Horse With No Name by Alexandra Amor Read Free Book Online Page B

a wooden
crate of apples in his arms and his usual wide smile in place.
    Merrick tried to rally. "Christopher. How are
you today?"
    "Very well. Very well, thank you." Mitchell
set the crate down and began moving the apples from it into a
display basket at the front of the store.
    Merrick wasn't sure what to do. His moment
was gone. There was no way he was going to talk to both the
Mitchells about his failings to understand Julia and his desire to
stop her from interfering in his work. Let alone his inexplicably
elevated levels of frustration and anger at dealing with her. And
his confusion about why she drove him so mad.
    He looked back at Betty. "That's all thanks,
Betty. Just the twine and the preserves." He fished around in his
pockets for some coins.
    "Righto." She took his money and handed him
the items, one in each hand.
    "Have a good evening, then, Constable."
Christopher nodded at him as Merrick opened the door and stepped
across the threshold.
    ***
    Walt Sheehan's day was coming to a close. The
light began to fade earlier every day and he had stalls to clean
before he would take himself to Finnegan's for a pint and some of
Caroline's stew. He put the finishing touches on an intricate fire
poker he was making to sell. It embarrassed him slightly to work on
something beautiful, but it also soothed a place in his soul that
was in desperate need of some kindness. He had an idea to form the
handle in narrow, twisting strips of iron so that it looked like a
pine cone. He hadn't been able to get it quite right yet, but he
was getting closer to the image he had in his mind.
    He never worked on the set of fire tools
during the day; it was a private project he spent just a few
minutes on each week when he could spare the time from pounding out
nails and shoveling horse manure. When he wasn't working on the set
he kept them hidden deep in the shadows under his work bench,
covered by an old horse blanket.
    He was bent over the anvil, spinning and
forming the piece of iron, his attention utterly consumed by the
task. He heard footsteps enter the forge. His head lifted and he
saw Merrick standing by the workbench at the front of the building.
The constable held up a glass mason jar with a scrap of cotton
fabric tied over its lid.
    "Bought you a jar of preserves," Merrick
said, setting the jar down on the table with considerable force. He
held up his other hand. "And some twine." He set this down as well
and then whirled around and stalked out the front door.
    What the hell was that about? Walt thought.
He shrugged to himself and bent again to his task.

Eight
    Finnegan's hotel and restaurant was far and away the
nicest place in Horse. The hotel had been built by Edgar Finnegan,
who had come from money and was looking to make an impression on
British Columbia. Edgar had had the good fortune to marry a woman
as driven as he was and together they had built the business into
the going concern it was. Edgar and Caroline were looking forward
to the day the rumored railway spur line from Kelowna would be
finished. Until then, they bided their time and perfected their
particular brand of stern, but generous, service.
    Julia arrived just as the supper hour was
beginning. Millie and Billy Jones were seated at their usual table,
and two men in stockmen's suits sat at a table for four near the
front window.
    "May I help you, Miss Thom?" Edgar called
from behind the bar, where he was drying glasses.
    It wasn't entirely proper for a lady to enter
a restaurant and bar alone, but the rules of propriety tended to
bend a little more in a town like Horse, when women who were on
their own had no choice but to do some things by themselves. As
long as she stayed on the main floor and didn't even glance in the
direction of the wide, wooden staircase that led up to the hotel
rooms on the second and third floor, Julia should be able to avoid
scandal.
    She approached the bar. "I'm looking for
Lily, Edgar. Is she around?"
    Lily Cecil was very new to Horse.