The Sheriff. Nan Ryan

not going via the horn. I’m taking the shortcut across the Isthmus of Panama.” Kate snapped her fingers. “Nothing to it! I’ll be in California in no time at all.”

      Alexandra frowned. “Even so, it’s uncivilized out there, Kate. There are bandits and Indians and…”

      “I appreciate your concern and I will miss you terribly, but this could be my golden chance, don’t you see? Maybe there’s actually gold in the mine my great-aunt has left me. Wouldn’t that be something? And maybe the house is a solid, well-built mansion where I’ll be warm for once in my life.”

      Continuing to frown, Alexandra said, “I’ve told you a dozen times you can come to live with us. Father and Mother would welcome you and—”

      “It’s a kind offer and I’m truly grateful to you and your parents. But I cannot accept. My mind’s made up. You know how I love the idea of embarking on a great new adventure. I am going to California to seek my fortune!”

      “What about Samuel? Will you just leave him behind with no regrets?”

      Kate shook her head. Alexandra was referring to Sam Bradford, a fine young man who had shown an unflagging interest in courting Kate. But the attraction was not mutual. While Kate genuinely respected Sam and realized he had a bright future ahead in his father’s flourishing ship brokerage firm, she was not interested in him romantically. Nor was she interested in anyone else. While Alexandra dreamed of marriage and children, Kate yearned for excitement and travel.

      She laughed now and said, “Tell the truth, Alex. Wouldn’t you like to console Sam in my absence?”

      Alexandra flushed guiltily, then smiled. “I can’t deny that I find Sam incredibly appealing.” She frowned again. “But it’s you he likes, not me.”

      “So he thinks. But I predict that a week—two at the most—after I’m gone, Samuel T. Bradford will come calling on you.”

      Alexandra’s eyes sparkled. “You really think so?”

      Kate laughed. “I do, yes. And in a year or so, I’ll expect a wedding invitation.” Her well-arched eyebrows lifted.

      “Where shall I send it?”

      “Soon as I’m settled, I’ll write,” promised Kate. Then, with a sly grin, she affected brittle, privileged, lady-of-the-manner diction, and teased, “My dear Miss Wharton, I shall see to it my personal secretary drops you a note with the return address of my California mansion.”

      Both young women laughed and hugged once more.

      At the Boston harbor, on the bitter cold morning of March 27, 1855, the two young women hugged again.

      But neither laughed.

      “I’ll miss you so,” said a teary-eyed Alexandra.

      “And I you,” Kate replied, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat.

      She turned away and hurried up the gangway of the clipper ship Star of Gold.

      Three

      May 1, 1855

      San Francisco, California

      “Conlin. Harry Conlin, California representative for Clement and Clement.” A smiling, expensively dressed man with salt-and-pepper hair stepped forward to meet Kate when she disembarked at the busy harbor early on that May morning. “From J.J.’s description, you must be Miss Kate VanNam, heir to Mrs. Arielle VanNam Colfax’s estate.”

      Kate shook his offered hand. “Yes, sir, I am Kate VanNam. Thank you for meeting me, Mr. Conlin.”

      “Welcome to San Francisco,” he said with a friendly smile, “port of entry and financial center for the mining camps of the mother lode. Here, let me take that.”

      Harry Conlin quickly relieved Kate of her heavy valise. He took her arm and guided her through the swarms of merchants, shippers and passengers packing the Vallejo Street wharf. Dodging handcarts and wagons, coaches and cabs, Conlin and Kate carefully threaded their way through the crowd.

      When they reached the berth where the steam packet Lady Luck was moored, Harry Conlin explained, “Miss VanNam, I’ve engaged a stateroom for you on board.”

      “No, Mr. Conlin, I won’t be needing a stateroom for such a short journey. I’ll just—”

      Interrupting, he said, “Miss VanNam, Fortune is a hundred and fifty miles from San Francisco.”

      Kate frowned, disappointed. “That far? I thought surely I’d be there this by afternoon.”

      “I’m sorry. I know you must be terribly exhausted. Perhaps you’d prefer to spend the night here in San Francisco and leave tomorrow or the next day?”

      “No, I’m quite anxious to reach Fortune.”

      “Very well. You’ll spend a couple of nights on the Lady Luck before reaching the river settlement of Golden Quest and transferring to a much smaller steamer for the shorter trip to Fortune.” Kate nodded, trying to smile. Conlin ushered her up the gangway.

      Once on board, Harry Conlin said, “Now, tell me about your long journey from Boston. Was it terribly harrowing?”

      “Not at all,” Kate replied and meant it. “It was an unforgettable adventure.” Though weaker than when she had set out, Kate had lost none of her enthusiasm. “I can’t imagine why anyone would complain about such an incredible experience.”

      “No seasickness, no ocean storms?”

      “Well, I was a bit seasick, but only for a day or two. And there were a couple of storms with high winds that pitched the ship around, but I wasn’t all that frightened.” She smiled then and declared, “It took us only eleven days—with an overnight call in Havana—to reach the Caribbean port city of Aspinwall. There all the passengers disembarked and we were transferred to open-air railcars for the forty-eight miles across the isthmus to Panama. There, we embarked on the Sonora and steamed north for fifteen days. And here we are!”

      “Here you are indeed,” said Conlin, charmed and amazed that this spirited young woman registered no complaints whatsoever regarding a route most found extremely difficult.

      “I’m so glad to be in California,” she said. “And I can hardly wait to reach Fortune.”

      “Well, the Lady Luck will be getting under way very shortly,” he stated. “Time for me to disembark. You’ll be okay? You don’t need anything or…”

      “You’ve been most kind, Mr. Conlin.” Kate thanked him warmly.

      “My pleasure, Miss VanNam,” he said with a smile. “Should you decide you’ve had enough of Fortune, just hop the steamer coming downriver and return to San Francisco. Our firm will work something out with you, take the Fortune property off your hands.”

      “I’ll remember that,” Kate said, and bade him goodbye.

      In minutes the Lady Luck left the harbor. Soon it was steaming its way up the American River toward the towering Sierra Nevadas to the east.

      Within an hour the vessel left the coastal hills behind and rode a rising tide up the long, winding waterway.

      Two days later as Kate boarded the much smaller steamer at Golden Quest that would take her the rest of the way to Fortune, she entered the main cabin and looked curiously around. It was empty. There were rows of wooden seats. She chose one by a porthole, lowered her valise and sat down. She hoped against hope that no one would sit beside her. She wanted the opportunity to doze. She hadn’t slept well on the Lady Luck and was tired.

      She started in alarm when she spotted coming down the aisle an unshaven, mean-looking man whose wrists were clamped in irons.

      Kate tensed, then released her held breath when a skinny, sandy-haired fellow shoved the bearded character