Free A Shelter of Hope by Tracie Peterson

way might lead.
    She slowed the horse and gazed around her. The buildings were for the most part unpainted and well worn. The harsh weathering elements had taken their toll, but the buildings remained, nevertheless. Simone spotted the dry goods mercantile and decided this might be the best place to start. She dismounted, quickly glancing up and down the rutted road to see if anyone had stopped to pay her any mind. But no one seemed the least bit interested in her. Mainly because there was no one on the street to take an interest.
    Simone tied the horse to the hitching post and felt her knees start to buckle as she took a step. Her vision swam before her for a moment, and she knew if she didn’t get something to eat soon, she’d probably faint dead away. Pulling the leather pouch from her bedroll, Simone hoped the coins might be enough to purchase some form of nourishment. If not that, then she would try to sell the pelts and hope luck was with her in getting a decent trade.
    The bell on the front door jingled as Simone entered the tiny establishment. She gave the place a quick assessment. Bolts of cloth and sacks of seed and flour were propped against one wall. There were also bags of other provisions and tins of who-knew-what. Simone felt her stomach twist uncomfortably and pressed forward to the counter.
    “I thought I heard someone out here,” a man told her, emerging through a curtained doorway. “Well, you’re new to town, ain’t ya?” He looked Simone over as though trying to decide whether she merited his attention.
    “Yes,” she said softly. “I need to buy some food. Maybe crackers or jerky. Do you have jerky?”
    “Sure,” the man told her and pulled a jar up from behind the counter. He pulled out a large stick and put it on the counter. “Two cents.”
    Simone took out her coins and held them up. “Will these do?”
    He frowned at her ignorance and took hold of the coins. “They’ll do.”
    Simone sighed and grabbed the piece of meat and began to tear at it. Now was no time to worry about how this stranger perceived her.
    “Whereabout you from?” the clerk asked her.
    “Lived in the mountains,” Simone managed to say before swallowing.
    “You here by yourself?” The man craned his neck to look out through the store’s solitary front window.
    “Yes,” Simone responded cautiously. She forced herself to slow her rapid devouring of the jerky and turned to raise her question regarding the pelts. “I have two pelts with me, and I wondered if you or someone else in this town might be interested in buying them.”
    She put the jerky in her pocket and unbuttoned her coat. She worked to dislodge the pelts as the bell on the door jingled once again.
    “Ah, Reverend,” the storekeeper called out. “Good to see you. What can I do for you today?”
    Simone managed a quick glance at the older man. He appeared to be in his sixties, with gray hair and bushy eyebrows. He stood short and round, and from the looks of the smile on his face, he appeared to be very happy. “Mornin’, Tom. Gladdy sent me to pick up a few things. She’s putting lunch together just now and ran out of salt.”
    “No problem,” the clerk replied and reached once again behind his counter. He produced a five-pound bag of salt and waited to see what else the reverend would need.
    Just then Simone finally managed to free the fox pelt. “I have this one, as well as a fine wolf pelt,” she told the man, placing the fur on the counter.
    “Don’t rightly have any reason to buy either one,” the man told her. He ran his hand over the fur and smiled. “It is a nice piece. Guess I could give you somethin’.”
    The silvery wolf pelt soon joined the fox piece. “Ah, now, that is a beaut,” the man said, eagerly studying the fur.
    “I need money enough to buy some supplies. And I need some directions. I’m not sure where I am,” Simone replied.
    “Why, child, are you lost?” the reverend asked.
    Simone nodded. “I suppose