A Horsewoman for Harlan by Barbara Goss (the top 100 crime novels of all time TXT) 📕

At first, he hadn’t much to do with her, and she'd hidden herself from him, but slowly, they’d bonded.  Adopting Millie and Clay was the best thing he ever did.

Harlan went inside and washed in the laundry room.  He was drying his hands when Elise came rushing in.

“Oh, sorry.  I didn’t realize you were in here.”  She turned to leave.

“No, don’t go.  You need to wash up for the picnic, too.” He tossed her a clean towel.  “Millie wants to ride.  Pedro is saddling our horses.  I’ll meet you and Millie outside.”

The spot Millie had picked was beneath a large oak tree.  Elise helped her spread the tablecloth, and Millie served the plates and meal.

“It’s chicken!” she said with glee.  “I love chicken.  Don’t you Elise?”

“It’s my favorite, too.”  Elise helped herself to a sandwich and passed the plate to Harlan.

“I wish I could say chicken was my favorite,” Harlan said, “but beef is mine.”

“Elise,” Millie said, “tell Papa about your parents and the livery they owned in... um… where was it again?”

“Pennsylvania,” Elise said with a laugh.  “My family business was nothing like what you have, Harlan.  We had a simple livery and some race horses.  My mother, a tiny woman, raced against the men and sometimes even won.”

“How interesting.  Were these professional races?” he asked.

“Oh, goodness, no.  Just for fun, but a lot of the men placed bets.  We had some Gypsy men as well as other horse enthusiasts.  I remember watching them and wishing I could race one day.”

“I have the race horses if you still have that wish,” Harlan said with a laugh.

“No, I’ve gotten over that wish.  I simply love working with horses.  They are so unique.  I’ve always loved them.”

Millie seemed to want Elise to tell him all her stories that day.  “Elise, tell Papa about the horse that threw you in the water trough.”

“Oh, dear.  Please don’t make me tell him that story, Millie.”

Harlan laughed heartily.  “Oh, now you must.”

He watched Elise blush, but then she smiled and said, “Since I’m among friends, but,” she put her finger to her lips, “not a word to anyone else.”

Millie crossed her heart. Harlan saw Millie and crossed his heart as well.

Elise laughed.  “I was leading a rather belligerent horse out to the corral when he stopped short, backed up quickly, and knocked me heels over head into the water trough.”

Millie and Harlan laughed so hard that Elise laughed with them.  “I was so embarrassed.  Of course, we had a customer that day who was quite amused to see me pulled out by my father, soaking wet.”

Harlan thought about how comfortable the three of them were together,  and he told Elise and Millie a few stories of his own embarrassing moments in the stables.

Then, Harlan stood.  “This has been so much fun that I’ve lost track of time.  We need to get back, but we must do this again.  I’ve enjoyed it.”

“Me, too,” Millie said.

“It was, indeed, a great picnic. Thank you for inviting me,” Elise said as she helped Harlan pack up the picnic remnants.

“You’ll always be invited,” Harlan said. “You’re...”  He was about to say she was a part of the family now, but that wouldn’t have sounded quite right.  “You’re like a part of the family,” he corrected.

Harlan felt happy as he worked on the ads for the upcoming auction, not that he was sad before the picnic.  Everyone who knew him described him as happy-go-lucky. He didn’t know how his happiness that day was different, but he supposed he felt giddy for some reason.  It was a great day.

Chapter Nine

Troy Dyson was waiting on the porch for T.J. when he returned from his tour of the Tanners' horse ranch.  “How was it?” Troy asked.

“Magnificent.  I’ve never seen such marvelous horseflesh.  There’s one race horse, a stallion, that’s worth over a thousand dollars.”  T. J. rubbed his hands together.  “This will be the biggest theft we’ve done yet, but not the easiest.”

“What’s the problem?”

T.J. tapped his fingers on the wooden railing.  “It’s locked up tight at night, and in the daytime, there are workers all around.  I have to figure out a way to get at least the stallion and maybe a few others out.”

Troy sat down on the front steps. “Can you use the woman in some way?”

“Nah, I don’t think that will work.” T.J. pounded the railing.  “Unless... we have to get Tanner off the property in the daytime.  Let me think...”

Troy snapped his fingers.  “We could do it the way we did the Mathisons’ place in Denver.  Set the house on fire,  everyone runs to put it out, and we grab the horses.”

T.J. shook his head.  “Tanner’s too smart, and his place is so open, we couldn’t get near it with a torch.”

“What then?”

“Quiet!  I’m thinking.”  T.J. sat down beside Troy.  “The little girl... that’s it!”

“The one we saw that day? What can we do with her?”

“We’ll kidnap her, and when her family goes to look for her, we break into the stables.”

“Someone might see us. Surely, everyone in the family won’t go looking for her,” Troy said.

“I think they all will, and just to be sure, we’ll cover our faces.  I’ll grab the stallion with my rope, and you lasso at least one more, but two if you can.  I’ll have to be satisfied with that.

“Where will be take the horses?” Troy asked.

“We can’t hang around here.  We’ll head for Topeka and try to catch our cattle crew on their way back.  We’ll get our share of the cattle money and continue to Topeka to sell the horses.”

“Sounds like a good plan.  What about the little girl?”

“We’ll leave her in a place where they can find her later.  Maybe we’ll tie her