The Sister Wife Read Online Free Page A

carriage rocked, she dropped her gently to the ground, cried after her to run to Grandfather, and then grabbed the reins. The team, following the lead of the gray that Coal clung to, reared and neighed.
    With a screech, the brake slid from its shoe and the carriage lurched.
    Mary Rose made a grab for the handle but didn’t have the strength to jam it into place. In one swift movement, she tightened her grip on the reins and, holding her breath, pulled back. “Whoa, boys,” she cried and then, swallowing hard, tried to use a calmer voice. “Settle yourselves. Come now, gentlemen, settle yourselves.”
    The cacophony rising from the gathering spectators made the team more skittish than before.
    â€œHelp uth!” yelled Ruby from somewhere behind Mary Rose. “Thombody, help uth.”
    â€œJump, Coal,” Pearl cried to her brother. “You can do it. Make believe you’re Davy Crockett. Jump!”
    â€œHe’th not going to,” Ruby sobbed. “He’th gonna get killed and we’re not even to America yet.”
    The team reared and screamed again, wild eyes rolling. Even Prince, normally as calm as a feeble old cat, rolled his eyes right along with the others and neighed in protest.
    And for good reason.
    Coal had started screaming like a Comanche again, clinging to the mane of the wild gray in the lead.
    Mary Rose’s heart threatened to stop beating. “Jump!” she yelled. Until this moment she didn’t realize how much she cared about the boy. He’d been merely a relative in her charge to see to his new home. And not a pleasant relative at that. Tears stuck in the back of her throat. If the team broke loose and he jumped, he’d surely be trampled; if he held on, the frightened horse would take him with the entire team straight into the deep harbor waters.
    â€œHe’th gonna die,” sobbed Ruby from a few yards away. “Pleathe, Lady, don’t let Brother die.”
    The lead horse reared again, and the team, sensing freedom, bolted forward and again Mary Rose yanked back on the reins. Her gloves split as the hard leather sliced into her flesh. Instantly, her palms became wet with blood.
    Standing to gain better leverage, she repeatedly yanked. And cried out another command.
    Still they ran wild.
    â€œJump, Coal,” she shouted once more. But the boy, clinging to the gray’s mane, seemed not to hear her.
    The dark waters of the harbor lay dead ahead.

TWO
    M ary Rose grabbed her skirts, intending to leap onto the back of the rear horse and make her way to Coal. Her brain—in less than a heartbeat—told her it was foolish to try. The child’s screams told her she had to reach him—or die trying. A man seemed to appear out of thin air, racing like the wind toward the lead horse. He grabbed hold of the bridle near the bit ring, trotted with it a few feet, and then brought the team to a halt.
    Knees as weak as melted butter, Mary Rose fell back against the upholstered seat of the groom’s bench.
    She swallowed hard, not daring to look at the team’s proximity to the harbor waters. It was enough that she heard the lapping of wavelets against the pilings just beneath the wharf.
    â€œHo there, Brigham,” her grandfather called out from behind the carriage. Holding the twins’ hands, one on each side, he hurried toward Brigham and Coal.
    Mary Rose took a closer look at the man who had saved them.
    Brigham Young himself. Saint, Apostle, and missionary toEngland, successful in converting her grandfather, less so in his attempts to convert her.
    She took a deep breath, wondering how long it would take her to settle the question of Mormonism in her heart and soul. It had taken her grandfather only minutes, it seemed, to embrace his new faith. She remained skeptical, which according to Brother Brigham, as all other converts called him, was perfectly all right. She would come around in God’s good time, he