It was a strange sensation for Aiyana to be in a trapper's cabin alone as an Indian running from her past. From the loft on a feather bed, she looked through a window where stars shined like silver trinkets. Her sense of safety was furthered by a blanket of darkness in the cabin and Luke's dog Sugar, who slept with her in his bed. She'd also secured the loaded carbine beside her for good measure.

Thoughts of Blackfoot searching for Aiyana took over moments before she nodded toward sleep. She'd see images of them hiding by the trees with painted faces, circling the cabin. Then she turned her thoughts toward how the Great Spirit through his Son guided her to the cabin where Luke lived a solitary life. She breathed a soft sigh. Finally, she drifted off to sleep praying Luke would return safely from his trip.


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Luke found the trail over the rolling hills to Julesburg rutted and rough for his wagon. A summer drought had turned the trail into hard-packed layers. As he snapped the reins, he had his doubts he'd make it before dark closed in. The sunset splashed the mountains behind him with a purple haze.

Rather than take the risk of a broken wheel axle, he found a place beneath a mesquite tree where he tied down the wagon and grabbed a buffalo blanket. He pulled the saddle from his horse behind the wagon and shifted over where he built a small fire. The last thing he wanted was to have more time to think about his decision over an arranged marriage to a mail order bride from the east.

Darkness swallowed Luke whole, as he rested his head on the saddle and watched stars fill the sky. He wondered if Aiyana was okay and fretted over how Blackfoot might be on her trail. His mind spun on a reel with how he plucked her from the wilderness with all her scrapes and bruises. If something happened to her, he wouldn't forgive himself.

A small breeze fanned the flames and the cold prairie air knifed through his flesh and cut to the bone. His lower back ached from the twisted trail, as he fished for a soft place on the grass. Luke looked over at his horse. "I've got to fetch me a bride, Lucy. Wish you could talk and tell me if I'm making the right move."

His faithful mare shook her head and whinnied over his words.

Luke covered his eyes with his hat and listened to the night breeze until he succumbed to a restless sleep.

###

A sliver of light appeared over the horizon when Luke stumbled to his feet near where the fire turned to ashes. He needed to get to Julesburg before the train pulled into the station. Ruth Thompson would be depending on him to be there. She wouldn't know a soul. She'd have no one, and as far as he could tell from her letters, her former husband broke his neck in an accident. She was a twenty-two-year-old grieving widow with no one to care for her back east.

As he worked the wagon down the rutted trail to Julesburg, he wondered if his bride had told him everything about her past. Then again, he never bothered to tell her about all the hardships she might endure living in a trapper's cabin. Why paint a bleak picture?

By the time he made the outskirts of Julesburg he could smell the fire and rot. If there was a hell on earth, this place was it, he thought to himself. He hoped to grab Ruth Thompson from the train station as he pulled the wagon through town to the depot.

Julesburg was a junction of sorts with a mix of army, Indians, outlaws. It was a sore thumb in the foothills. By the time he got near the train station, steam could be seen wafting from the locomotive as it rolled down the naked tracks toward town. Crowds gathered on a platform to greet someone they loved. Luke wasn't sure about love, or even how he'd act when he laid his eyes on Ruth Thompson for the first time in person.

He hitched his wagon and strode over to the train platform where he parted through the crowd. It was then Luke forgot to hold up a sign stating who he was. Then she appeared like the picture he kept on his mantel, only this one was in living color. She noticed him staring at her.

Luke's mouth gaped open. She was prettier than the black and white picture. Her blonde straw hair glistened in the sun, and a breeze made her fine hair swirl beneath her feathered hat She wore a sky-blue dress with white lace that accented her bright brown eyes. She smiled a dumbstruck look stepping on to the platform. Luke paused and pawed on his beard. His nervous habit.

A baggage handler found her one suitcase. As Ruth turned, a little girl with brown braided hair about the age of five stepped out from the train car and hugged her. "Momma."

Ruth held the girl with a worried look toward Luke.

Luke's eyes widened. His face stiffened. It wasn't what he expected. After exchanging letters, she had made no mention of a child! Ruth Thompson claimed to be all alone in the world! Luke huffed. He did an about face. He marched down the steps and toward his wagon without a word.

"Mr. Cole!" He heard her calling his name in the bustling, soiled street. "Mr. Cole! I can explain."

As far as Luke was concerned anyone who lived a lie was no one he cared to associate with. By the time he got to his horse and wagon, he simmered down enough to turn and watch her close in with the little girl in tow while dragging one bulky suitcase.

Luke tried not to say something he'd regret. "You led me to believe you had no child." The moment Luke said it, he could see the rejection in the doe eyes of the girl who clung to her mother. "I don't get it. It looks like you're running from something back east."

With tears in her eyes and almost out of breath, she halted in front of him. "Mr. Cole, I was afraid..."

"What are you running from? No one comes this far with a daughter and one suitcase, if they aren't leaving something behind that's trying to catch up to them. I never bargained for a bride with unseen baggage."

"I know. I know," she said. "My husband did pass in an untimely accident."

"What kind: a fall, horse kick him, what?"

Ruth covered her daughters' ears. "He came home drunk, breathing threats, beating me until I was black and blue. Then he wanted to have his way with me, Mr. Cole. That's when I gave the heel of my foot and broke his neck. Even back east men treat women like their property. I couldn't have gotten a fair trial."

Luke stood speechless. His mind waged a war inside him.

"They will hang me, and then my daughter will be an orphan. Please. Please. I'm begging you, take me far from here. I don't want to lose my child."

For a solitary man, Luke's life was seriously getting gummed up with all kinds of female problems. All he wanted when he moved west was a simple life. Then he noted the little girl seemed almost deathly scared of him. Tears stung his eyes. He got down on one knee, took his finger and wiped a fat tear from the little girl's cheek. "What's your name sweetie?"

"Anna."

"And how old might you be?"

"Five."

Luke plucked her from the ground and into his arms and held her tight. "Let's get you two out of this town. I reckon there will be time enough to sort this out on the way back to Silver Creek."

As Luke placed Ruth's daughter into the wagon and then gave her mother help aboard, Anna blurted. "Are you my new father?"

Luke wasn't sure how to answer Anna. He gave slack to the reins, wondering if a wanted poster of Ruth had made it out this far west. He wasn't about to stick around and find out. He needed to get back into the open prairie air where he could ask, no argue with God over how his life could get so complicated for having a soft heart.