The Winter Pearl. Molly Noble Bull

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СКАЧАТЬ Though she couldn’t actually see him, she felt him—and there was something in the air between them, a kind of regret. Was it coming from him? Or was it her distress?

      Guilt engulfed her. Did he know what she’d done? Would the man try to stop her to recover the money? She hesitated by the door, waiting to see what he might do. But he never said a word.

      “I’m sorry,” Honor whispered.

      Without saying more, she raced out the door and down the path toward the livery stable where stagecoach tickets were sold. Once the stage pulled out, she would never have to see Lucas or Falling Rock, Colorado, again.

      Honor waited in the carriage with Annie and Simon for the fourth passenger to arrive. The silver-haired couple looked older than she had expected, and she learned that their last name was Carr. Honor couldn’t help liking them, but she wished they weren’t so talkative.

      The red velvet interior of the carriage looked new, and, although the back of the seat was wooden, the bench was padded.

      Honor had heard that within a year, the railroad would be coming to Falling Rock. Tracks were being laid throughout the state, and stagecoaches could soon become outdated. A stagecoach had brought Honor to Colorado after her parents died, but she was too young to have a clear memory of that journey.

      Now, fidgeting with the small velvet bow at the neck of her dress, she waited for the fourth passenger. She wished she had a hat with a net veil like Annie Carr’s little black one. Honor also admired the string of pearls around the older woman’s neck.

      Aunt Harriet had had a pearl necklace that she’d inherited from Honor’s grandmother, but one day it vanished. Lucas was behind the disappearance, of course.

      Proper ladies wore pearls and store-bought hats, not homemade print bonnets like Honor’s. But there wasn’t much cause for Honor to worry about becoming a lady now.

      The driver had explained that the fourth passenger would be delayed as a result of unforeseen circumstances. Honor hoped whoever it was would hurry and be done so they could leave. Lucas could come looking for her at any moment.

      When she heard a click at the door, she looked up expectantly, and then recoiled. Lucas! Trembling, she pressed back and covered her mouth with her hand to keep from shrieking.

      In the next moment, she saw that it was the minister who’d prayed at her aunt’s grave, standing outside the carriage in his gray suit. He looked so much like a younger version of Lucas that for an instant, she’d thought he was her aunt’s husband.

      Standing in the street, with one hand on the door handle, the handsome young man smiled warmly at the passengers in the carriage. “Sorry to have kept you nice folks waiting. Jeth Peters,” he said, leaning through the door, offering Simon Carr his hand, which the older gentleman took in a friendly shake. Jeth identified himself as the pastor of a church over in Hearten.

      When Simon finished introducing his wife, Annie, Jeth turned his gaze on Honor for the first time. His smile fell away. “I want to express my sympathy once again for the loss of your aunt,” he said.

      Annie and Simon glanced at each other, then at Honor. She recognized the expression of sympathy in their eyes.

      “Reckon we’re sorry, too, miss,” Simon said.

      Honor’s heart squeezed. “Thank you.” She ducked her head, trying not to look at Jeth.

      Was he the man from the church who’d hid in the darkness? Had her sin been discovered? Did he know what she’d done? When Honor glanced up, finally meeting his sky-blue eyes, the warmth in them suggested he wasn’t concealing thoughts about her. But who could be sure?

      Jeth climbed into the carriage and took a seat beside Honor. “I don’t believe you told me your name at the burial yesterday. May I know it now?”

      “My name is Honor. Honor Rose McCall.”

      “Honor.” He smiled. “I like that.”

      Why had she told him her real name? She could have lied. Now it would be easier for Lucas to find her.

      “Honor is a good character trait to have,” he went on, “and one we should all live by. Are you on your way to Pine Falls?”

      “Yes,” Honor said a little too sharply, and pressed her lips together.

      Jeth turned his gaze to the Carrs. “And where are you folks headed?”

      “We’re going to Pine Falls, too,” Annie said, “and we’ll be gone for quite a spell. We’ll be home by Christmas, though.” She turned to her husband. “Won’t we, Simon?”

      “We sure better.”

      Annie Carr looked back to Jeth. “Did I hear you say you were a preacher?”

      A grin started in Jeth’s blue eyes. “That’s right.”

      Annie’s wrinkled lips turned up at the edges in reply. “Reckon you could answer some questions about the Bible?”

      “Watch out, Preacher,” Simon put in. “My Annie is a longwinded woman when it comes to Scripture.”

      Jeth chuckled under his breath as Annie Carr began asking her questions. Honor glanced out the window on her side of the coach.

      A quaint little log cabin with a peaked roof stood on a hill. It reminded Honor of the clock her grandmother had sent to Aunt Harriet for a wedding gift. Grandma McCall was dead now, but when she sent the present, she wrote that she’d bought it from an Amish wood-carver during a visit to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

      Painted statues of a little man and woman inside the clock had captivated Honor as a child. She’d spent hours in front of the clock, sitting cross-legged on the floor, waiting for the toylike couple to come out of their little house to check the weather.

      Sometimes, the statues stayed out on their front porch for a while. At other times, they went right back inside and shut the door.

      Honor was like that, too.

      She’d been a happy, winsome child who loved playing in the sunshine—until Lucas came into her life. After that, she went inside herself and only came out occasionally to see if things had changed. Nothing ever did.

      An image of Honor and Lucas sharing a house together as man and wife flashed through her brain. Her heart constricted.

      Lucas couldn’t force her to marry him, but if he found her, he would whip her. Could she survive another of his beatings?

      Aside from fearing him, she was disturbed and disgusted by the thought of seeing Lucas again. She knew she would always feel that way.

      The stagecoach rocked, bumping Honor against the door. Holding herself stiffly on the bench, she gazed out the window again. They would be driving south from Falling Rock through what the ticket agent had called “rugged country.” There was to be a stop in Hearten, then on to Pine Falls. Some of the trees were leafless. Others were alive with all the fall colors—red, orange, yellow, gold and shades of rusty brown.

      The ticket agent had explained that traveling through the hills would not be easy. The roads were rocky СКАЧАТЬ