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abruptly.
    “You’re leaving?” I asked in a stunned voice. “When?”
    “Tomorrow. We leave on the tide.”
    “Tomorrow,” I echoed dully. I remembered all his talk about wanting to go west, but still, how could he leave me?
    Papa looked equally surprised but quickly gathered his wits. “Congratulations. That’s a fine post. You’ll get plenty of experience.”
    “It’s a way to get west.” William shrugged. “I plan to head north and settle on Shoalwater Bay, in Oregon country. The government is offering land grants to settlers.”
    “There can’t be many pioneers out there,” Papa said curiously. “Who will you treat?”
    I could not believe that Papa was capable of asking such questions! Why didn’t he ask William to stay on? He needed William as much as I … didn’t he?
    William inclined his head. “I shall minister to whatever pioneers are there, but I am interested in the land. And the timber on it. It is my intention to make my fortune in timber.”
    Papa looked taken aback.
    “All that study to become a surgeon and you want to chop down trees?” Papa asked in a shocked voice.
    “There’s more money to be had in chopping down trees than chopping off limbs,” William replied coolly.
    Papa grunted. “You’ll have to move a few Indians to get to the land.”
    “The savages shall be obliged to move,” William said, completely unconcerned.
    “Hard way to make a fortune if you ask me,” Papa said. “Full of danger.”
    William pursed his lips. “I have nothing to lose.”
    “Except life and limb,” Papa said dryly.
    I coughed loudly, trying to get Papa’s attention.
    “You getting sick, Janey?” he asked.
    I stared at Papa mutinously. Why didn’t he say something to make William stay? Why was he letting him leave?
    Papa turned back to William, raising his glass in a toast.
    “Good luck to you, especially with the Indians,” Papa said. “I suspect that’ll be harder than the doctoring and timber.” He sounded amused.
    I put my glass to my lips but could not swallow. Nor could I eat another bite. All I could do was sit silently at my place and glare at Papa and William, furious at both heartless men. They were impossible. Could they not see I was dying inside?
    After supper I went to William’s room. He was packing his leather satchel. I stood watching in the doorway. His maps were already stowed away, as were the books that had littered his desk. There was not a single personal possession in sight. It was as if he had never even been here.
    “Must you go?” I whispered, reaching out to put a hand on his arm.
    He turned around, startled.
    “I’m afraid I must,” he said, regarding me with his gray eyes. When would I see those eyes again? Or those lovely eyelashes, for that matter?
    “But you can’t leave!” I said helplessly. “What will I do?”
    “If you write to me, it will be as if I am still here,” he said easily.
    No it won’t!
I wanted to shout. A letter would never listen to me or give me advice on Sally Biddle or bring me ribbons!
    “Will you promise to write me?” he asked.
    “I promise,” I said fervently.
    “You’re a good girl, Jane Peck,” he said, and kissed my hand lightly.
    He was gone the next morning.

CHAPTER THREE
or,
A Woman’s Peculiar Calling
    How I dreamed of William in the months that followed!
    His gray eyes and bright blond hair filled my thoughts. And, of course, his lovely teeth!
    “Girls,” Miss Hepplewhite declared. “Please open your books to Chapter Ten.”
    I looked out the window, daydreaming about William. The summer of 1851 had come and gone in its hot, hazy way, and the crisp scent of autumn was in the air. I was thirteen now, and the girl who had run around eating pies all day and playing with Jebediah Parker was a distant memory.
    “Who would like to read?”
    I raised my hand. Now that I was older, I sat in the middle of the room. I had made a few friends, but Sally Biddle was not one of them.
    “Go on, then, Miss