Tracie Peterson Read Online Free PDF Page A

you first arrived, you’ve seen nothing of the world and perhaps with a better view of it, you won’t pine away for that gold-digging dandy in Kansas City.”
    Pamela grimaced at her grandmother’s reference to Bradley but then offered a sweet smile and nodded. “I know it would ease my suffering considerably.”
    “Very well,” Claudia replied. “Alexandra, I’ll have a draft prepared to pay for Pamela’s ticket and travel needs.”
    And so it was settled, at least as far as Pamela was concerned. Zandy, however, knew she had a monumental task ahead in approaching Riley and winning him over to the idea.
    ❧
    The next day, Riley, Zandy, and Pamela boarded the stage for Kansas City. Riley hadn’t liked the idea of Pamela’s joining them but, because his mind was so preoccupied with the problems in Colorado, he gave in easily, only telling Zandy that should any problem result from the matter it would be on her head. Zandy wanted to comment on her husband’s words, but she was so relieved to have Riley’s permission to bring Pamela that she let the issue drop.
    Pamela was elated and in a better mood than Zandy or Riley had seen her since her arrival in town. Zandy could only imagine that the younger girl had contented herself with a change of scenery. Still, it didn’t stop Zandy from praying the trip would be a quick and easy one .
    It was not to be, however. A washed-out bridge made it necessary for the stage to detour, not once, but twice, and finally the road weary travelers picked up the train in Lawrence, Kansas.
    Riley found the ride irritatingly slow and took to pacing from car to car on a daily basis. It was during one of his strolls that he happened upon none other than Horace Tabor, the infamous Leadville Silver King and newly elected legislator from Colorado. He had added to his notoriety, Riley learned in conversation, by divorcing his wife and wedding his mistress, Baby Doe, in a hotel ceremony in Washington, D.C. They were on their way back to Denver, where they would set up housekeeping and start their new life together.
    Tabor was a likeable enough man with a drooping mustache and gray at the temples of his receding dark brown hair. His easygoing manner instantly seemed to put Riley at ease and, in talking, the men learned they had a great deal in common. Riley didn’t return to the ladies until nearly two hours later, and it seemed that when he did his heart had been lightened considerably. Tabor had a real interest in the town of Dawson. Perhaps, Zandy thought, he would offer them a way out of the dirty game of mining towns and outlaw gangs.
    ❧
    Pamela’s sullen spirits could do nothing to spoil Zandy’s excitement as the train pulled into Dawson, Colorado. She hadn’t seen her family in over a year, and suddenly it seemed the most important thing in the world.
    “Look, Riley,” she exclaimed, leaning across him. “There’s Father and Ruth!”
    Pamela followed Riley and Zandy from the train to the loading platform and waited grimly while Zandy fussed over each of her family members.
    “I can’t believe how Molly’s grown,” Zandy said of her little sister. “She was just a baby when I left Dawson. And just look at you,” she said, turning to her thirteen-year-old brother. “Why, Joshua, you’re nearly a man.” This caused the boy to swell with pride. In spite of his younger brothers’ laughter, he felt Zandy had bestowed a high honor upon him.
    Eleven-year-old Bart and nine-year-old Samuel took hold of either side of Zandy’s wrinkled traveling dress and began tugging on her skirts.
    “Guess what, Zandy,” Bart began.
    “We had a bank robbery,” Samuel finished for his brother.
    Zandy cast a worried glance at her father, while Riley barely caught the words as he returned with their bags.
    “What’s this about a bank robbery?” he asked, coming alongside his wife.
    “It’s true,” seven-year-old George exclaimed. “Those bad men rode into town just big as you