A Trail So Lonesome


 
 
 
 
 A Trail So Lonesome
 
 WAGON TRAIN MATCHES
 BOOK ONE
 
 
 
 
 LACY WILLIAMS
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Contents
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 1
 
 
 Chapter 2
 
 
 Chapter 3
 
 
 Chapter 4
 
 
 Chapter 5
 
 
 Chapter 6
 
 
 Chapter 7
 
 
 Chapter 8
 
 
 Chapter 9
 
 
 Chapter 10
 
 
 Chapter 11
 
 
 Chapter 12
 
 
 Chapter 13
 
 
 Chapter 14
 
 
 Chapter 15
 
 
 Chapter 16
 
 
 Chapter 17
 
 
 Chapter 18
 
 
 Chapter 19
 
 
 Chapter 20
 
 
 Chapter 21
 
 
 Chapter 22
 
 
 Chapter 23
 
 
 Chapter 24
 
 
 Chapter 25
 
 
 
 
 Exclusive invitation
 
 
 Acknowledgments
 
 
 Find me online
 
 
 Also by Lacy Williams
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 One
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 It was crowded and overwarm in the dance hall in Independence, Missouri, when Evangeline stepped inside.
 But tonight there was no dancing, no music. The cavernous room was packed with bodies. Many of them unwashed, judging by the overwhelming scents that attacked her nose.
 Several heads turned in her direction, eyes fixed on her, and she felt a tremble of nervousness.
 Every person in this room was just like her. At least that’s what she told herself.
 This meeting was for travelers who had paid and been approved to travel on Hollis Tremblay’s wagon train, leaving Independence tomorrow morning.
 And Evangeline was going with them. Starting a new life.
 “Sissy?”
 Evangeline looked down into the face of the young girl clinging to her hand. Worried brown eyes looked up at her. Sara clutched a faded rag doll in her other hand, while Evangeline clutched a thick tome to her midsection.
 Evangeline squeezed Sara’s hand in reassurance. She wasn’t used to being in this press of bodies. Neither was Evangeline, but they’d make do. They had to.
 “Our seats are right over there,” she murmured with a nod forward and to the left, right in the middle of the room. Near the front, so they could see. The wooden chairs had been theirs when they’d left. Evangeline preferred to be punctual and had, in fact, been a half-hour early for this meeting. She and Sara had been nearly alone in the dance hall. Everything had been going just as Evangeline planned.
 Until Sara had whispered that she needed the washroom.
 After a trek back to their hotel, they’d returned minutes late—though the meeting didn’t seem to have started—to find the dance hall packed.
 Families of all shapes and sizes filled the room. A mother bent over several young children clustered at her feet, scolding them. A father stood against the wall, his arms folded. Two teenaged boys stood in an identical stance and the uncanny resemblance to the man so obviously their father made Evangeline want to smile. Rough-looking men were scattered among the crowd, too. One man with dark hair and an unkempt beard let his eyes linger on Evangeline for far too long as she scooted past him. She averted her eyes quickly but felt his unsavory gaze linger.
 When she and Sara reached the seats they’d vacated minutes ago, they found them occupied. There had been no one around to ask to save her seat when she’d left for Sara’s sake. What now?
 A shrill whistle rang out over the noise of the crowd. “Good evening,” a deep male voice followed.
 The murmur of voices faded. Some people hissed, “Shh!”
 Heat rushed into Evangeline’s cheeks as she realized she had no seat, and she was awkwardly blocking several folks from being able to see the man who was speaking. She’d considered leaving her book on the chair, but it was too valuable to be left behind.
 Now she tugged Sara by the hand as she hurried toward the back of the hall, embarrassed as she felt the gazes of nearly everyone she passed. Several people were standing at the back of the room. She would have to do that, too.
 Emotion knotted in her throat. She’d wanted—she’d planned—to be closer. What if she missed something important because she couldn’t hear?
 Her gaze caught on a woman who must be only a little older than Evangeline’s twenty years. She sat on the second row from the back wall. She nudged the man beside her—her husband?—who scowled at her. The woman nodded to Evangeline, still side-stepping toward the back, and whispered something to him.
 He looked up, his blue eyes locking on Evangeline. She felt his gaze almost like a touch and nearly stepped on the foot of the man right in front of her who had scooted his chair into the rough aisle, forcing Evangeline to step around him.
 The blue-eyed man’s scowl grew bigger. He said something to the woman and abruptly stood up.
 Evangeline was close now. Before she could look away, he nodded to the empty seat and strode to the back of the room.
 “…wagons packed.”
 Grateful and embarrassed at the same time, Evangeline slipped into the seat. She placed her book at her feet and pulled Sara onto her lap.
 “Thank you,” she whispered to her neighbor.
 The woman gave her a sunny smile. “Certainly.”
 “You’ve been given a list of required food items,” the wagon master said. “I’ve already inspected some of your wagons to see that your supplies are ready.”
 Evangeline had checked and double-checked the supplies in the wagon. She knew they’d purchased and packed everything on the wagon master’s list, but her hands itched to check the list folded inside her book at her feet. She kept her arms loosely around Sara. She could re-check in a moment. No need to jostle the girl when they’d just gotten settled.
 Father was