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woman. “And the one passed out cold, is Apple.”
    Apple's eyes began to flutter as she regained consciousness. “Oh good,” said Lena. “I do believe she's coming around.”
    Sadie entered the parlor, a damp cloth in her hand. She placed it on Apple’s forehead as the girl opened her eyes. “Don't get up,” ordered Sadie. “Lie there for a time, you'll feel better if you do.”
    “ What happened?” asked Apple.
    “You f ainted dead away,” said Fina. “This kind gentleman carried you in here and set you down.
    “ He carried me?” she asked, her voice breathless.
    Le na closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “He carried you because you fainted, and you fainted because you heard that a man had been shot and killed.”
    Apple's expression quickly turned to horror. “Oh,” she said as her face paled. “Yes, I remember now.”
    “ I’d best be going now, ladies,” said Chase. Though he knew one of them was his bride-to-be, he had work to do. Unpleasant work at that. He turned to Sadie. “If none of you are needin’ Levi or me for anything else, then we’d better head back to town and make arrangements with Preacher Jo for a burial.”
    Sadie nodded solemnly. “Yes, I suppose that's best. I'm sorry you had to meet Harrison's cousins under such circumstances.”
    He looked at the three English women and nodded. “So am I, but I'm sure the next meeting will be on a much happier note.”
    Sadie closed her eyes. “Let us hope so.”
    With that , Chase left the room and went to join Levi.
     
    * * *
     
    “Our wives are in there,” said Chase as he descended the porch steps.
    Levi looked at him, stunned. “What?”
    “Yep. And they’re mighty pretty too. It's a darn shame they had to show up at the same time this happened.”
    Levi stared at the front door of the ranch house. “Well I’ll be, they’re really here.” He looked at Chase. “You're right, this is a bad time.”
    “ No sense worrying about it now. We'll give poor Jamison a decent burial, then we'll worry about courting our brides.”
    Levi mounted his horse. “All things considered, I feel guilty asking this, but did you happen to find out which one was mine?”
    “ Can't say that I did,” said Chase. “But I can tell you this, one's just as pretty as the next.”
    “ A pretty face is fine and dandy, but what's behind it? That's what I want to know.”
    “ Me too,” said Chase. “But now's not the time to ask.” They turned their horses and headed back to town. Once there, they found Preacher Jo and told him what had happened. Preacher Jo, in turn, asked if they wouldn’t mind helping him dig poor Sam's grave. He thought it best to hold the burial that afternoon. Chase and Levi agreed, and set to work.
    “Willie told me the Cookes have houseguests,” said Preacher Jo.
    Chase wiped his brow with a handkerchief. They’d been digging for close to an hour and were almost done. “They sure enough do,” he said.
    Preacher Jo studied them both. “They… wouldn't happen to be someone you were expecting, eh?”
    Chase and Levi smiled. “Yes,” said Chase. “They couldn’t have picked a worse time to show up, though.”
    “Sometimes bad things happen. We all know that,” said Preacher Jo. “ You two are going back out there, aren’t you?”
    “ We will if we have to,” answered Levi. “Depends on whether or not they need the help and someone comes back to fetch us.”
    Preacher Jo climbed out of the finished grave . He stood and leaned against his shovel as Chase and Levi followed. “Let's hope you don't have to,” he said. “After all this, the townspeople will need something to get their minds off of poor Sam. Getting to watch you two boys court your mail-order brides ought to do the trick.”
    “ Yeah, that's true,” agreed Chase. “Except that Sam was supposed to be marrying one of them.”
    “ What?!” said Preacher Jo. “You mean to tell me Sam put in an order for one of those women?”
    Chase and