Beyond The Horizon by Connie Mason Read Free Book Online

you. One minute you’re kissing me and the next you’re accusing me of despicable things. But why should I expect gentle treatment from a half-civilized savage? You may have fooled some people on this wagon train, but you don’t fool me!”
    Abruptly she turned and stalked away, leaving Blade with a bad taste in his mouth. It was a helluva long way to Fort Laramie and Shannon Branigan wasn’t going to make the trip an easy one!
    The wagon train lingered another day on the bank of the Big Blue then crossed with relative ease, since the water was down. The oozy bottom looked threatening to Shannon but Blade seemed to know exactly where to cross.
    Beyond the crossing the trail ran up into Nebraska to meet the Platte River, which emigrants described as bad to ford, destitute offish, too dirty to bathe in, and too thick to drink.
    There were many Indian sightings now, mostly Pawnee who had to be watched carefully, for they stole horses and cattle and pilfered food indiscriminately. The emigrants crossed trails of Pawnee leading from permanent winter villages to hunting grounds to the south. Blade appeared unconcerned over these sightings, which eased the emigrants’ minds considerably.
    The journey was tedious now, as they passed up the middle of a long, narrow sandy plain reaching like an outstretched belt nearly to the Rocky Mountains. Wood was practically nonexistent and the trail became littered with stoves, which were of no further use and too cumbersome to be of value. Following behind the wagons, the women and children now collected buffalo chips for fuel. They burned with surprisingly little smoke or odor, but it was an unending chore. As far as the eye could see, women and children carrying baskets or using their aprons bent to the task of picking up buffalo chips from the ground. Shannon didn’t particularly like the job, but Callie was still recovering from childbirth and the disgusting chore fell to her.
    Shannon found herself thinking of Blade on those long, hot days trekking behind the wagons. He was an enigma—a man who both attracted and repelled her. Would she ever understand the workings of his mind? Perhaps it was best if she didn’t try.
    Sweat trickled from beneath Shannon’s sunbonnet and she whisked it off her forehead. She wrinkled her sunburned nose, the scent of her perspiration-soaked dress offensive even to her. But she took comfort from the fact that she was no different from the other women. In a day or two they would reach the Platte River, and Blade promised the women they would have the opportunity to bathe and wash clothes.
    As though she’d conjured him up, Blade appeared beside her on his gray pony.
    “Put your bonnet on. Do you want the prairie sun to fry your brains?”
    “I just took it off for a moment,” Shannon tried to explain.
    “Your face is flushed and your nose is peeling. Your skin is too delicate to be exposed to the harsh rays of the sun.”
    Her skin delicate? Shannon was shocked he’d even noticed. Dutifully she clapped the bonnet on her head and tied the strings under her chin. It rankled her to think that the only time Blade spoke to her these days was to criticize. He seemed to find fault with everything she did.
    “That’s better.” Without another word he spurred his horse and rode off.
    What the devil had possessed him to stop and speak to Shannon? Blade asked himself, bewildered. When he saw her trudging behind the wagon, her single garment flapping about her shapely legs and her rich chestnut curls glistening in the sun, he just couldn’t help himself. Because of the heat, most of the women had shed all unnecessary female fripperies like corsets and petticoats, sometimes even gathering their skirts between their legs and tucking them in at their waists. It created more sensible walking attire and was vastly more comfortable.
    It amazed Blade that Shannon could still manage to look so beautiful with her face red from the sun and her nose sprinkled with