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strong and sassy, would likely be fine anywhere. He just hoped she hadn’t decided to slip away in his absence, back into the woods or onto the trail of the person she’d mentioned. He’d ridden off quickly, with barely a goodbye. The woman was a stranger, and willful and grumpy. He couldn’t fathom why he wanted to ride back to camp and see her again so bad. Had she gotten under his skin in just one day?
    “You’re thinking hard,” Andrew noted. “Don’t you know that’s bad for you?”
    “There’s a woman at camp,” Bill blurted.
    “Pardon me?”
    “I found her. She was hurt.”
    “And she’s at our camp right now?”
    “Yep.”
    “She pretty?”
    “Very.”
    Andrew nodded appreciatively. “Maybe going back to work won’t be so terrible after all.”
    Bill threw his brother a murderous look, but Andrew had already slipped his hat over his face to try and sleep.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
     
     
    Emma
     
    Bill riding away from camp made Emma consider running off too, except there was work to be done. As long as she was traveling with the drive, she aimed to do whatever she could to prove she wasn’t taking advantage of the kindness of the men who’d allowed her to come along. She buried herself in chores all that day long—cooking, washing pots, and mending clothing. After she’d helped Appie load the wagon as best she could, she got into the seat next to him and rode along the cattle trail, mending holes in jackets and shirts and pants all along the bumpy way. Appie talked about the countryside, the ranch, the way of cattle drives, and Emma listened to everything.
    She worried constantly about Bill, and her worry surprised her. He wasn’t anyone to her, and though he’d saved her life, he didn’t owe her anything. If he rode off and never returned, it would make no difference. Yet she still kept finding herself looking over the horizon, in the hopes of seeing the handsome cowboy coming back toward them. Simply, she felt safer when he was around.
    When the drive stopped for a midday break, she began to hobble around again. The ground was softer in the slight valley where they stopped. She nearly lost her footing a few times as the broom she was using for a crutch slipped into the ground. She did all her work nonetheless.
    They drove on.
    The sun was coming down in the sky when Jess came back to them from the front of the herd, announcing they’d stop for the day and make camp. Emma had been surprised to find out just how fragile the large cows were, and how frequently they needed breaks. She and Appie cooked dinner, which the boys devoured.
    During dinner, she again heard the mournful harmonica music. Saul stood off just a little, watching the herd and playing a song Emma knew. “Lorena.” She’d performed it for audiences before. Without thinking, she started to sing along with Saul’s playing.
     
    “Oh, the years creep slowly by, Lorena,
    The snow is on the ground again.
    The sun's low down the sky, Lorena,
    The frost gleams where the flowers have been.
    But the heart beats on as warmly now,
    As when the summer days were nigh.
    Oh, the sun can never dip so low
    A-Down affection’s cloudless sky.
    A hundred months have passed, Lorena,
    Since last I held that hand in mine,
    And felt the pulse beat fast, Lorena,
    Though mine beat faster far than thine.
    A hundred months, ’twas flowery May,
    When up the hilly slope we climbed,
    To watch the dying of the day,
    And hear the distant church bells chime…”
     
    The song went on, an ode to timeless love. Soldiers during Mr. Lincoln’s war had grown fond of the song and made it popular. Emma had been surprised the first time someone had asked her to sing it, but she’d been regretfully unable to fulfill the request of the scarred soldier. But she’d learned it, and taken to singing it frequently. The older men who’d bought tickets to hear her always got a little wistful when they listened. Twenty years on, and the war