Where the Deer and the Antelope Play (Code of the West) Read Online Free PDF Page A

no. He’s a persistent young man, isn’t he? This fellow came in from Arizona last night. Says his name is Abel Cedar.”
    “Who?”
    “Abel Cedar. Claims to be headed out to the ranch to visit with his old friend Zachariah Hatcher.”
    “Oh! He’s Suzanne Cedar’s brother.”
    “That’s the way I figure.”
    “What did you tell him?”
    “Nothin’. But that’s why I figured you would want to talk with him a spell and save him a trip.”
    “I’ll be down shortly.”
    Closing the door, Pepper stood in front of the dresser and stared into the mirror.
    Lord, I promised if someone ever came looking for Su zanne, I’d give them her belongings and her money. We were going to use those funds to get the ranch started. I’ve been workin’ here at the hotel so we could save that money for something more important. And the dresses—those beautiful clothes. I can’t give it all up. I just can’t.
    Pepper dragged the big trunk from the corner and opened it up.
    The jewelry, the handbags, what am I going to tell Tap? Why isn’t he here? He’d know what to do.
    I knew it would happen. I always knew I wouldn’t get to keep any of it.
    Thirty minutes later Pepper scooted down the stairs wearing her long green dress and heavy coat, the only items left in her wardrobe that she had brought out of the dance hall. She grasped Suzanne Cedar’s Bible.
    Mrs. McCurley stood near the front door talking to a very tall, thin man with long hair and unkempt beard.
    “Pepper, this is Mr. Abel Cedar.”
    He tipped his worn derby hat and smiled, revealing two gold teeth. “Pleased to meet you, ma’am. You want to talk to me?”
    Pepper led the way into the wood-paneled parlor and slid onto a padded oak deacon’s bench. “Mr. Cedar, I understand you are on your way to see Mr. Zachariah Hatcher.”
    “I haven’t seen Hatch for several years, but I understand he was finally able to buy that little ranch up on the border. Do you know him?”
    “Not exactly. Mr. Cedar, I don’t know a kind way to say this. But Mr. Hatcher was killed down in Arizona last fall. There was some sort of Indian skirmish south of Mexican Wells—”
    “You don’t say. Hatcher killed? I’ve traveled all this way. Doesn’t that sink your ship.”
    “I have a little more to tell you.”
    “I hope it’s better news than that.”
    Lord, help me now. “I think it is going to be worse.”
    “Oh, no.”
    Pepper took a big breath. I am not going to cry. “Mr. Cedar, did you come from Kentucky and have a sister named Suzanne?”
    “How did you know that?”
    “I’m havin’ a real hard time telling you this." Pepper could feel tears slip out of the corners of her eyes and slide to the edge of her nose.
    “I don’t blame you for worrying. But I know all about it.”
    “You do?”
    “I ran across a fellow from my home town. He told me F ather died, Mother sold the place, and she and Suzanne moved to Chicago.”
    “But that’s not all. Your—”
    “Yes, I heard that Mama, bless her soul, died in Chicago.”
    “And .  . .”
    “And what?” he asked.
    “Your sister.”
    “What about my sister? She moved out to California and married some big rancher. I figure to go look her up after I work my claim.”
    “Your claim?”
    “Yep, I found color just north of Bisbee down in Arizona te rritory. I was hoping that Zachariah Hatcher would stake me so I could get it developed proper.”
    “Mr. Cedar, please excuse my interrupting, but my heart’s about to burst. Your sister Suzanne is dead.”
    “Say that again.”
    “Suzanne was on her way to Colorado, not California, to marry none other than Zachariah Hatcher. But she was in a stage wreck. She was badly injured and died in my room. That is, at the place where I worked. At Pingree Hill between here and Ft. Collins.”
    “I don’t believe it. Not Suzanne, too.”
    “I know it’s a shock. Here’s her Bible. I have dearly e njoyed reading it over the past few months.”
    “Suzanne’s Bible?