White Flame Read Free

would head west to Fort Laramie for the winter. By her reckoning, they had a little more than a week, give or take a day or two.
    Hooking her parasol over the railing, Emma pulled out the worn letter from the pocket of her navy blue woolen dress. She scanned her father’s boldly penned missive. Like the rest of his correspondence, the page was filled with news of his career—his promotion to colonel had been a frequent topic and he was likely now bucking for a generalship. The letter ended as always, with a bid for Emma to take care of Renny.
    Dropping her hand to the wooden rail, Emma stared out across the water at the stand of cottonwoods lining the bank. As the sun dipped low in the sky, the huge trees cast deep angled shadows across the river, encroaching on the remaining light on the water, much like thebitterness welling inside her heart. While she’d accepted a long time ago that she wouldn’t have a father figure in her life, it wasn’t fair to Renny.
    Over the last year, she’d written several times, begging her father to come home and take up parental duties for Renny’s sake, but his answer had always been the same: the army needed him. Those words cut deeply. His family needed him, too. Mentally, Emma kicked herself for believing that this time, given the circumstances, the colonel might actually put his daughter’s needs above his career. Emma folded the letter carefully and slid it back into her pocket.
    She squeezed her eyes shut. At seventeen, the crushing pressure of playing mother and father to her nine-year-old sister weighed her down. Emma had never forgotten the promise she’d made to her father. Nor had she resented the sacrifices she’d been forced to make to keep that promise. But since their aunt’s death six months ago, Renny had grown surly and unmanageable. Emma, at her wits’ end, had turned to a father who wanted no part of their lives. Fool that she was, she’d admitted to needing him. It was the first time she’d admitted that since he’d walked out the door, leaving her holding her baby sister. And once again, he’d turned his back on her.
    Emma’s gaze narrowed with contempt. As far as she was concerned, Grady O’Brien could stay away forever. In nine years, he had never come back, and if it hadn’t been for Renny who desperately needed and wanted a father’s reassurance and love, she would never have left her home to travel through this wild, untamed land to try and force him to return home and resume his parental duties.
    Once again, her attention wandered to the men hard at work trying to free the boat before sundown. Now she wished she’d left home sooner, not waited so long; her plan had been to arrive at the fort and catch her father between assignments. If he had to escort them home, it would be too late for him to leave for Fort Laramie. Then, if he stayed the winter with them in St. Louis, perhaps he’d stay for good.
    And if he refused? Emma rubbed her eyes. If he refused, then she’d have to find a way to ease Renny’s hurt. Discouraged that all her careful planning might have been for nought, Emma straightened, pulled at her gloves and left the railing, clutching the unopened parasol Aunt Ida had insisted a young woman always carry. Lifting her skirts, she went downstairs to see what mischief Renny was getting into.
    It came as no surprise to find empty the cabin she and Renny shared. Emma tossed her parasol onto the bed, having a pretty good idea where to find her errant sister—in the stable area. Sure enough, when she went below she found Renny in the steerage, caring for horses that belonged to a contingent of soldiers also traveling to Fort Pierre. Her gaze traveled over the men sitting around a bale of hay, playing cards. Sniffing the air, she caught the scent of alcohol. This was definitely not a place for a young, impressionable child. And one glance at the girl’s disheveled appearance confirmed she’d been down here most of the afternoon instead