Penelope
Rand Ketcham Series
Bounty Hunter, Matchmaker ~ Gardner
Book 3
By
Patricia PacJac Carroll
Copyright © March 2019
Published by Patricia PacJac Carroll
ALL rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, (except for inclusion in reviews), disseminated or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or audio. Including photocopying, recording, or in any information storage and retrieval system, or the Internet/World Wide Web without written permission from the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
Book Cover: Charlene Raddon at SilverSageBookCovers.com
Rand Ketcham Series ~
Lawfully Saved Book 1
Quest for Iris Book 2
Penelope Book 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Table of Contents
Penelope
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
Epilogue
Penelope
Chapter 1
October 1871
Penelope cringed and braced for one of her father’s long-winded sermons on mercy. He was always giving her one after his stern looks.
Father cocked his head and gave her a hopeful smile. “Try not to judge everyone so harshly, Daughter.” He pecked her cheek. “Ease up on your siblings and try and have a good day. You know that God is love and—”
“Daniel, leave Penelope alone. Things will work out.” Mother gathered the basket of food and went out the door.
Father sighed. “I just want you to be happy, Penelope. You won’t be until you can see others through eyes filled with God’s love.” He rushed to follow Mother out the door.
Penelope watched them get in the wagon and then turned back to her chores. “Well, someone has to be good. I would think the Lord would see that I’m the one who always does right.” She folded a towel. As usual, her three sisters and two brothers were off hiding from work while Mother and Father were on their way to console the widow Fryer.
At twenty-three, Penelope should be minding her own household, but no man in his right mind would be interested in her with her five siblings. They were too loud and disorderly for any man to take her seriously.
She frowned, knowing that wasn’t entirely true. For some reason that she couldn’t understand, people just didn’t like her.
Women her age and men alike skirted a wide path around her. Sometimes not even attempting to hide their actions, but Penelope didn’t care. She was a preacher’s daughter, and she was determined to live up to the commands of the Good Book.
She toted the clothes basket outside, paused, and dug around for more clothespins. She had to admit that despite her high ideals, there were days the rejection stung.
“What is it about me that people don’t like?” A tear slipped down her cheek. “Why, Lord? I do everything right according to the Bible. Yet, I have no friends and certainly no young man who wants to marry me.”
She heard footsteps and quickly dried her eyes.
Angela, her oldest sister, sauntered through the yard. “Penelope, we’re going to the caves. Want to go?”
Penelope, as the oldest and most responsible child of Preacher Daniel and Priscilla Wyler, wouldn’t dream of putting off her chores. Why her siblings could, was a mystery to her. Penelope put her hands on her hips. Something she was frequently doing because of all the impure things people, mainly her siblings, were doing around her.
“Angela, you know that is improper. There better not be any boys going with you.”
“Oh, for pity’s sake. It’s Saturday. Mother’s with Father and won’t be home until long after we’re back and have the chores done. As for boys, the brothers are going. I can’t say that any other young men might show up or not.” Angela stuck her tongue out.
“A bird is going to land on your nasty tongue. At twenty-one, you should be ashamed. That’s not how ladies act. The brothers should be working, and you better not be meeting any men.” Penelope shook her head. Angela was right about their parents being gone and at the same time so wrong in shirking her duties.
Penelope couldn’t understand why her younger brothers and sisters didn’t see the error of their ways. It was such a burden to be the good one of the family. But as a preacher’s daughter, it was her duty. By her example, her brothers and sisters would come around and become pillars of society, like she was.
Penelope finished the washing and went inside to bake a pie for the Ingram’s. They’d had their first baby, and the new mother, Ellie, needed some help. Pausing with flour on her hands, Penelope recalled that she and Ellie were the same age. Not that they were still really friends as Penelope never had time for the frivolity of visiting. But when they were younger, there had been a few days when they had sat under the apple tree and talked.
They’d talked about life and what they’d thought it would be like. Ellie had laughed and smiled. Told her that she had her eye on Billy Ray. Well, he was her husband now, so she must have corralled him.
Fixing the crust in the pan, Penelope tried to push away the sour mood that threatened. She had never gone to the town dance with a single boy. She used her parents’ church as an excuse even though they never told her she couldn’t go. In fact, Angela had been to many such dances as well as her younger brothers and sisters.
“Well, I have a reputation to uphold.” She encouraged herself while smashing the dough around the pan. “I have to be the good one. Always me. Why Mama and Papa don’t make the other children walk the straight and narrow, I have no idea.”
She put the pie in the oven just as Sage, the youngest, dashed past her. Penelope grabbed for her. “Whoa. Where do you think you’re going, young lady?”
The fifteen-year-old skidded to a stop. “The cave with the others.”
“No, you’re not. You’re too young.”
A big pout and narrowed brows warned of an angry outburst. “You’re not my mother.”
“No, but I’m in charge of you. Besides, I need you to help me take a pie to Ellie. You can see her new baby.”
“I don’t care. I want to go to the cave.” She grinned, and pink crept into her cheeks. “Henry is going.”
Penelope leveled a stern gaze at her youngest and wildest sibling. “He’s too old for you. And I’ve heard some not very nice things about him.”
Hauling in a deep breath, Sage put her hands on her hips and stared her down. “Gossiping, I see.”
Now it was Penelope’s turn to breathe deep and level a warning look at her sister. “I do not gossip. I was concerned because I know you like him, and he’s a friend of our brothers. Suffice it to say, stay away from him.”
“Ha! You’ll have to catch me.” And Sage rushed out the door at a dead run.
Penelope had long ago given up running. So childish. Well, mother and father would have to deal with Sage. Cleaning up the kitchen, Penelope was burdened to pray for her siblings.
“Father, I ask you to watch out and protect my brothers and sisters. Especially Sage. She’s a wild one. And let Mother and Father know how to deal with their children. Thank you that I’m not like them and obey my parents in the Lord like the Bible says to
do. Amen.”
Taking in another deep breath, Penelope put thoughts of her siblings aside and went about doing the rest of her chores as well as some that belonged to Angela and Mary. They were more than old enough to know better but had skipped out anyway.
Penelope folded the rest of the towels and smiled. “At least, Mother and Father have one good child they can count on.” She checked the pie, and went outside to see that the chickens had been fed.
As usual, Sage had forgotten her duty. Penelope scattered the chicken feed and brought in the eggs. She glanced at the woodpile but decided she didn’t have the time to take care of the brothers’ chores. They would have to bear Father’s disappointment. She only had time to do so much.
She pulled the pie out. Perfect. Ellie and her husband would enjoy it. A niggling worry scratched the back of her mind. Most of the girls her age were married or about to be. She wasn’t even close.
Penelope had yet to find a young man that she would even consider marrying. Of course, the reverse was also true as of yet, no young man had called on her for her hand in marriage. She sighed. There was Dale Hawkins. He’d smiled at her once, and he was handsome. He worked on his father’s ranch and seemed too busy to be interested in getting a wife.
Yet, at the General Store, she’d heard Martha Bailey say he was going to the dance Saturday night. So, the young man must have some interest. Penelope took some hope in that she was every bit as pretty as Martha. The dance might be worth going to.
“Who has time for such nonsense, anyway?” Penelope spoke to the apple pie. Besides, she was inclined to believe it was more proper to wait until the Lord brought her a young man to marry. She just hoped that He’d hurry up.
She pulled off her apron, covered the pie with a clean towel, and was about to dart out of the house when she passed by the mirror. Flour dotted her nose, and her red hair was escaping the tight bun she’d wrapped it in.
She set down the pie and wiped the flour from her nose. Thank goodness she’d checked. Her hair was a lost cause. Once it started its flyaway act, there was no hope in taming it. She grabbed the pie and walked to the street.
Ellie lived less than a mile away. Her husband worked at the bank. He would have been a good prize, but Ellie’s beauty had hooked him. Just as well, Mother needed Penelope’s help with the children and chores.
Not to mention, Penelope kept her mother abreast of all the developments in town. Not in a gossipy fashion but with the idea of how to pray for others. It was important for a preacher to know how to pray for those in his congregation and town.
Duston wasn’t much of a town, but it was the one where her father had chosen to plant his church. She’d been here for ten years and had grown accustomed to it. Although, at times she wondered if they had stayed in St. Louis, she may have found a suitable mate by now.
She turned up Second Street to the cute, yellow house. It certainly was what a young woman would dream about. White picket fence around the yard. White trim accented the yellow paint on the house. And all new.
Father had not done too well as far as their parish home. It was adequate, but small for their family. Father said not to complain. So, she didn’t. Although, she heard the other siblings announce their displeasure. But Penelope wasn’t like them.
She knocked on the door.
In a few minutes, Ellie, looking a bit harried, opened the door. “Penelope, come in.”
“I’ve brought you an apple pie to celebrate the birth of your baby.”
“How sweet.” Ellie gently took it from her and sniffed. “Smells wonderful.”
Penelope noticed her friend still had a few extra pounds left over from having the child. Her friend would have to watch that as Ellie’s mother was more than plump. Penelope smoothed her skirt delighting in her trim figure.
“The baby is sleeping. Please, don’t look at the mess. Charlie keeps us up at all hours of the night.” Ellie took the pie to the kitchen.
Penelope moved a baby blanket and sat in the rocker. She looked around the small room and noticed dust as well as items strewn about. Well, she’d heard of other new mothers who let their houses go.
Ellie returned and sat on the divan. “I am so tired. Poor Billy Ray, he has to get up early to go to work, but we’re managing.” She nervously pulled a knitted baby booty from the cushion. “I was looking for that.”
Penelope nodded while thinking that if Ellie would put things away, she’d be able to find them.
The soft mews of a baby spilled out into the parlor.
Ellie got up. “He’s awake. Would you like to see him?”
“Yes.” Penelope didn’t really. She’d had enough with babies after Sage had been born. At eight, Penelope had become mother’s little helper.
Ellie returned with a sweet baby in a blue blanket. “Mrs. Whitson made this blanket for me. Isn’t it beautiful?”
Penelope nodded. Though she’d have to wonder about Grace Whitson. The woman lived in a cabin next to that bounty hunter, Rand Ketcham. How any decent woman could live that close to a man who hunted people for a living was beyond reason. Oh, yes, he’d said he’d retired and now, just helped people. He did spend most of his time tending his rose garden. Yet, propriety was important, and Grace should not live next door to her bounty hunter son-in-law.
Ellie placed the infant in Penelope’s arms.
Baby Charlie looked up at her, smiled, and gooed for all he was worth, and then he wrapped his tiny hand around her little finger.
Penelope looked into his sweet face, and something inside her opened. A feeling so surprising that it nearly brought tears to her eyes. She forgot about duty and work and stared into the tender eyes of the newborn and for a moment lost herself.
She didn’t know how long she stayed lost in the sweetness, but when she looked up, Ellie had fallen asleep. Looking back down, Penelope kissed the baby’s cheek. She held the infant close and dreamed that he was her baby. That this was her house. That—
The door opened, and Billy Ray entered. He saw her and frowned. Then went to his wife and nudged her arm. “Ellie.”
The young mother awoke and jumped up. “Sorry, I hope I haven’t been sleeping long.”
“No, not at all.” Penelope returned the baby to Ellie. “I enjoyed holding him. Such a sweet baby.”
Ellie smiled. “Thank you. I guess I better get the rest of supper ready. I didn’t realize it was so late.”
Billy Ray hung his hat on the peg. “It’s not that late. Mr. Wilson let me off early so I could get some sleep.”
Penelope felt awkward and went to the door. “Enjoy the pie.” She looked, and the young couple were kissing.
Cheeks red, Ellie slowly pulled away from her husband as if parting with him were painful. Slowly, she walked to Penelope and opened the door, “Come again.”
“I just might.” Penelope left the yellow house with a bittersweet mixture of feelings. Holding baby Charlie had awakened emotions that she’d never felt before while seeing Ellie and Billy Ray together had only heightened the hard realization of what Penelope lacked.
Why couldn’t she find a man who would love her?
Chapter 2
Hayden Burkett pocketed the money he’d earned from the Duston ranch. Not much, but it was honest work. He looked west, thought about packing up and leaving, but he’d not seen his family in half-a-year. Like it or not, he owed them a visit. Then he could cut ties and leave.
He’d tried to persuade Pa to stop his wayward ways before, but the old man was determined to make the bank, carpetbaggers, and anyone he thought responsible pay for the hard times in Texas and town of Duston, specifically.
Hayden reined his buckskin up the road to the hills near Duston. As much as he wished he could forget where the hideout was, he knew exactly how to get there. Cross the fork in the road, go left and up the trail to the hills. Ride past the big rock, then down and over a small creek. The cave was on the other side of the creek partially hidden by a stand of thick brush.
He stopped at the creek. “Pa!”
“Hayden is that you?” His father stepped out of the cave. “Come on over but be quiet about it. There are some folks down the creek exploring the caves. I got Cole watching them.”
Hayden led his horse into the cave and to the back where it opened into a hidden valley. He unsaddled the buckskin and turned him loose. “You earned a rest, boy.”
Greg, who stood guard over the cave, nodded at him. “Long time since you’ve been around, brother. Why did you come back?”
“I wonder that myself.” He wasn’t particularly fond of his brother. Although, he had a soft spot for Cole, the youngest Burkett. At twenty-one, he was old enough to make up his own mind, and Hayden kind of hoped the kid would go west with him.
Pa came up to him. “Heard you were working the Duston ranch. Was hoping you’d bring us a few extra calves.”
“You know I don’t go for rustling. Or any of the rotten things you do. I only came by to say that I’m leaving. I wondered if Cole would like to go with me.” Hayden shucked off his chaps and gloves and warmed his hands over the fire.
“I won’t let him go. You know that. Shouldn’t let you come and go either. You’re a risk to the family. Besides, your boss profited off all the ranchers that lost their land, and he was able to pick up property for a song.”
Hayden whirled to face his father. “Duston is a good, hard-working man. He paid legally for the land. As far as family, if that’s what you call it, the Burketts are more like a misguided bunch of fools on the way to Perdition if you ask me. How long is it before you hurt someone? Kill someone?”
The old man turned from him. “I’m only getting back what was stolen from me and other good citizens. You know we help those around us.”
Kneeling over the fire, Hayden warmed his hands. “It’s all wrong. You know that. Ma would have never gone along with your schemes.”
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