Sweet Prairie Passion (Savage Destiny) Read Online Free Page B

turned to who would be captain of the wagon train. Neither Jason Trent nor Bradley Hanes wanted the job because each had his family to look after. The fancy Quentin Robards didn’t know enough about such travel to be a leader, and neither did Connely, who seemed too preoccupied with himself to care anyway. The preacher declared he would tend to God’s matters and let someone else do the leading of the train, and the schoolteacher preferred to spend his spare time studying his books instead of thinking about the trail ahead. That left Bentley Kelsoe, who said he’d be glad to take the job, since he had no family and since he had the most wagons and men. They all knew the real leading would be done by Zeke and Olin Wales, but they needed someone from their own group to keep things organized in camp, to settle arguments, and to supervise the mending of broken wagons and such, since much of Zeke and Olin’s time would be spent scouting the trail ahead.

    On hearing the latter part of this discussion, Abbie realized that must be what those two were doing at that very moment, and that was why they had not yet shown up in camp. The prairies were quite muddy from the spring rains, and Zeke would have to check to see what would be the best route to take that first day to avoid the prairie spring quagmires. The sun began to fade over the western horizon, and Abbie was sure now that she would not see Cheyenne Zeke that day.
    LeeAnn pulled her toward a hollow, where there was a big clump of trees, so she could go to the bathroom, and since Abbie had to go also, she went along with her sister.
    “Oh, Abbie, did you see that beautiful Quentin Robards?” LeeAnn asked as they walked.
    “I saw him, all right. Looks like a smooth one to me, LeeAnn. I’d say that nice-looking David Craig is a better catch.”
    “He’s just a boy! Quentin is a man, and he’s got money! You can tell! Oh, he seems so educated and refined!”
    “He probably won the money gambling!” Abbie retorted. “Don’t forget that a gambler can be rich one day and broke the next. Pa always warned us never to marry a man like that. I’ll bet he’s going out West just to take advantage of anyone out there who doesn’t know he’s a card shark. He’s probably running from somebody in the East who’s after his hide for a gambling debt.”
    LeeAnn sighed disgustedly. “Abbie, we never do agree on men!” She stopped and grasped her sister’s arms. “You do agree that he’s handsome, though,don’t you?”
    Abbie shrugged. “I guess.” Then she smiled. “So is Cheyenne Zeke. You don’t like my kind of man, and I don’t like yours; but that doesn’t mean we have to fight about it, does it? I hope you find what you want, LeeAnn. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
    The two girls hugged. “I feel the same about you, Abbie.” They hurried on to the hollow, and in later years, Abbie would always remember how pretty and happy LeeAnn was that day.
    They ducked down out of sight of the wagons, pulled up their skirts, and pulled down their pantaloons to go to the bathroom. Abbie finished first and pulled up her pants; then she dropped her skirt and froze. Three men sat behind them, astride large horses, watching and wearing big grins at the sight. How they had gotten there without a sound was beyond Abbie, especially considering the fact that they smelled so bad she’d caught a whiff without even having to stand close to them. The odor was that of old blood, which she surmised came from the poorly dried buffalo robes they wore. She swallowed and touched LeeAnn’s shoulder.
    “Get up!” she squeaked. Turning to look, LeeAnn screamed, jumped up, and pulled on her drawers. She half fell in doing so, and one of the men laughed. In the next moment, he had a rope slung around LeeAnn so that she could not move her arms.
    “Well, well! This is the best thing I’ve trapped all winter!” the man snickered through yellowed teeth. “You got a nice pair of legs,