Short Cut to Santa Fe (28 page)

“Kate was right,” said Harriet. “There is something compelling about the land out here. And the tourists and all their shops and restaurants are just accidental pimples, here and there. Ugly, but in the long run, temporary.”

Harriet shivered and John stepped behind her, wrapping his arms around her and pressing her chilly back up against him to warm her. “What shall we do?” he asked. “Look at this. It's forever. Look at it and tell me honestly what we should do.”

“I think we should get married,” said Harriet soberly. “Even though it frightens me to think of it. We can't go on like this, can we, and I can't do without you, and so I think I should marry you. What do you think?”

He turned her around and kissed her.

The rabbit stopped nibbling and looked narrowly in their direction. Another passing car slowed; its occupants lowered their windows and cheered. The rabbit hopped slowly away, intent on its own concerns.

I would like to thank Layne Vickers Torkelson, Carolyn Kacena, and all the rest of the generous people from New Mexico who cheerfully and patiently answered my many questions, especially on things meteorological. Oddities and errors spring from the author's wild imaginings, as do all the evil characters and one large, interestingly shaped mountain. I would also like to thank Richard Owen, who chose the ideal light aircraft for a crew of villains to perpetrate their villainy in.

Medora Sale
is the author of the acclaimed John Sanders/Harriet Jeffries mystery series, set in contemporary Toronto, and under the name Caroline Roe, of
The Isaac Chronicles
, a series of historical mysteries. Born in Windsor, Ontario, Sale's interest in criminal justice was roused by her father, a lawyer and engineer involved in weaponry and criminal justice, who served as an official in the court system. Sale is a graduate of the Centre for Mediaeval Studies at the University of Toronto, is a past president of Sisters in Crime and Crime Writers of Canada, and won the Arthur Ellis Award for best first novel for
Murder on the Run
, the first title in the John Sanders/Harriet Jeffries mystery series.

Short Cut to Santa Fe
© 1994 Medora Sale

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EPub Edition March 2015 ISBN: 9781443443791

Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

Originally published by Macmillan Publishing Company in 1994. First published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd in this ePub edition in 2015.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are use fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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