The Inheritance
A
DVANCE
A
CCLAIM FOR
T
HE
I
NHERITANCE
“Alexander’s inspirational historical romance vividly details the rough mining environment of 1870s Colorado—including Brinks-coach robberies, gambling-hall alcohol-fueled brawls, and Chinese settlers—in a fast-paced, often poignant, and always hopeful tale.”
— B
OOKLIST
“Tamera Alexander paints scenery with the written word, and her characters, stories, and insights linger long after the book is read.”
— C
INDY
W
OODSMALL
,
New York Times
best-selling author of
When the Heart Cries
“Tamera Alexander has done it again with
The Inheritance.
McKenna and Wyatt became as real to me as dear friends . . . I didn’t want their story to end. With compelling themes of trust and redemption, this is a novel to be read again and again.”
— D
EBORAH
R
ANEY
,
author of
Almost Forever
The characters in
The Inheritance
are so vividly drawn that you almost believe they are real. The book unfolds like a movie before your eyes and will pull you in from the start, keeping you engaged until the very end.
—
TITLETRAKK.COM
Other Novels
by Tamera Alexander Include:
Fountain Creek Chronicles
Rekindled
Revealed
Remembered
Timber Ridge Reflections
From a Distance
Beyond this Moment
THE INHERITANCE
T
HE
I
NHERITANCE
TAMERA
ALEXANDER
T
HE
I
NHERITANCE
© 2009 by Tamera Alexander
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fundraising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected] ThomasNelson.com.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. Public domain.
Scripture quotations marked nlt are taken from the
Holy Bible
, New Living Translation. © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189. All rights reserved.
This novel is a work of fiction. Any references to real events, businesses, organizations, and locales are intended only to give the fiction a sense of reality and authenticity. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Alexander, Tamera.
The inheritance / Tamera Alexander.
p. cm. — (Women of faith fiction)
ISBN 978-1-59554-632-6
1. Brothers and sisters—Fiction. 2. Family—Fiction. 3. Frontier and pioneer life—West (U.S.)—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3601.L3563I54 2009
813'.6—dc22
2008051889
Printed in the United States of America
09 10 11 12 13 RRD 7 6 5 4 3
To Kurt
A true hero,
in the most godly sense of the word.
Go bravely wherever He leads,
and your mother’s heart will trust His hand.
It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance.
He went without knowing where he was going.
—Hebrews 11:8
NLT
Contents
Copper Creek, Colorado, Rocky Mountains
Tuesday, June 5, 1877
M
cKenna Ashford climbed down from the wagon, holding firm to the belief that she’d made the right decision in coming West—as if her brother’s behavior back in Missouri had given her a choice. She surveyed the not-so-quaint-looking mountain town of Copper Creek and found it to be rougher than she’d envisioned from her cousin’s descriptions in her letters. The town was more rustic with its clapboard buildings, some slightly leaning and arthritic in appearance, their cracked windows staring out like dazed, bloodshot eyes on unsuspecting passersby. But the mountains . . .
Tilting back her head, McKenna traced a visual path across the craggy range that stood sentinel over Copper Creek. And lingering on their highest snowcapped peaks, feeling both awed and humbled, she knew Janie was right—a person couldn’t see these mountains and not be changed.
“So this is it?
This
is what we left home for?”
McKenna stared up at Robert, still seated on the wagon bench, and read familiar disdain in her brother’s smirk. Only fourteen—nine years her junior—Robert stood a head taller than her and sported muscles most men would be proud to claim. “All I’m asking, Robert, is that you take the wagon and go on to Vince and Janie’s so they’ll know we’ve arrived.” Exhausted and hungry, she worked to keep the frustration from her tone, and failed. Again. “It’s only a half mile or so from town.” She gestured to the envelope on the bench seat beside him, knowing the letter’s contents by heart. “The directions are in her letter. I’ll get a horse from the livery and meet you there shortly.”
Robert didn’t move. “I don’t see why I can’t go on with you to the livery.” He gave the letter a cursory glance. “I’ve never even met these people.”
“Yes, you have. I’ve told you before, they knew you when—” She caught herself, realizing it was no use, considering the stubborn set of his jaw. “You don’t remember Vince and Janie because you were too young. But they’ll remember you. Though they won’t recognize you, that’s for sure.” Patience teetering, she managed a smile. “Just tell them who you are. They’re expecting us.”
“I still don’t see why I can’t just—”
“Robert!” She exhaled. “Please . . . simply do as I’ve asked. I’ll work out the details with the livery owner and join you shortly.”
He narrowed his eyes. Using more force than necessary, he released the brake on the wagon. “You’re probably right, sis. It’s best you go on without me. We both know
you’re
the one he’s hired anyway. Whether he knows it yet or not.” He gave the reins a hard whip.
The wagon jolted forward and McKenna jumped back, the wheel narrowly missing her boot. Her patience threadbare, she watched him go. How could she love that boy so much and still want to throttle him?
Seeing Robert’s natural ability in the way he managed the heavy rig, she felt a twinge of envy. They’d purchased the horses and wagon in Denver, and she’d wondered how he would manage over the steep mountain passes. But there wasn’t a rig Robert couldn’t handle—or build, for that matter. Saddlery equipment and supplies they’d brought from home weighed down the wagon bed—tools of their father’s trade she hadn’t been able to part with. No matter how destitute their father’s untimely passing had left them. In so many ways . . .
Wagons cluttered the main thoroughfare, but Robert maneuvered his way around them without a hitch. Lengthy hours spent alone with him on the two-week journey from Missouri to Colorado had been made even more so by his repeated sullen sighs. Constant reminders of his not wanting to be here. As if she could forget.
She held her breath as he cut close corners on two freighters— twice. Intentionally, no doubt, judging by the smart tip of his hat to the drivers as he passed. Each driver threw him a dark look, and both were large enough to break Robert in two. Not an easy task with her brother’s broad build.
Her eyes narrowed. Part of her prayed Robert wouldn’t do anything to further provoke the men, while the rest of her wondered if a good thrashing might do him some good. Her own hand at disciplining him had never been a strong one, but then again she hadn’t sought the role of mother that God had thrust upon her at such a young age.
Please don’t let him do here
what he did back home.
This move was their chance to start over again, and they wouldn’t get another one. She couldn’t afford for this attempt at a new beginning to fail.
She arched her back and stretched the taut muscles in her shoulders and neck, weary from the day’s travel from Denver. A surprisingly cool breeze swept down from the snow-drifted mountains, granting reprieve from the afternoon heat.
The air here—she took a deep breath and her lungs tingled— tasted like God had breathed it fresh from heaven’s storehouse that very morning. Surely this was a sign.
Since stepping off the train in Denver, she’d felt a sense of homecoming. It sounded silly, even to her, and she’d be hard-pressed to explain it—coming home to a place she’d never been before. Not one usually given to romanticisms, she couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps this move to Copper Creek was by God’s design after all. Perhaps this was the inheritance He’d been storing up for her. The inheritance her father had failed to provide.