Hymns of the West Novellas: Volume Two
Five desperate young women…
Katie, Joanna, Eve, Evangeline, and Adelaide meet on a stagecoach on their way to Cheyenne, Wyoming as mail order brides. As they talk to each other, Katie and Adelaide become suspicious. Are they correct to be suspicious or are they overreacting?
One man with an evil plan…
Ross has been planning this for months and the stagecoach is finally on its way. After this, he’ll have succeeded in his most devious plot yet and be on the top of his game. Maybe he’ll even be able to come out of the shadows, despite his brother being a detective.
A Master Designer.
Will the five mail order brides ever reach the young men who wrote to them? Or was it all just a ruse to get them into the stagecoach? Will Ross get away with his plan?
In This Series...
Chapter 3
They traveled straight through the night, stopping only three times. Twice to change horses and the third time because they needed to use the necessary. The last time they had stopped, the driver informed them they would be arriving in Cheyenne around noon and had one more stop along the way.
Evangeline checked her pocket watch every ten minutes. Finally she burst out, “If we’re stopping before we get to Cheyenne and we’re arriving in Cheyenne around noon, we’d better stop soon. It’s almost eleven!”
As if the driver heard her outburst, the stagecoach slowed down and finally came to a stop. They all waited to hear and feel the driver climb down from his seat. After the longest minute of her life, Katie finally stuck her head out the window. “What’s going on out there?”
“We’re waiting for someone,” the driver replied.
Katie looked around before moving her head back inside. Waiting for whom? And why are we waiting here in the middle of nowhere? An uncomfortable knot formed in her stomach. Something wasn’t right here. There was a thud above them and the stage swayed heavily. Another thud came seconds later, then a new voice yelled out, “Sorry about that, ladies. We’ll explain when we get to town.”
Katie looked around the stagecoach. Adelaide had a terrified look on her face for a second before pushing it down. Evangeline and Eve seemed to think nothing of it. They simply thought it was all part of the adventure. Joanna shook uncontrollably next to her.
Katie put her arms around the terrified girl. “Shh. It’s all right. We’ll get through this. We appear to be headed for town. If they wanted to kidnap us, they wouldn’t be taking us to town.” At least, if they were smart.
Buildings came into view out the window. “Look, Joanna,” Adelaide said, “we must be in Cheyenne. We’ll find out what happened soon.”
A minute later, the stage came to a stop and swayed as a man jumped off. The door opened and a kind-looking man appeared. “May I assist you ladies off the stage?”
Katie waved the others back. “Who are you?”
“Wilson McGregor at your service, M’lady. My partner and I are Pinkerton detectives.” He glanced around. “The rest will have to be explained later.”
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