Train From Marietta Read Online Free PDF Page B

see.”
    Emily pulled out a doll that he had bought in Alpine. It had a baby face, blue eyes, a pink mouth, and long brown hair. Its dress was pink with a matching pink satin sash. “Oh, Daddy, Daddy! She’s got a dress just like mine!”
    “Do you like her, sweetheart?” Emily’s smile was all the answer he needed.
    Emily hugged the doll close to her. “Does she cry?”
    “Bend her over and you’ll find out.”
    Emily bent the doll back and forth. Her smile widened when she heard the doll coo, “Ma … ma.”
    “Lay her down,” Tate said. “Her eyes will close.”
    Emily laughed with delight. “What’s her name?”
    “The lady at the store said that she didn’t have one,” Tate said. “You’ll have to give her a name.”
    Emily thought about it for a while, her little nose crinkling up from the effort. Finally she said, “I think I’ll call her Sarsaparilla.”
    “That’s a pretty long name for a baby.”
    “I like it,” the girl said defiantly.
    “Maybe you should shorten it up a little.”
    “Well… then I’ll call her ‘Sassy’”
    “That sounds great, honey.”
    “Are you hungry, señor?” Yelena asked as she set plates on the table.
    “My belly’s so empty it thinks I’ve forgotten about it.” Tate laughed as he lifted Emily up and sat down with her in a chair. Emily snatched her doll from the table and started bouncing it on her knee.
    “Jorge coming,” Yelena said.
    “Great. I’ve not had a good meal since the day I left.”
    By the time Tate finished eating, Emily had nodded off to sleep. One arm hung down toward the floor, but the other held her new doll tightly to her chest. The excitement of her father coming home, and the doll, had been too much for the child.
    Tate carried her to the small room off the kitchen and laid her down on her bed. She woke and smiled up at him. He pulled the curtains shut on the purple-and-yellow-streaked evening sky, sending the room into near darkness. He kissed her forehead.
    “Can you tell me a story, Daddy?” Emily asked sleepily as Tate changed her clothes and tucked the doll into the crook of her arm.
    “Not tonight, honey.”
    “Please?”
    “Daddy’s got to talk to Jorge. Yelena will.”
    “I’ve heard her stories,” Emily complained.
    Tate pulled a thin blanket up to his daughter’s waist, then leaned down to give her one more kiss good night. She put her arms around his neck and squeezed him tightly.
    “Daddy, you smell funny,” the little girl said.
    “I do?”
    “You smell like flowers.”
    Tate grinned.
    Tate went out onto the porch, where Jorge sat in an old bentwood chair. The vivid colors of the sky had darkened as the sun started its disappearing act over the western horizon. Stars had begun to spring to life above them, twinkling in the early evening sky. It had been a hot day, but the air had already started to cool down. A light breeze carried the scent of sage.
    Tate lit a cigarette and sat down on the edge of the porch. Old Bob trotted from the yard in back of the house and sat at his master’s feet. The dog gave a contented sigh before settling down.
    “I got a good price for the horses, Jorge. I’ll be able to pay you now.”
    “You owe me nothing, señor.”
    “I said I’d pay you for helping me break those horses, and I will.”
    “You give me and my
esposa
a home. We feel you family, you and the little
niña.
That’s all the payment we need.”
    “You’re our family, both of you. I couldn’t have managed all these years without your help. My sale to the fort should put us in pretty good shape.”
    “What put you in pretty good shape would be if you get the spotted stallion.”
    “You know how hard I’ve been tryin’, Jorge. But he’s man-shy I’ve had him boxed up a couple times, and he always manages to get out. One time he almost ran me down. He was mad as hell. It’ll be hard to get near him again.”
    They sat in near silence for a couple of minutes, the only sound that reached their