is filled..." continued Francine.
    "...with Daniels," ended Jeanne. It was a
bunch of nonsense, but Jack had been promised a code and a code had
been