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

horse her father was grooming.  “Do you like Miss Elise?”

“As a person, she’s seems nice enough.  As a horse trainer, well... time will tell.”

“She’s very pretty, don’t you think?”

Harlan chuckled.  “Yes, she surprised me.  I was expecting a different type of woman.”

“I like her, Papa.”

“She must like you, too, because she insisted on training your horse first.”

Millie’s hands flew to her cheeks.  “Oh, my!  I’m so excited.  May I go out and watch her train?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, and you did ask if I needed help, remember?”

Millie nodded.

“Well, I need you to empty this bucket and bring fresh water to the next stall.  I’m going to work on the horse you named Snow White.”

When Millie brought him the bucket, she asked, “Do you think I could wear pants like Miss Elise?”

Harlan’s head shot up from where he was bent over, working on the horse’s hooves.  “Absolutely not!”

“Why?”

“Because you are a girl who will one day become a lady.”

“Can I wear a riding outfit like Cora Harding does?”

Harlan sighed.  “I suppose you can, but I’ll pick it out—and not until your horse is ready to ride.”

“I can hardly wait, Papa.”

“Why don’t you go out to the other stable to see if your brother needs any help?”

 “All right.”  Millie skipped out the back door.

Harlan stood and walked to the front door of the stable to peek at the horsewoman’s progress.  She was walking the horse around the diameter of the corral, and it looked like she was talking to it.  The horse already seemed tamer than it had been when the woman had taken the horse out that morning, kicking up a fuss when she was being led to the corral.  So far so good, he had to concede—she knew what she was doing.  He didn’t approve of her wearing pants, but he had to admit that she looked mighty fine in them.  Still, if he were interested—which he wasn’t—he’d prefer a more conservative woman who dressed like a lady.

He had watched his parents fight with each other all of his life, and at the age of ten, he swore to himself that he’d never marry.  Why live in discord when you can live in peace and quiet?  He already had the best of marriage by having himself two children, besides.  What more could he want?

Chapter Six

 T.J. Andrews was met at the stage depot in Hunter’s Grove by his friend Troy, who greeted him by clapping him on the back.  “About time.  I was about to give up on you.”

“I’m exhausted,” T.J. answered.  “Think we can get a hotel room and drive to the ranch tomorrow?”

Troy picked up T.J.’s valise.  “We can do that.  Our boys left with the herd four days ago.  The place is empty.”

“What did they do with the old man?”

Troy laughed.  “They tied him to one of the calves.  He’s going to market with the herd.”

“Good. I’m glad you didn’t have to kill him.  I might be an outlaw, but I don’t want a killing on my conscience.”

“Me and the guys took a vote and decided not to kill him.  By the time he walks back to his ranch, we’ll be long gone.” Troy smiled shrewdly. “We took all his money, too.”

“How long will it take for the boys to come back with our profits?” T.J. asked as they walked into the Hunter’s Hotel.

“Maybe six weeks or so depending on how much celebrating they do before heading back.”

“What?  We need cash now.  How much did you get off the old man?”

“Fifty bucks.”

T.J. shook his head.  “We have to do something before then.  At least we have a place to stay.  Hey,” T.J. snapped his fingers,  “I did run into a bit of luck on the way here.  I met me a pretty little gal, naïve as all get out.  She’s gotten herself a job as a horse trainer in Russell.  What do you say we try to do some horse thieving?”

After working with Millie’s fillie for a week, Elise wanted the girl to interact with her horse.  It would take time for Elise to transfer the trust she had built with the horse from her to Millie.  Elise spent every day from sun up to sundown training Millie’s horse and one other.  She usually worked half a day with each of the two horses so as not to tire either one out. It helped that it was early May and there were extra hours of daylight.

Elise tried to stay out of Harlan and Clay’s way as much as possible.  They were both friendly, but she didn’t want to get in their way.  Everyone had a job to do.   Clay seemed to take after his father in that he was a hard worker.  Harlan was always busy either grooming, breeding, birthing, or doing office work.  He was planning an auction for the first week in September, and she hoped that by working with two horses at a time, she’d have a good number ready for his sale.

Elise let Millie lead the horse around the corral, encouraging her to talk to the horse gently at times.  Taming a horse born on a ranch was much easier than taming a wild horse—she'd done those before, too.  These horses had been used to humans touching them since birth, and that helped.

“What did you name your horse, Millie?”

“She’s such a pretty color brown,” Millie said, “I thought maybe I’d call her Chestnut.”

“That’s a nice name, but its not very feminine.”

“And it’s too long of a name,” Millie said, patting the horse’s nose.  “How about if I name her Cocoa?”

“That’s a perfect name.”  Elise took the horse's reins from Millie.  “That’s it for today.  We’ll do this again tomorrow and the next day, and soon