At the Rainbow's End by Jo Ann Ferguson Read Free Book Online

side by side. Once he arrived to take her out to the Bonanza, everything would be perfect.
    She did not realize this would be the last day she believed that.

Chapter Three
    Samantha brushed her hair back with soapy hands. If only the washwater were not so hot. Everything was hot here, although they were so close to the Arctic. She had been warned that would change soon, and wondered if the coming cold could be as horrible as this muscle-sapping heat. Someone had mentioned the temperature had hit 110 degrees yesterday. From the way her clothes clung to her sweaty skin, she feared that would happen again today.
    â€œMiss Perry? Are you Miss Perry?”
    â€œYes.” She answered the eager voice without turning. With the ladle, she scooped out the last shirt. If it once had been white, she did not know how to restore it to that freshness. The best she had managed was a filmy gray.
    Footsteps sounded on the boards as the man walked around to stand in front of her. He repeated, “Miss Perry?”
    â€œI told you I was Samantha Perry,” she snapped dropping the laundry into a basket. “What do you want? Mrs. Kellogg takes orders inside.”
    â€œI am Mr. Houseman.”
    Shocked, she looked up. This was not the way she had imagined the first meeting with her future husband. Instead of gentle smiles and soft words, she had spat at him like an irritated cat. When her eyes met his uneasy, brown ones, she saw a shy smile form in them. It flowed along his narrow face to settle on lips nearly hidden in his unruly, thick blond beard.
    She knew she should say something. Anything. Her mind was too numb to create a thought of any kind. She continued to stare, noting his dusty denims and well-patched shirt. A wide-brimmed, floppy hat sat on his head, nearly settling on his gold-rimmed glasses.
    â€œYou sure are pretty,” he murmured. “Even prettier than in your picture.” He glanced upward, flushed guiltily, and quickly took off his hat. He rolled the brim in his hands. “I have been looking all over Dawson for you.”
    â€œI did not have enough money to pay for a room in the hotel,” she hurriedly explained. “I would have left you a message, if I could have. Since the Merwyn docked, I’ve been here. Mrs. Kellogg offered me a room and meals in exchange for work.”
    â€œAbout the room, Miss Perry, I—”
    â€œFind her?” interrupted Mrs. Kellogg in a friendly voice. The hard-faced woman smiled, showing a rare public sample of her kindness.
    He lifted his hat to tip it in her direction. “Yes, ma’am, Mrs. Kellogg.”
    Samantha lowered the paddle into the limp bubbles in the vat. Wiping her hands on the stained apron, over her dark skirt, she wondered why he was so different from what she imagined. Not that Mr. Houseman did not look like his picture. Better , she thought with a touch of girlish excitement, because the photograph had not showcased the strength which strained the seams of his worn clothes. She had, though, expected the man who wrote her such luscious emotional letters would be more verbose.
    Then she asked herself how she could fault him. She, herself, barely said two words. If he was afflicted with the same curse of shyness she suffered, it would be a long and uncomfortable journey to his claim. With her hands still hidden in her apron, she smiled and stepped around the tub to stand near, but not too near, the man she had promised to marry.
    Mrs. Kellogg continued to be in charge of the situation. “Run inside, Samantha, and pack your things. Your Mr. Houseman won’t want to wait long. You have quite a trek ahead of you. Coffee, Mr. Houseman?”
    â€œNo—no, thank you. As soon as Miss Perry is ready, we will leave.”
    â€œAre you catching the stage to Grand Forks?”
    He shuffled his feet, as if ashamed to admit the truth. “No, ma’am. I’ve picked up her things at the warehouse. As soon as