Sundancer (Cheyenne Series) Read Online Free

nervously at the bedclothes. “No, I...I have not. I'm afraid of him, Roxanna. All I remember from when I was a little girl is a big tall man with a bristling red beard and a booming voice. He even made Papa quake, and he was ever so much braver than Mama or me. How disappointed he'll be to find out I'm going to die and leave him without an heir.”
           “Don't talk rubbish! You are not going to die,” Roxanna insisted for what must have been the thousandth time.
           But Alexa only shook her head sadly. “You know it's true.”
           Before Roxanna could remonstrate, a soft tap on the door interrupted them and Gretchen entered with an envelope clutched in her hand. “A letter just arrived by special courier for you, Miss Hunt.” The maid approached the sickbed fearfully, not wanting to risk contamination. Gingerly she held out the envelope. Roxanna snatched it and dismissed the girl, then opened the heavy vellum envelope and handed its contents to Alexa. The postmark was Denver. Speak of the devil and up he pops, she thought sourly.
           If Alexa wouldn't write Jubal MacKenzie, she would. Then, hearing the papers in Alexa's hands rustle, she looked over at her friend. If it was possible, Alexa looked even paler than usual. “What is it—what's wrong?”
           The expression on Alexa's face was one of incredulous terror as she handed Roxanna the letter. Her hand trembled violently.
           Roxanna quickly scanned the letter, then resisted the urge to crumple it into a ball and toss it out the open window. “This is positively medieval! He can't just announce to you that he's picked a husband for you and expect you to meekly travel to some godforsaken place in the wilderness to marry a total stranger!”
           Alexa smiled weakly at Roxanna’s vehemence. “The marriage would take place in Denver, hardly a wilderness. Grandfather wants me to join him at his rail camp in Wyoming so we can have some time together...” Her face crumpled. “If only I could go. He has asked me to come west repeatedly—to visit with him, but I was always afraid. I guess I've always been afraid of life and now I wish I'd done so many things—”
           “Don't—don't do this to yourself, Alexa,” Roxanna replied, putting her arms around Alexa's shoulders. Like bird bones, so delicate and brittle . Alexa began to cough again and Roxanna could see the bright crimson stain of blood soaking through the cloth her friend held to her mouth. Life was so damn unfair! Quickly exchanging the soaked cloth for a fresh one, she rang for the maid and summoned the doctor.
     
    * * * *
     
           Late that night, Roxanna sat in Alexa' s room red-eyed from weeping, staring at the empty bed where her friend had spent most of the past months of her life. The young doctor had done all he could, but Alexa's life had literally ebbed away in a slow crimson trickle. “At least her awful suffering is over,” Roxanna murmured to herself, but the words rang hollow. The undertaker was preparing her body downstairs. Papa. Mama. Rexford. Now Alexa. There is no one left for me.
           The wake began the next morning. But since Alexa had led a painfully reclusive life even before she fell ill, there were few callers, all old family friends—except for one. Fortunately, when Gable Hogue arrived, Roxanna was in the kitchen giving instructions to the cook. The instant she saw Isobel Darby's relentless detective, she slipped behind the heavy velvet draperies in the hallway as her heart beat a thudding tattoo. How did he find me?
           She listened as he discreetly explained to the maid that he was an old teacher of the deceased young lady come to pay his last respects. Dour, sullen Gretchen, thank heaven, did not mention Miss Alexa's old school chum who was currently residing in the house. For once the maid's churlish disposition endeared her to Roxanna. She watched as Hogue