Magnificent Passage Read Free Page A

money. Mama left me part of Grampa Whittington’s estate. It’s mine when I turn eighteen. Jason and I will want for nothing. And he’s already put in for a transfer to the East. With his record, sooner or later he’ll get it. Once Father accepts our marriage, he might even help Jason’s career.”
    Julia threw back her shoulders and resumed her pacing. Her petticoats swirled widely with every turn. The floorboards creaked beneath her tiny feet as she marched impatiently back and forth.
    â€œWhy won’t Father be reasonable? He and Mother were already married at my age.”

    â€œYour father is too much like mine,” Mandy said. “He always thinks he knows what’s best. He’ll send men to bring you back and—”
    â€œI won’t go with them!”
    Mandy studied her cousin’s deepening scowl, Julia’s fiery temper barely held in check. She’s so self-assured, so all-fired determined. Never afraid of anything or anyone. Mandy felt a twinge of envy for her cousin’s courage. She had spunk, spirit. She faced life head-on, took what she wanted. Never gave up.
    As children they’d been best friends. Both their families had lived in Highland Falls, a small town in New York state, until Uncle William had moved his family to California and the Army had moved George Ashton and his family to the frontier.
    Now she and Julia lived in two different worlds. Uncle William had become rich and powerful, had been elected governor of California. Mandy’s father was content just being a soldier. He looked forward to achieving the rank of major one day, but that was the extent of his ambition.
    â€œWe’ve gone over every possibility, Julia. Even if you and Jason ran away they’d surely find you. Your father is powerful, and he’s still your legal guardian.”
    â€œI don’t care what Father is! He’s not going to make me give Jason up.” Julia’s green eyes narrowed. Tiny gold flecks leaped like sparks, as if threatening to ignite the splintery log cabin. Her chin jutted forward at a familiar willful angle. She marched to the window, threw aside the crisp chintz curtains, and peered obstinately out onto the parade ground.
    Mandy had seen that determined profile before, and it
usually boded ill for someone. She wondered fleetingly just who would suffer this time and shrugged off a tiny warning voice.
    â€œYou have to think of Jason. If you do run away, your father might never accept the marriage. Instead of helping, he could ruin Jason’s career.”
    Julia clenched her teeth. Tears of rage and frustration filled her green eyes, but she didn’t speak.
    Though Mandy had never been in love, she could easily imagine the heartbreak her cousin was suffering. She’d often fantasized about finding just the right man. Her father and mother had been terribly in love. Her father still hadn’t recovered from her mother’s death.
    She stood up, wishing she could think of something comforting to say. Outside the window, two blue-capped Indian scouts sat stoically on their haunches, waiting for C troop to finish a close-order drill. Several ravens screeched loudly atop the chimney of Major Murphy’s cabin, then flew away to inspect the roof of the whitewashed cabin next door.
    Mandy thought of Julia’s determination, her willingness to stand up to a man like the governor. How she wished she had the courage to stand up to her own father like that. But one stern look from her father’s hard gray eyes and she withered.
    The sound of clanging iron disrupted the stillness in the room. A blacksmith hammered a wheel back onto the axle of a worn covered wagon, the noise of his anvil piercing the air. Mandy’s head began to throb in unison with the clanging iron.
    Julia sniffed back tears with a bit more drama than necessary. “Jason says he’s going to take a leave of absence. No
one here at the fort will