Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 35908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
A bell clanged above her head, announcing her arrival. It all looked the same. Dusty and dirty, her mother would tan her hide if she kept their house like this.
“You’re early.”
Her heart pounded. This was the first test, to see if she could pull this off. “Yes sir.” Sweat glistened on her brow and she worked hard to keep her mouth set in a hard line. Tugging the brim of her hat low on her head, she looked around the darkened interior and found him behind the front counter.
White hair curled around his wide skull. The man’s face showed he didn’t miss meals and his shirt and vest strained at the seams. While she couldn’t see, she imagined his black pants were like they had been the last time she’d seen him.
He lifted his watery blue gaze and looked in her direction. “Delivery won’t be here for about ten minutes, if he’s on time.”
“I’ll be outside.” She tugged briefly on the brim of her hat before heading back out.
Despite it being hot and unpleasant, she breathed a bit easier. Test one had been passed. He never even assumed she wasn’t Robert.
The wind had picked up again and she leaned against a pole of the shelter over Polaris. Simply being in his presence, calmed her. Behind them sat the barn, which housed The Pony Express horses.
Off in the distance a cloud of dust grew closer and closer. Like a lightning bolt piercing the sky, the air changed. Crackling with energy, it skated up and down her spine. Even Polaris must have felt it for he lifted his head, ears swiveled toward the incoming rider and snorted. She untied him and double-checked her saddle. She looked up to see Ethan nearing.
“You know you’re supposed to use our horses.”
Yeah she knew, but she trusted Polaris with her life, so she’d ride him. “This is my sister’s horse. He runs like the wind.”
Ethan stood beside her. He was a large man and she watched him run sure hands over her mount. A grunt of approval before he patted the horse’s side.
“Good and sturdy. Looks like one of those Injun horses from the Blackfoot region. Saw some of them a whiles back. Good stock. Keep an eye on this horse, people are liable to want to steal him.”
She hesitated, she’d not expected him to know the region she’d acquired him. Thankfully, the approaching rider made it so she didn’t have to. She mounted, the familiar feel calming her nerves. This was it. The time had come.
Polaris sidestepped beneath her, feeling her anxiousness. Absently, she patted the muscled neck. Easy boy, it’s almost time. She shifted and relaxed a bit more at the accustomed creak of leather.
Ethan hurried out into the sun yet she hesitated. Two deep breaths before she touched her heels to Polaris and moved him out. Butterflies swarmed in her belly and she sought to keep her doubt hidden.
You’ll be fine, she told herself. She knew the route, had gone over it numerous times until she was confident. Yet, all that assuredness slipped to a hiding spot back in the dark recess of her mind.
The hoof beats grew louder and she felt the tingle race up her spine again. Excitement began to replace the uncertainty. A brown horse thundered into view, wet with sweat and blowing hard. The man sawed back on the reins and the animal slid to a halt, almost sitting on the ground.
Ethan ran and grabbed the delivery and waved at her. “Let’s get going, boy!”
She moved Polaris near, ensuring to keep her hat low over her eyes. The moment he secured the mochila, the mail pouch, she set her heels to Polaris and they shot off. Part of her almost sent him off in a dead run, but she knew that would be stupid. He would exhaust himself. Therefore, they loped. Polaris had a large stride and they would make good time. Also, if they ran into any hostiles, he would have some speed left in his reserves to get her out of danger. As they headed out of sight, she cast a glance over her shoulder.
She’d done it!
Managed to fool them into thinking she was her twin brother and had set out on her first leg of running the Pony Express.
Cyrus “Cy” Spencer paused in the act of checking over the horse tied to a hitching post as a new sound broke through the fresh morning. It sounded like an incoming rider but surely, it couldn’t be. Overnight rides usually took longer and Robert had never been this early. If it was Robert.
The station, Stuart’s Station, was still recouping from the attack from a group of Indians, which had killed the old station manager along with stealing the horses. Stu’s death was why he had come on in replacement. He’d served with him in the Army. When he’d heard what’d happened and that needed someone to replace him, he’d stepped up and taken the job.