Tracie Peterson by Bridal Blessings Read Free Book Online Page B

party, but Amelia noticed he was unusually tight-lipped. Light was just streaking the eastern skies when he hauled up onto the back of his horse and instructed them to do the same.
    Amelia allowed Jeffery to help her onto her horse and winced noticeably when the softer parts of her body protested from the abuse she’d inflicted the day before. She said nothing, noting Logan’s smirk of recognition, but her sisters and the Gambetts were well into moans and protests of discomfort. Logan ignored them all, however, and urged his horse and the mules forward.

    It wasn’t yet ten o’clock when Logan first heard Amelia’s sisters suggesting they stop. He couldn’t help but cast a smug look of satisfaction toward Amelia when Penelope suggested they should imbibe in a time of tea and cakes.
    He watched Amelia’s face grow flush with embarrassment, but she said nothing, choosing instead to let her mount lag behind the others until she was nearly bringing up the rear of the party. Chuckling to himself, Logan led them on another two hours before finally drawing his horse to a stop.
    Dismounting, he called over his shoulder, “We’ll take lunch here.”
    It was as if the entire party sighed in unison.
    Logan quickly set up everything they would need. He drew cold water from the mountain river that they’d followed through the canyon, then dug around in the saddle-bags to produce jerked beef and additional biscuits.
    “You surely don’t mean this to be our luncheon fare,” Jeffery Chamberlain complained in complete disgust.
    The earl looked down his nose at the pitiful offering. “Yes, Mr. Reed, surely there is something better than this.”
    Logan pushed his hat back on his head. “We’ll have a hot meal for dinner this evening. If we’re to push ahead and reach our first camping point before dark, we’ll only have time to rest here about ten, maybe fifteen minutes. It’ll give the horses a well-deserved break and allow them to water up. The higher we go the more water you’ll need to drink. Remember that and you won’t find yourself succumbing to sorche.”
    “I beg your pardon?” Lord Amhurst questioned.
    “Mountain sickness,” Reed stated flatly. “The air is much thinner up here, but since you’ve traipsed all over the Alps, you should already know all about that. You need to take it slower and allow yourselves time to get used to the altitude. Otherwise, you’ll be losing what little lunch you get and dealing with eye-splitting headaches that won’t let you go for weeks. It’s one more reason I insisted the ladies dismiss the idea of corsets.” Shudders and gasps of indignant shock echoed from the now-gathered Gambett and Amhurst women. With the exception of Amelia. She stood to one side admiring a collection of wildflowers, but Logan knew she was listening by the amused expression on her face.
    Logan continued, trying hard to ignore the graceful blond as she moved about the riverbank studying the ground. “As inappropriate as you might think my addressing the subject of women’s undergarments might be, it is a matter of life and death. Up here beauty is counted in the scenery, not the flesh. The air is thinner and you need more of it to account for what you’re used to breathing down below. Losing those corsets just might save your life. I wouldn’t even suggest putting them back on after we arrive in Estes. The altitude there is even higher than it is here and I’d sure hate to have to run around all day picking up women in dead faints. Now I’ve wasted enough time. Eat or don’t, the choice is yours. I’ll water the horses and mules while you decide.” He started to walk away then turned back. “I hate to approach another delicate subject, but should you take yourself off into the trees for privacy, keep your eyes open. I’d also hate to have to deal with an agitated mother bear just because you startled her while she was feeding her cubs.”
    With that said, he walked away grumbling to