Sing My Name by Ellen O'Connell

Author:Ellen O'Connell [O'Connell, Ellen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General, Fiction, Romance, Action & Adventure, Western
ISBN: 9781456450915
Publisher: CreateSpace
Published: 2010-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

Fear ebbed; anger surged. Sarah put a coy look on her face and moved around the desk, pulling Laurie with her. With the desk between them and the other men in the building, Sarah let go of Laurie's hand, lifted the pistol free of her skirt and pointed it at the center of Holthoff's chest, holding it with both hands.

"Two tickets to Santa Fe, Mr. Holthoff."

"Who do you think you're fooling? That gun's bigger than you are, and you're shaking like a leaf." In spite of his brave words, Holthoff's expression changed to one of caution as he got to his feet.

The sound of the shot thundered in the little building, echoing and reverberating off the walls.

SARAH SETTLED HERSELF and Laurie inside the stagecoach, feeling absolutely drained, so exhausted sleep might be possible in spite of the loud noises of the moving vehicle and the jolting ride. A single fellow traveler was already in the coach, however, a man with slicked back hair and knowing eyes.

"I take it you're leaving town under less than auspicious circumstances."

In no mood for word games, Sarah said, "I was run out of town because they don't think my moral character is good enough for them."

"Maybe you need a protector."

"I don't need anything of the sort. I will do my own protecting."

"Forgive me if I doubt you, but a little thing like you surely could use a man like me."

The events in the stage station had shocked Laurie right out of her terror. "That other man said Mama was little too. That's when she shot him."

The man stared at Laurie in disbelief, then looked at Sarah, who raised her eyebrows and said nothing.

Proud of her mother and no longer very afraid of anything, Laurie continued. "He squealed like a pig and jumped around holding his ear." Laurie clutched her own ear and bounced up and down on the seat. "There was lots and lots of blood. And when Mama told the other men to get out, they ran. Mama didn't pay for our tickets. She says the bad man can pay for them on account of being so mean to us."

The man's astonishment changed to something else, then his lips twitched, and he pulled off his hat, bowing as best he could from his seated position.

"Ma'am I stand corrected. You most certainly do not need protecting, and no matter how small the package, there seems to be a great deal of lady inside."

With that settled, Sarah relaxed in her seat, although sleep was no longer a possibility until there were other passengers or this man got off. She had rinsed off the spit and bits of rotten vegetables thrown at her with water from a horse trough. As soon as the stage stopped for any length of time, she would get herself and Laurie into clean clothes.

In a few days they would cross the invisible line between the State of Texas and New Mexico Territory. Brad Denham visited Santa Fe often, and from him Sarah knew about the old city in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristos Mountains.

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