Heart Of Texas (Historical Romance) Read Free

be a shallow place
to cross the river. Casey saw that he was tense
when his hands tightened nervously on the reins.
She realized he was probably remembering that
their father had been killed in a river crossing
very much like this one. She patted his hand.
    "It's all right-you can do it."
    Deciding he would be less distracted if she left
him alone, she climbed inside the wagon and set
tled jenny on her lap so she could brush the tangles out of the child's hair. Pulling the red-gold
curls away from her sister's face, she tied it with
a blue ribbon. Little jenny was weary from their
long months of traveling. Casey would be glad
when they were settled in their new home so she
could attempt to make a normal life for the family.
    "My hair is like yours, Casey," the child said,
looking up at her with pride in that fact.
    "Indeed it is. And our mother's hair was the
same color. Sam has Papa's dark hair."
    The child's forehead furrowed. "Will Papa be
waiting for us at our new home?"
    "No, he won't." A lump tightened in her throat,
and it took her a few moments to be able to speak.
"Remember when I explained to you that Papa is
with Mama now?"

    Jenny's frown deepened. "Why can't they live
with us? Didn't they like us?"
    Casey was saved from answering when a sudden
jolt tilted the wagon, propelling her and jenny
forward. In a frantic attempt to keep jenny from
being slammed against the back of the wagon
seat, Casey clutched the child to her chest, then
somehow managed to land Jenny on top of a stack
of folded quilts, but Casey herself was slammed
against the seat's iron support.
    Everything shifted from the impact, pinning
her between the seat and a heavy trunk. Pain shot
through her shoulder, and she was unable to
move.
    Sam scrambled inside and quickly assessed the
situation. He shoved the trunk aside so that Casey
could free herself. She ignored her bleeding arm
and the bump that was already rising on her head
and gathered her frightened sister to her. With
Sam's help, she managed to climb down into the
river, carrying jenny in her arms.
    "What happened, Sam?"
    "I'm not quite sure. The river is so muddy, I
can't see whatever it is that bogged us down."
    Casey held jenny close and waded through
knee- deep water, ignoring the fact that her gown
was sopping wet and her shoes were probably ruined. When she reached the back of the wagon,
she handed jenny to Sam and bent down to examine the damage.
    "It's listing pretty badly, Sam." She felt along the bottom of the wheel. "It appears to be wedged
between two rocks."

    Sam bent down beside her and nodded. "It's all
my fault. I should've seen the drop-off, but I
didn't."
    "It's not your fault," Casey assured him. "You
probably kept the wagon from tipping over." She
felt around the wagon spokes and was relieved to
find that none of them were broken. "We are fortunate the wheel didn't come off."
    "That's something, anyway," Sam said in a
pained voice. "I feel real bad about this, Casey."
    "Don't." She tried to sound cheerful. "Let's see
if the horses can pull us free of the rocks."
    Sam looked crestfallen. "They can't do it tonight-they're too tired." He sounded defeated.
"Maybe in the morning we can lighten the wagon
and pull it free."
    Casey judged the position of the sun and nodded. "We'll have to spend the night here."
    Sam looked so dejected that she placed her arm
around his shoulders. "I told you not to worry.
You have nothing to feel bad about. I'm so proud
of you. Just look at what you have done-you
brought us safely home, Sam."
    He gave her a weak smile. "Almost home."
    She took jenny from him and climbed up the
bank, where she sat Jenny on the grass while their
brother unhitched the team. Her shoulder was
throbbing with a pain that was becoming difficult
to ignore.

    She bent down and spoke to her sister. "Jenny,
you must stay right here while I help Sam. Don't
go near the river."
    The child, unaware of the gravity of their