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snippets of their ribald stories, a song on the harmonica, low laughter, and she was at peace. Under Anoli’s protection, none of them dared mess with her. She was safe from everything—except her memories.
    If the stars were bright enough, the music lively enough, and it’d been a good day, Anne could almost imagine that she’d come to buffalo hunting straight from her home in Ohio. Bull’s-Eye Annie leaving school to chase down the stampeding herds and clear the land for the settlers.
    But most days her few years of bondage as Jay Tillerton’s wife erased anything that came before and overshadowed everything that came afterwards. No relationship was untainted from her fear of once again falling under the influence of an evil man. No exchange escaped assessment.
    She’d do whatever was required to remain free, and her best defense involved her disappearance from society. The sooner she could get out of town and back to the isolated outpost, the better.
    Certain that Tessa wouldn’t have any plans to feed her, Anne walked into the saloon on the ground floor of Tessa’s apartment. The bartender stood behind a row of glasses, drying them one by one with a wadded cotton rag. Without looking up he asked, “What’ll it be?”
    “What grub do you have for supper?”
    His head popped up. “A woman in britches? That would make you Tessa’s friend. Well, you’re late and I don’t appreciate it.” He set the glass down with a thump before picking up the next. “It’s not my place to play nursemaid.”
    “Listen, mister. Tessa is not my problem and her son even less so. If she left him with you, I had nothing to do with it. I tried telling her she shouldn’t be leaving him at all.”
    “Well, that’s what she’s done. Her and that drifter Eddie Starkley have pulled up stakes and skipped town. If the stagecoach driver hadn’t come in to wet his whistle, I wouldn’t have got the room lease out of the two of them.”
    “Stagecoach?” Anne placed both hands flat against the bar and leaned forward. “You don’t mean—”
    “Gone. They hightailed it out and told me you were the child’s new ma. Poor kid never stood a chance with that flighty woman.” The bartender paused to scrutinize her thoroughly. “Can’t say you’ll do any better.”
    Anne sputtered. “She left without the kid? She can’t do that. I’ve got to go back to Pushmataha tomorrow.” Her eyes went so dry she couldn’t blink. Her fingernails dug into the bar. “Where is he?”
    The man turned the glass around the rag until it squeaked. “Maude is upstairs with him. Cute little pup. Congratulations.”
    Anne couldn’t respond. Who gets congratulated for a disaster? These people didn’t think she wanted him, did they?She ran up the steps, swung around the finial, raced down the hall, and burst into Tessa’s room. The sleeping baby jolted awake and sat upright. His face screwed into a wrinkled mess and opened to emit a monstrous howl.
    “ Shh . . .” The woman glared at her. “I just got him down.” Sighing, she gathered her knitting. “He’s your problem now.”
    “Wait! I don’t know—”
    But the woman didn’t give her a chance to continue. Anne stood in the doorway, watched the tears pool in the boy’s eyes, and almost shed a few of her own. She spun around the room, taking in the empty wardrobe, the bare vanity; even the pillowcase had been removed. All she could do was sit and watch him howl.
    “Go on and cry. Your momma left you. You have every right.” Should she track down Tessa? It wouldn’t be difficult. Even once they left civilization, Anne could strap the cub on her back like a papoose and follow Tessa anywhere.
    But then what would his prospects be?
    His round little face grew redder as he worked himself into a fit. Tessa didn’t want him. Her new beau resented him. What would happen to Sammy out on the frontier with no one watching? What had Anne suffered as an adult when people should have noticed? At