The Sheriff (Historical Romance) Read Free Page A

her the rest of the way to Fortune, she entered the main cabin and looked curiously around. It was empty. There were rows of wooden seats. She chose one by a porthole, lowered her valise and sat down. She hoped against hope that no one would sit beside her. She wanted the opportunity to doze. She hadn’t slept well on the Lady Luck and was tired.
    She started in alarm when she spotted coming down the aisle an unshaven, mean-looking man whose wrists were clamped in irons.
    Kate tensed, then released her held breath when a skinny, sandy-haired fellow shoved the bearded character down into a seat across the aisle and two rows up. He then sat down beside him.
    The man in irons looked back over his shoulder.His gap-toothed, leering grin sent a chill of distaste darting up her spine. Quickly, she turned her head and looked out the porthole.
    “Would you mind if I sit beside you, miss?” a friendly voice asked. Kate looked up and saw a white-haired, well-dressed gentleman with a craggy, but kindly face smiling down at her. “Allow me to introduce myself,” the elderly gentleman said, thrusting out his hand. “I’m Dr. Milton Ledet and I’m on my way up to Fortune, just as you are.”
    The steamer began to slowly move away from the levee as Kate nodded. “Kate VanNam, Dr. Ledet,” she replied, shaking the offered hand. “Yes, by all means, please join me.”
    “Thank you, child.” The elderly physician took the seat beside her. “I so enjoy having a bit of company on long journeys, don’t you?” Not waiting for an answer, he added, “Have I seen you in Fortune before, Miss VanNam? Or is it Mrs. VanNam?”
    “Miss. And no, you have not,” she replied. “I’ve never been there.”
    The doctor’s white eyebrows lifted. “Then I suppose you live in San Francisco and you’re going up to visit a…?”
    “No, sir. I am moving to Fortune from Boston, Massachusetts. I intend to make Fortune my new home.”
    “Oh, my dear Miss VanNam,” Doc Ledet exclaimed impulsively, “I’m afraid you’ll find Fortunequite different from the charming old city of Boston.”
    “I am well aware of that, Doctor,” she said with conviction. “No doubt there will be a degree of adjustment, but I don’t mind. The truth is I look forward to the challenges ahead.”
    Dr. Ledet was instantly curious. Why would this beautiful young woman move to a mountain mining community she had never seen before? Not for a minute did the doctor entertain the possibility that she might be aiming to join the ranks of numerous “ladies of the evening” servicing the lonely miners. There was an innate dignity about her that spoke of good breeding and background. But why was this beautiful, golden-haired girl moving to Fortune, where the males outnumbered the females fifty to one?
    Dr. Ledet longed to question her, but was wise enough to wait until she was ready to tell him.
    “You probably know my reason for moving to Fortune,” Kate said, as though she’d read his mind.
    “Let me guess,” he said, and rubbed his chin. “You have a sweetheart that came out to the goldfields, got settled in, sent for you and now you’re joining him to get married?”
    “Heavens, no!” She waved a hand in the air as though it was a preposterous idea. Proudly, she stated, “I have inherited a gold mine.”
    “You don’t say,” he replied. “Why, that’s wonderful! Is the mine…?”
    “The Cavalry Blue,” Kate interrupted. “You may have heard of it?”
    The physician exhaled heavily. “The Cavalry Blue,” he repeated, his brows knitted. “Arielle Colfax’s old diggings.”
    “Yes, my dear great-aunt. You knew her?”
    “Yes, I did. I knew Arielle, albeit briefly, and her husband, Benjamin. He was a geologist who came out West with Freemont.” Dr. Ledet shook his head. “Miss VanNam, I hate to tell you this, but the Cavalry Blue has been boarded up for years. Ever since your aunt left Fortune.” He paused, then as gently as possible said, “My