Messenger by Moonlight by Stephanie Grace Whitson Read Free Book Online Page B

in a far corner of the lobby, watching as the couple spoke with the clerk behind the desk.
    Perhaps it was the way the clerk fussed with his silver-framed spectacles, but something about him reminded Annie of Mr. Hillsdale, who always seemed to look down his nose at the rest of the world. The clerk wore a crisp white shirt and a black cravat held in place by what appeared to be a diamond stickpin. Of course it probably wasn’t a real diamond. Still, Annie was painfully aware of both her faded blue calico and her worn-out boots.
    “Is there some difficulty, Miss Paxton?”
    Mr. Lewis, the man who had hired them, stepped up. Careful to pull her feet back—darn her worn boots, anyway—Annie stuttered a reply. “Oh, no. N-not at all. I just—Frank and Emmet went after our things. They left me to sign the ledger. But then those other guests arrived and I thought I’d wait a moment. There’s no rush.”
    Mr. Lewis’s brows knit together for a fleeting second. He looked from Annie to the couple retreating up the sweeping staircase just beyond the front desk. After a brief hesitation, he looked back down at her, his frown replaced by a kind smile. He offered his arm. “Allow me to introduce you to Pierce. You’ll find that behind that imposing exterior there’s a softhearted grandfather.”
    When Mr. Lewis introduced Annie, Mr. Pierce smiled and tapped the ledger book. “It’s an honor to serve the Pony Express,” he said. “We’re making history together.”
    “I assured Miss Paxton that you’d take good care of her,” Mr. Lewis said. “She’ll need two rooms. One for herself and one for her brothers.” Wishing Annie a good evening, Mr. Lewis returned to the Pony Express office.
    Mr. Pierce reached behind him and withdrew a key from a niche. He pointed out the dining room. “Dinner is served beginning at six o’clock p.m., although I believe most of theriders take it a little later.” He winked. “They like to make a grand entrance.”
    Annie signed the ledger with a trembling hand, painfully aware of the fine script on the line just above hers. When Mr. Pierce asked if she’d like someone to escort her to her room, she said no thank you. “If that’s all right.” She didn’t want an escort. She wanted to gawk at every detail of the splendid building. Then again, maybe they didn’t allow just anyone to wander the halls.
    Mr. Pierce said that of course it was all right and gave her a few directions. The stairs leading away from the lobby only accessed the first floor. “Once up there, you’ll turn right. Midway down that hall, there’s a winding staircase that will take you on up. Another right at the top of those stairs and you’ll find Room 210. I’ll send a chambermaid to check in with you before too long. If you need anything—anything at all—you let Molly know. She’ll see to it.”
    Annie nodded, even though she could not imagine ordering a maid around. She paused at the top of the first flight of stairs and looked back down at the carpeted lobby, which gleamed from the light of two massive chandeliers. It was the finest, most beautiful room she’d ever seen. Behind her, the first floor hall opened onto a wide balcony looking down on an inner courtyard. At the center of the courtyard, flowers encircled a marble fountain with a rainbow of color. To the left and the right, two wings of rooms opened directly onto the balcony.
    Behind Annie, a hallway running the length of the building and parallel to the street led to more rooms, but at the far end, large double doors inset with rows of small square windows beckoned. Curious, Annie went to those doors and peered in.
The ballroom.
Polished wood floors and morecrystal chandeliers made Annie wish she had a gown worthy of Mama’s lace mitts. She’d kept Mama’s green silk gown, but parts of it were so delicate she feared it might fall apart if she so much as lifted the gown from the depths of the trunk. Had Ma and Pa once waltzed in a