Uncertain: Day 11

Word Count: 66,015

Summary of Events:

Joseph and the sheriff of Santa Fe canvassed businesses in the town to see if they'd seen a trapper with two children accompanying him, but didn't get any leads. Hazel and the search party arrived in Santa Fe and everyone dispersed to find accommodation; to Hazel's dismay Mr. Andrews seemed intent to have her stay in the same hotel as he was, despite her efforts to separate from him . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

Hazel kept slightly back of Mr. Andrews and was disappointed to see that he was checking over his shoulder at her every few seconds. He meant to keep her close at hand whether she wanted to be close at hand or not.

Still, she managed to slow down until she was probably a good half-length behind him before he brought his horse around to ride alongside her.

“Your horse must be awful tired,” Mr. Andrews said. “He’s slowing down.”

Hazel nodded, not wanting to give the truth away. “He must be.”

After a few more minutes’ riding — in which Hazel ceased to make efforts to escape Mr. Andrews because she wasn’t going to be able to get away from him now — they arrived  outside a rather imposing edifice of a building, constructed out of stone in the latest architectural fashion.

Engraved words across the top of the building advertised it as the Conquistador Hotel. Mr. Andrews turned to face the rail in front of it and Hazel, unwillingly, joined him.

Mr. Andrews dismounted and tied his horse before holding Rocky’s head and waiting for Hazel to do the same thing before he tied Rocky to the rail and escorted her like a lady through the main doors of the hotel into one of the nicest-looking interiors Hazel had seen since crossing the Mississippi.

An austere-looking hotelier greeted Mr. Andrews, who stepped up to the desk.

“Do you have corner suites?” Mr. Andrews asked.

“We do,” the hotelier replied.

“Do any of them happen to be open?” Mr. Andrews asked.

“More than one,” the hotelier replied.

“Do any of them have an adjoining room available as well?” Mr. Andrews asked.

The hotelier glanced over at something hidden from view for a moment. “Yes.”

“Do you have a corner suite and an adjoining room that are both front-facing?” Mr. Andrews asked.

Another long glance off to the side by the hotelier ensued before an affirmative reply was again given.

“Good, I’ll take them,” Mr. Andrews said.

“For how long?” the hotelier asked.

“We’ll start with three nights,” Mr. Andrews replied.

“And your name is?” the hotelier asked.

“Lavern Andrews,” Mr. Andrews replied. “No e on the end of Lavern.”

Hazel waited patiently as the two men made the arrangements that needed to be made before the hotelier fetched the keys to the rooms for them. Hazel noted that she got the key to the adjoining room, while Mr. Andrews took the key to the corner suite.

Apparently, as much as he was paying for her accommodations, he was still taking the nicer room.