[Desert Roses 03] - Beneath A Harvest Sky
Beneath
A
Harvest Sky
DESERT
ROSES
Beneath
A
Harvest Sky
TRACIE PETERSON
Beneath a Harvest Sky
Copyright © 2003
Tracie Peterson
Cover design by Koechel Peterson & Associates
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN-13: 978-0-7642-2519-2
ISBN-10: 0-7642-2519-7
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Peterson, Tracie.
Beneath a harvest sky / by Tracie Peterson.
p. cm. — (Desert roses)
ISBN 0-7642-2519-7 (pbk.)
1. Archaeological thefts—Fiction. 2. Tour guides (Persons)—Fiction.
3. New Mexico—Fiction. I. Title. II. Series: Peterson, Tracie. Desert roses.
PS3566.E7717B465
2003
813'.54—dc21 2003001454
To Rainy
You are a light and joy in
our lives. May God bless you
and grow you into a beautiful
young woman.
Love,
Nana
Books by Tracie Peterson
www.traciepeterson.com
A Slender Thread
•
I Can’t Do It All!
**
What She Left for Me
•
Where My Heart Belongs
A
LASKAN
Q
UEST
Summer of the Midnight Sun
Under the Northern Lights
•
Whispers of Winter
T
HE
B
ROADMOOR
L
EGACY
*
A Daughter’s Inheritance
B
ELLS OF
L
OWELL
*
Daughter of the Loom
•
A Fragile Design
These Tangled Threads
L
IGHTS OF
L
OWELL
*
A Tapestry of Hope
•
A Love Woven True
The Pattern of Her Heart
D
ESERT
R
OSES
Shadows of the Canyon
•
Across the Years
Beneath a Harvest Sky
H
EIRS OF
M
ONTANA
Land of My Heart
•
The Coming Storm
To Dream Anew
•
The Hope Within
L
ADIES OF
L
IBERTY
A Lady of High Regard
•
A Lady of Hidden Talent
S
HANNON
S
AGA
†
City of Angels
•
Angels Flight
•
Angel of Mercy
W
ESTWARD
C
HRONICLES
A Shelter of Hope
•
Hidden in a Whisper
A Veiled Reflection
Y
UKON
Q
UEST
Treasures of the North
•
Ashes and Ice
Rivers of Gold
*
with Judith Miller
†
with James Scott Bell
**
with Allison Bottke and Dianne O’Brian
TRACIE PETERSON is a popular speaker and best-selling author who has written over fifty books, both historical and contemporary fiction. Tracie and her family make their home in Montana.
You may visit her Web site at
www.traciepeterson.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
New Mexico, Late March 1931
W
e’ll never stick to schedule if you keep putting the Cadillac in the sand,” Rainy Gordon teased her twin brother. She cast a glance over her shoulder at the Harvey House tourists, or “dudes,” as the staff called them, who waited rather impatiently in the noon sun. Lowering her voice she asked, “How can I help?”
Gabe Gordon, better known as Sonny, looked up from beneath the brim of his ten-gallon cowboy hat and smiled. “Well, if you’re done merely supervising, you could get behind the wheel and try to move this beast forward when I give you the okay. I think I’ve cleared as much sand as I can back here, and those rocks you brought me are bound to help give her a little more traction. But just to be safe, I’ll push.”
Rainy gave a salute from the brim of her uniform hat. She was grateful the Fred Harvey Company didn’t require their women couriers to dress in the overexaggerated cowboy attire. Still, looking down at her Navajo tunic of dark purple velvet, silver concha belt, and squash-blossom necklace, she supposed she played the role of Indian to her brother’s cowboy act.
Sliding behind the wheel of the Harvey touring car, Rainy pushed back her braided strawberry blond hair and waited for Sonny to give her the go-ahead. Getting stuck in the sand wasn’t that unusual along some of the wilder stretches of New Mexico and Arizona, but they were only five miles outside of Santa Fe, and this little mishap should never have happened. Sonny hadn’t had his mind on business as of late, but Rainy was hard-pressed to know what consumed his thoughts.
“Give it a try—just don’t press down too hard on the accelerator. Just ease her out,” Sonny called.
Rainy did as he instructed and with a jump and a lurch the Caddy reared onto solid ground, causing the dudes to cheer. Rainy giggled to herself knowing that the teenage daughters of one of their clients would surely see Sonny as their knight in shining armor. They’d positively swooned over him since first joining the tour three days ago. But that was just as the Harvey Company planned it to be.
After three years of working as a Detour courier, Rainy knew the routine better than most. She was in the entertainment business, just as surely as if she starred on the silver screen. Her job was to make people forget their problems and entice them into the wonderful, mysterious world of the Desert Southwest. As a tour guide, Rainy could direct their attention to the subtle and not-so-subtle nuances that shrouded the Indian lands and add intrigue and excitement to their otherwise dull, fearful lives.
For in 1931, there were a great many reasons to fear.
Hard times were upon them as the country was rapidly sinking into a stifled economy. Some claims led folks to believe that good times were just around the corner and that people owed it to their country to open their wallets and spend. At the same time, other predictions were far more discouraging. Doom and gloom hung over the country like an ill-tempered relative who threatened to extend his visit and take up permanent residency.
Rainy worried about her mother and father, who lived in Albuquerque. Her father worked for the university there, and while his job seemed perfectly secure, Rainy knew the economy’s failings could easily change that. After all, a college education was a luxury, and many people would forego it in a flash in hopes of securing stable work in its place. If that happened often enough, her father would no longer be needed to teach history and archaeology.