A Love So Bold
by Anon Allsop

The story continues - Hope you enjoy!

-Thirty-

For three straight weeks the wagon train pushed on, battling their way through the great Continental Divide, always heading toward the Willamette Valley. The terrain was very rocky, forcing them to set up block and tackle to haul the wagons over particularly steep inclines, and then down the deep ravines.

Often they would take their teams down separately and the men would work the ropes and slowly guide each of the wagons down alone. It was safer this way, but often mishaps could and did happen.

For much of this, Hannah and Cade were forced to walk. She had created a cloth papoose to carry Em in; this allowed her to keep her hands free to assist Cade and herself. At one particularly terrible spot, she watched Charles Bloom's wagon roll sideways and tumble down the hill, breaking the tongue right at the wagon’s box. His team was safe, but the wagon was completely destroyed in the process. He nearly didn’t jump free until at the last minute, and only received a few cuts and scrapes.

Thankfully, Arden and the children had been with Hannah, watching from the safety of distance. It forced them to finish the journey solely in Arden's wagon. Any wreckage from his wagon that was salvageable was gleaned and repacked in her wagon.

It was early July when they were crossing that rough terrain. Each day was warm and welcoming with sunshine, but at their elevation, the nights were cold and had the hint of a fall yet to come. Here in this most inhospitable land, the wind was strong and biting. The women and children were cold and miserable, yet the constant focus westward was enough to push them on.

Arden and Hannah were picking their way through rocks, and the children were close beside the pair, when suddenly a great wail rose among them. Commotion just two wagons ahead of them brought the entire train to a stop. Hannah and Arden hurried to the wagons; while behind them Cade sat with Katy and Emma on the rocks to rest.

Hannah was among the first to arrive at the wagon's side, there a young teen lay, his legs nearly crushed by one of the wheels. Gideon and another man used a spare wagon tongue to pry against a rock and raise the wagon enough to pull him free. The youth lay crying in agony.

"What happened?" Hannah asked as she stood beside Gideon, her heart going out to the young man's mother as he lay crippled and bleeding.

"I saw him walking next to the wagon, when he stepped down on a rock; it rolled and pitched his legs under the wheel." He shook his head sadly, "He's going to be crippled for the remainder of his life."

Hannah shot a quick glance at Gideon, "We have the..." she began.

He shook his head, "We can't chance it."

Hannah was beside herself with anger! How could he turn his back on this young man's future just to protect the amulet?! She frowned and again looked toward Gideon. ‘What exactly is he protecting?’ she wondered to herself.

She left the spot and returned to the children, for she no longer could stand hearing his pleas or crying. She gathered up Emma and moved Cade back so they wouldn't see the accident. Arden was more reluctant to move, but for the children in her care, she finally did.

After awhile, Gideon and Charles sought them out and stood with them, "They are probably going to have to amputate his legs," Gideon stated.

Hannah immediately grasped his wrist and dragged him to the side, "With that necklace, we can fix him!" Her eyes were tearful and pleading.

"We can't chance it, Hannah," he replied, knowing his response would further upset her.

"Gideon, if that was Cade underneath that wheel, you wouldn't think twice about using it." Tears were rolling down her cheeks, her voice was trembling.

He looked at the ground, the muscles in his jaw flexed. He was torn asunder, he wanted to keep peace between Hannah and himself, yet his desire to not interfere was making his decision nearly impossible. He glanced over at Hannah's teary eyes. Saying no to her, and then seeing her cry, was like taking a knife and stabbing him in his heart.

"We can do it, only if you can figure a way around him trying to walk too soon." He decided if he put it to her in that way, she would be less apt to do anything rash.

She thought for several minutes then looked at him, "Get the tin, and meet me near the boy."

He hesitated, yet nodded slowly, unsure of what was on her mind. Turning, he hurried to their wagon, Hannah on the other hand made a beeline to the lad.

They had him off to the side, and it was evident that his legs were badly broken. She pushed her way through the crowd that had gathered around him and knelt beside the boy's mother, who was crying. "You people need to back away and give the young man some room!" She spoke with confidence, and then indicated a gesture to the mother. "Someone please take her somewhere so she won't see what needs to be done!"

One of the women hesitated and then gently coaxed the mother up, "Do you know what you’re doing?" the woman asked.

"I know enough to save his life. Someone cut me two long poles and fetch a blanket!" Hannah demanded . Several men quickly took off toward a small stand of trees, and a woman raced toward her wagon. Gideon appeared out of nowhere; in his hand wrapped in a cloth was the amulet.

Under his breath he whispered to her as he knelt beside Hannah, "So, how are you planning on using this with all these folks around?"

“I’m not sure, but I’ll think of something!” she whispered, and then quickly wrapped a rope around his thighs and tied it off, then slowly inserted a stick into each and tightened them until the bleeding stopped. Gideon was quite impressed as he watched her, wondering where she had learned how to administer care in this manner.

As she was tying off the sticks to prevent them from moving a woman approached quickly with the blanket. "Lay it out beside him." Hannah directed her, "No, not over him... beside the boy. Lay it flat on the ground."

She looked strangely at Hannah but said nothing, quietly working with another woman to lay it out flat. At that moment two men came up carrying two long poles, each about two inches in diameter.

She had them laid out about two feet apart, running parallel with each other. Then she carefully folded one edge of the blanket over and then the other over that so they were all piled on top of each other with the poles at the sides, folded within the cloth.

"Bring it over here!" she ordered, the men picked it up and placed it beside her as she directed, "Now whoever isn't squeamish, grab hold of the boy and we'll gently lift him and place him on the stretcher, everyone lift together on the count of three! Someone take hold of his legs and lift when I say so…Okay? One… two… three, lift!"

The young man cried out in agony as he was lifted, then collapsed as he passed out. "I need a wagon that has some room!" One man directed them to his wagon and the young man was carried there.

"Gideon, can you assist me?" She ushered the others from the wagon.

"Sure, Doc," he replied with a smile and climbed into the wagon. "Do you want the gate raised?" Hannah nodded.

The widow of the doctor came to the back of the wagon, "You going to try and save his legs?"

"I'm not going to try... I'll succeed!" Hannah replied as she hung an extra blanket over the opening of the canvas top covering the bows, in an attempt to keep out prying eyes.

She looked at Gideon, "We've got to straighten his legs, she whispered, when done we'll touch the amulet to him."

“How are you planning on straightening the bones? They are all busted to hell!” Gideon said under his breath.

“There’s a way we can use a rope to tighten against it that’ll pull the bones straight. I saw my father do it to a neighbor when I was a child.” She sighed as she began to fasten the rope as she had seen her father do. “But we need to find something to touch the amulet to.”

"We don't have anything that he's worn other than what he has on right now?" He whispered softly, "I don't think it'll work without something to initiate the transformation?"

She glanced up at him and whispered, "Then go and find something of his, a hat, a shirt… anything!"

Gideon quickly left; as he dropped to the ground, several outside were questioning the youth's status. Ignoring them, he sought out the young man's wagon, there he found his mother still distraught. As he was speaking to her, he unobtrusively gathered up his shirt without her seeing and quickly excused himself, and returned to the wagon.

Once inside he handed it to Hannah, "Here you go, make it quick!"

Hannah paused as she reached for it, “If we’re to make this work, I’m going to need some splints cut for his legs.”

Gideon nodded and turned back to the woods, and again several people were asking of the young man. Gideon only hesitated slightly, “He’s in good hands, Hannah’s pa was a country doctor and she was raised around that stuff all her life.” Without any additional information, he hurried toward a stand of trees and cut several short branches capable of using for splints.

Hannah was impatiently waiting for Gideon to return; she looked at his legs and winced at the damage the wagon had caused. Normally, his legs would have been amputated or he would have died from the loss of blood.

Outside she heard Gideon’s voice asking several of the men to keep everyone back so Hannah could perform what was needed for the youth. Looking up, she saw him push aside the curtain and climb in. “I figured four splints would be enough. Is that enough?”

“It’ll do.” She motioned for him to get on the other side of the young man, “We have to hurry, he’s beginning to wake up!” She spoke low so her voice wouldn’t carry out of the wagon.

“What do I do?” he asked, unsure of what her ruse would involve.

“Carefully pick up the broken leg and straighten it up to look more normal.” She winced as his leg moved in several different places, in ways that they were never meant to.

“My God, this is bad!” Gideon whispered his concern.

“Okay, now they are straighter, tighten the ropes to align it better. Good - now get the amulet and touch his shirt to it,” she whispered softly. “Be careful with that thing, remember what you told me.”

He nodded, and then gently trapped the youth’s shirt against his skin with it. After he quickly wrapped it once again in the cloth, Gideon and Hannah began to tie on the splints.

“It’s already working,” she pointed as the skin was repairing itself.

At that very moment, the youth began to stir. “Keep him still until we get the splints secure,” she whispered as she hurried to tie them. In only minutes, they had both legs bound so he would be unable to move them, let alone walk.

As they were tidying up, he opened his eyes and began to panic when he could no longer move his legs. Hannah lay across them to still him, “You have had a terrible accident. You will need to keep these splints on or you might never walk again!”

Gideon helped the boy raise his upper torso and supported his back with a bag of cloth that was inside the wagon, “Listen to her, boy… you mess up what we did here, and they may have to cut them off of you.” He saw the fear in the youth and added, trying to soften the blow. “It wouldn’t do very well to dance with your best gal without your legs.”

Hannah waited for Gideon to exit first so he could assist her with climbing down. She commented as she was leaving, “I’d rather have died than to look the other way and leave that poor boy hurt so badly.”

That evening as they lay naked and entwined in each other's arms, Hannah asked, "Do you think that anyone will figure out what we had done?"

"I sure hope not,” he sighed, knowing how Hannah was with matters such as this, "You are going to have to keep after that boy, and let no one else remove the bandages until you think he’s ready.”

She smiled and knew what he was driving at, "Well, with your help we’ll be alright. Perhaps we could move him into our wagon?”

"Leave him be, Hannah." He sighed, "Let's not become involved."

She rolled over, folding her slender arms upon his chest, and rested her chin on the back of her hands. "So what do you think of your doctor…”

"So now you're a doctor?" He chuckled, “Maybe you could check and see if I’m healthy.”

"You’re making fun of me... But I honestly think I could be one."

"Maybe with access to the amulet…" he laughed.

Gideon shook his head and touched her nose with his finger, "I think you have entirely too much time on your hands…learning to be a doctor takes years of study. While I don’t want to crush your dreams, you really need to just focus on what’s in front of you right now."

“You?” She smiled coyly, and then replied, "I could learn how in my spare time."

"I need to do something about occupying all of your time." He grinned.

"And how do you suppose you're going to do that?" she laughed as she replied.

"We could work on making you pregnant - that should keep you busy." He leaned toward her and caused her to roll onto her back. There he lifted himself up and began to caress her uncovered body.

She giggled at what he was doing to her, and then held her finger up to his face, "Hold it a minute, buster, that would be extremely unfair to me! I'm so close to finally weaning Em!"

"Where is your sense of adventure?" he laughed as he kissed her cheek and neck, trying to 'put her in the mood'.

She squirmed beneath him in a fit of soft giggles, attempting to keep their play subdued. "I still haven't had my feminine cycle yet. I'm pretty sure a girl needs one to even remotely become pregnant. You can blame our young daughter for that issue."

He laughed, "Well that is all the better for me then."

"How so?" she asked giggling; he was holding onto her wrists and tonguing her breasts.

"With lots and lots of practice, I can take you as far as I want... all the way, or just enough." He said laughing, and then began to rake his teeth lightly over her nipple; it was causing her to squirm even more.

"Just enough?" she was panting from her exertion under his attention.

"Sure, Hannah, I can just make sure I take care of my own business," he replied with a laugh.

"If you plan on including me, you had better take ME all the way! Halfway just won't do."

"Your wish is my command," he said, lowering his head down toward her navel.

-Thirty One-

Hannah rode in the seat alongside Gideon; it had been nearly two weeks since the accident. She was reading; Cade and Em were inside the wagon resting. All of them were growing tired of the constant downward lurching of the wagon as they descended down the western edge of South Pass.

Gideon spoke without looking, “Did you check on the boy?”

“Gabe? Yes I saw him this morning.” She glanced quickly at him, and then returned to her reading.

“How is he doing?” He again spoke, his hands continuing to hold the reins and guiding their wagon.

“He’s fine - the amulet worked like a charm. Of course, we both knew it would.” She slowly looked back to her book, and then added with a laugh, “He’s fit to be tied though!”

Gideon smiled, “Wouldn’t you be, if nothing was physically wrong with you?”

“Probably, I told him that he must have been in a hole and that is what most likely saved his legs.” She put her finger in the binding and laughed, “I had to tell him that he needed to lie still for awhile longer, or risk having infection set in or the bone wouldn’t heal correctly.”

“What are you reading?” he asked, looking down at the brown leather binding on the book in her hand.

“Apparently, you weren’t lying when you said my father was a doctor.” She held it up, “I found one of his books.”

“I had no reason to lie. Your father wanted you to study nursing but you didn’t want to.”

Hannah sadly shook her head, “And I left that affluent life to head west?”

He laughed, “No, you didn’t want to leave the affluent life at all. You just didn’t want to work.” He glanced toward her to judge whether or not she seemed puzzled, “In fact, you were downright adamant about not coming west with me… almost to the point of divorce.”

Hannah sighed, “I’ve come to realize I really don’t know much about her… or you for that matter.”

“What is there to know?” he softly replied, “We were married and deeply in love until the children came.” He leaned forward, and used his wrist to push his hat up, not wanting to let go of the reins. “You loathed having to care for the children.”

“That’s so sad,” Hannah whispered in pity. “I imagine it is why she said that she ruined everything.”

“Obviously, you…Hannah never realized what she had, until it was too late.” He sighed.

“She never knew what had happened between us, I mean with my transformation…but I feel that if she did, she would have accepted it, given that the outcome would have been the same.” Hannah whispered softly.

Gideon looked off into the distance; Hannah could see that a tear was clinging to the corner of his eye, “She would have been 22 this coming Monday.” He sighed again.

“July 16th?” Hannah asked, to which Gideon only nodded.

“This may sound strange, but it is nice to know I have a birthday.”

“You had a birthday as Ezrah,” he said laughing.

“True, but that was his birthday. Now that I’m Hannah, I have my own.” She smiled and held her face to the sun, closing her eyes and relishing in the warmth it offered. She then pushed her bonnet to hang from her back, releasing the flowing red tendrils down.

“When is your birthday?” she asked.

“December 20.” He glanced at her with a smile on his face, “You going to have a special something planned for me?”

“Maybe I should plan something extra special?” She frowned, “You poor dear, born on one of the coldest days of winter.”

“I’d like some of what I had experienced back at the little lake…only without the cholera.” He said laughing. Then he responded to her earlier comment regarding it being a cold time of winter, “Aw, it wasn’t so bad…I would get two presents that week.”

She giggled, leaning into his shoulder, “Perhaps I could do a special favor for you like that, and yes - without the cholera of course.”

“It’d be even nicer if you didn’t wait for my birthday though.” He laughed, “December 20 seems a long way off.”

She looked up at him with her beautiful green eyes sparkling, “I might to be able and work out something for you.”

He grinned broadly, “That, my dear, sounds like a date.”

She laughed, then stared at him playfully, “So, how old are you? How did we meet?”

“You’re full of questions, aren’t you?” He chuckled, turning back toward the mules, “I’ll be 29 on my birthday.”

She whistled and then laughed, “You’re getting up there, aren’t you?” He shrugged, and quickly looked toward her smiling at her insult of him.

“With age comes experience. You didn’t seem to mind it much our last time.”

She smiled, but ignored commenting, “So how did you and Hannah meet?”

He grew quiet, and a sincere smile crossed his lips. “She was still in school, and I would watch her from the window where I worked when she walked past. God, you were so adorable. I couldn’t sleep at night without replaying the moment I would see you pass.”

“You mean, Hannah,” she reminded.

He nodded, “That’s right; It took me almost three weeks to finally work up the courage to talk to you…her.”

“I find it hard to believe she really didn’t care for the children. I mean, they’re beautiful!”

“She wasn’t you,” he stated the obvious. “You have a knack with them that only a mother would have. You have taken to them as if you WERE their real mother.”

Her face reddened at his kind comment, and he continued, “I’ve told you before…Hannah was a beautiful woman. I loved her dearly.” He kept his face turned toward hers, captivated by her long red hair and beautiful green eyes. “You though, are both beautiful on the inside, as you are beautiful on the outside. I thank God every day that he placed you in my life.”

Hannah only smiled, thoroughly enjoying his company. Their friendly banter drew her closer than with anyone else before.

She glanced at his rugged good looks; his angular jaw was covered with a dusting of stubble. He felt her watching and quickly glanced at her, she smiled and he returned it. He too was relishing in her company - this Hannah was so different from the woman he married. He could honestly see them settling down in a lifetime together.

-Thirty Two-

The following evening they made camp on the ground near South Pass. The dust seemed to be everywhere. Hannah had just returned from ‘checking’ on the injured youth. Gideon noticed as he was seeing to the livestock and slowly made his way toward her.

Hannah was doing just about everything she could to keep it from getting inside the wagon or within the children's clothing. Gideon walked near the fire and slapped his hat against his leg, sending a miniature cloud of dust scurrying across the open ground.

"Have you ever seen so much dust?" he asked wiping his neck with his kerchief.

Hannah stood, her once pretty blue dress appeared to be gray, and the entire bottom ruffle was the same color as the earth. She tried to brush it but the effort was deemed hopeless by her. "Please tell me that we'll be out of this area soon!"

Gideon sighed, “We’ve got about three or four months to go.” He shrugged, “No one said that coming west would be all that easy.”

She sat down on the wagon’s tongue, and then ran her small hands through her fiery hair. “It just seems to last forever.” She looked up at Gideon, her hand dangling off her knee unladylike. “I mean, I just want to sit idly by and do nothing for a long while.”

Gideon sat beside her and hugged her lovingly, “We’ll have that idle time… of course, we have to build us a house and make it into a home.”

She smiled, and then looked at him with an eyebrow raised, “Sounds like more work to me. What exactly do you call this ‘idle time’ so I know when we’re actually in it?”

He smiled broadly, “Around these parts, they have a good name for it, and it’s a name that is aptly deserved.”

“And that is?” She hung her head and looked toward him.

“We call it winter,” he said without cracking a smile.

She laughed, shaking her head, sending her long red tresses to gently brush against her shoulder. “You are impossible!”

He smiled, “Do you know what it is that I adore about you?”

“Would it be that I’m an exact copy of your deceased wife?” she rolled her hand over and gestured.

“Long ago, I would have said that it was...” He slipped his hand around her slender waist, hugging her to him. “It is the way we talk; in sort of a teasing and loving way.”

She laughed, he continued, “Hannah had always been cold and aloof to me over the last two or three years. We were married, but we never really talked.”

“I find that hard to believe,” she replied flatly.

“Well, we did talk…but it was never a loving sort. It usually was stale and bitter, and only to comment or question what had been said.” He kissed her cheek; she turned toward him and allowed their lips to touch. “It’s just like that little kiss that you just returned, had I done that to Hannah, she would have turned her head away from me.”

The girl swept dust from her dress, right onto Gideon’s leg. It caused them both to laugh. Hannah looked at him and untied her bonnet, laying it beside her on the wagon’s tongue. “I’m not sure what to say about that. Perhaps it is the necklace or amulet to blame?”

“How so?” He tilted his head as he asked.

“Maybe it has a way of filtering out the impurities in the system of the transformed? I mean, if it made me an exact copy of her, why am I able to do things she can’t?” Hannah turned toward him, her knees almost touching his. “You said yourself that I have been a better mother than she was - perhaps that was the amulet’s doing?”

He stared at the ground, his chin resting in his hand as in deep thought, “I guess it’s possible - you can cook a hell of a lot better than she ever could!”

“And…well when we are intimate, why am I so…”

“Excited?” He finished with a smile.

“Okay then, excited.” She laughed and then continued, “How is it that I’m so relaxed around you?” She looked at him and forced a smile, for suddenly their conversation was becoming too intimate for her.

Gideon took his palm and placed it on top of hers, the size dwarfed her dainty hands. “Look, Hannah, it’s like I have told you several times…the Hannah you found was lovely, and when you transformed into her, you became just as lovely. The difference is, while you are indeed a beautiful woman… you have an inner beauty that she could never have hoped to attain, and that is what draws me to you like a moth to a flame!”

He looked down at her hand and closed his own around it, “You are the reason why I get excited to climb into bed. You are the reason I love waking up!” He smiled and lifted her hand to his lips, kissing it tenderly. “It is YOU, Hannah, who are my sun and moon. It is you who motivates me to go on.”

“Well…I…uhhhh, thank you,” she stammered.

He leaned into her and kissed her soft lips deeply, and then gently pushed a fiery lock of hair behind her shoulder. “Emma has been nursed?”

She nodded, “I put Cade to bed when you were picketing the mules and Blackie.”

Again he kissed her even more deeply, and the sensation she began to feel within her stomach and even lower was causing her to tremble. “How about we turn in to bed and continue our conversation there?” he whispered in her ear, the warmth of his breath creating a shiver to race down her spine.

She leaned into him as he continued to kiss her neck, moving the thick red tresses as he assailed her soft skin with countless kisses. “Do you think we should?” she finally whispered, her breath becoming labored.

“I only know that I want you…” He slowly stood, she saw that he was excited by the way he kept adjusting himself.

She smiled. “You may want to do something about that before you go too far,” she said, indicating his erection.

He leaned close to her ear whispering, “I plan on having you take care of it for me…now off to bed with you, so I can ravish you like a husband should!”

She stood and kissed him, and she whispered as her lips were near his ear, “I have been slowly weaning Emma of late, and while I haven’t had my season just yet; there is always that chance that I could become pregnant from our act.”

He smiled, “And I would cherish our child nearly as much as I do you.”

Hannah watched him lift the curtains from within, and then he began to fasten them to the side of their wagon. Hannah started to place their sleeping blanket below, a smile playing upon each of their faces.

-Thirty Three-

In three days time, the train approached the Big Sandy Creek. Gideon and Hannah sat in the wagon seat looking out at each wagon as they began to cross. Hannah was steadily growing more nervous as their turn came closer. Cade was seated between them, Emma having already been nursed, was asleep in her little wooden box.

“It looks deep. Is it deep?” she nervously asked.

Gideon stood up in the seat, removed his hat and began shielding his face with it. “Looks like it could be a foot deep, maybe more.” He sat back down and saw her concern, “Before we left home, I coated the bottom of the wagon with pitch so it would float for a short while. We’ll be fine.” He attempted to reassure her.

“What of Blackie?” she wondered, looking back at him through the wagon’s opening, “Will he be alright?”

“He’ll be fine.” He glanced toward him and then added, “One of us could ride him across if it’ll be any more comforting to you.”

Hannah nodded her agreement, “He’s my horse. I’ll ride him.”

“Can I ride with you, Momma?” Cade asked in his soft voice. “I promise I won’t be no trouble.”

“Do you think it’d be alright?” she asked, looking toward Gideon.

“I can’t see any harm in it; the river doesn’t seem to be very swift. I suppose it’ll be okay.”

Cade beamed as he looked up toward his parents.

One by one each wagon crossed the Big Sandy; at times some of the wagons would slightly lift up due to the water’s height, but always seemed to return to good footing once again. They watched as Arden and Charles’ wagon rolled slowly across, with the water only rising just above the axle.

Hannah and Cade climbed down from the wagon and walked to the back. Gideon picked up Blackie’s saddle and hung it on the gate, then hopped down to assist her in placing it on his back and cinching it.

Hannah sat Cade on the saddle, and then with Gideon’s help, mounted the tall horse. “Do be careful, we don’t know how he’s going to react crossing that water.”

She leaned over and kissed him, then nudged Blackie’s side to begin him across the water just ahead of Gideon and the wagon. Cade sat very still as they began to pick their way across slowly, but she had nothing to fear as Blackie seemed to relish not being behind the wagon any longer. The deeper the water became, the greater the hem of her dress grew wet. She reined him and stood alongside the path while she waited for Gideon to cross, her long skirt dripping and heavy from the trapped water it held.

“It was no problem at all,” she laughed as he reined the team beside her on the high ground.

“How was the boy?” Gideon asked as he pulled out of line and set the brake. “Did he behave himself alright?”

“He’s quite a horseman,” she replied as Blackie did a slow turn and faced the water.

“You want to hand him over and tie Blackie back up?” He held out his hand, readying himself for her to pass Cade to him.

She reached up and pushed her bonnet from her head, releasing the fiery locks to the gentle breeze that was blowing. “I think we’ll ride him for awhile, it’s been some time since he was walked last…I don’t want him turning green on us.”

“Suit yourself,” he replied smiling, and then he looked sternly at Cade, “Mind your ma, son. I don’t want any bad reports.” He removed his hat and wiped the inside with a kerchief, then placed it back on his head.

“We’ll be fine, Gideon.” She looked down at Cade, who was also wiping the inside of his hat with his kerchief, mimicking his father. “Like father, like son,” she mouthed to her husband, before tapping her heels and starting Blackie off slowly.

Blackie walked slowly along, Hannah allowing him to take his time while she talked to Cade. "So, what do you think of my daddy's horse?"

He looked up at her, "I didn't know Grandpa had any horses."

She smiled and slid his hat off, allowing it to catch on the string at his neck; Hannah wanted to see his deep brown eyes. "Sure, Grandpa had many horses, but this one was his favorite."

"When we went to say good-bye to Grandpa, I never saw Blackie." He replied in his childlike innocence.

She sat up straighter and it was at that moment that she realized that 'her' daddy and his Grandpa weren't the same person. Now she had to try and explain herself better. "Blackie was a very important horse; he kept him on another farm where he could run."

"Oh, can we make him run now?" Cade asked, and then began to kick his heels into the saddle as he had seen both his mother and father do.

"Oh, no, no, no." She quickly placed her hand upon his leg to stop him, "He needs a special place to run, he could be severely injured trying to run fast way out here."

She was thankful that instead of actually tapping the horse’s flank, he was striking both her leg and the saddle. Blackie never felt anything.

"So we just sit on him and ride?" he asked as they walked him around a bush.

"That's all we do," she replied, smiling. "He just needs to see things other than the back of Papa's wagon."

Hannah watched him as they rode; he was sitting up tall and straight in the saddle. He had the makings of a fine horseman, and she was just the person to teach him.

Later that evening, the family was sitting by the fire celebrating the wedding of Arden and Charles Bloom. It was a simple affair, but welcome from the constant drudgery of travel which they had all been experiencing.

As their gift to the newlyweds, Hannah and Gideon offered to have the Bloom children sleep in their wagon and allow the bride and groom a chance to be alone for a change, and become 'better acquainted'.

The older Bloom children were having a fun time playing with Cade, and their game of choice appeared to be tag. Hannah sat beside Gideon; he was gently bouncing Emma on his knee. "Charles was saying that we were supposed to be arriving at the Green River sometime tomorrow."

"That's true. From what the Wagon Master said, they've been getting quite a bit of rain and we've got one of two choices to be deciding." He blew into Emma's neck and made sounds that caused her to squirm and giggle.

He laughed, "She's quite a bit like her mother, letting something like a little blubbering kiss that would cause her to giggle so."

Hannah laughed, "Are you speaking of me?" She sat and giggled at her daughter’s antics caused by what her father was doing. "I doubt seriously if I would carry on like a child if you did that to me!"

"Maybe we should try it and see?" He leaned toward her, making a fish face and caused Hannah to quickly stand up and move away, her dress swinging as she stopped. Her laughter caused the children to stop their game and see what was so funny.

"What you playing, Momma?" Cade called out to her.

Hannah's face was beat red, Gideon broke out into a hearty laugh, and then he stood and handed Emma back to her mother. "Mommy just saw a spider, that's all." Then to her he said quietly, "Perhaps later then?" He walked through the cluster of children as he made his way to bed the mules and Blackie for the night.

"Come, children, it's getting late; you should probably be turning in soon, so we are sure to have an early start in the morning." She made a face at Gideon, who was watching, which caused him to laugh again.

Katy helped put them all into bed, then returned to watch Hannah ready little Em for night. Feeling uncomfortable being watched even if by a child, Hannah covered herself while nursing Em. Katy helped put away the items that the children had strewn across the campsite, and then finally returned to sit with Hannah.

"Your baby is cute," she offered as the two sat silently. "I like babies."

"Thank you, Katy." Hannah said with a smile, "You're a good helper, you know that?"

"My mommy always said I was," she softly replied as the evening grew heavy.

She grew quiet, playing with her fingers; Hannah smiled at her beautiful innocence. "Your daddy was married today." She tried to draw the youngster into a conversation.

"Yeah, I like Arden, she's nice." She looked up from her fingers and watched as Hannah switched Emma to the opposite side.

"Will I have a new sister or brother someday?" She glanced back at the ground, using a stick to draw a tiny face in the dirt.

"Perhaps, I guess you just never know." Hannah smiled, hoping her interference with the amulet would make a difference. "Would you like a brother or sister?"

"It makes me no never mind," she replied, "Boy or girl...I'll have to watch over them anyway."

"You don't want to watch your little brother or sister? You are so good at it." Hannah reached under the cloth and refastened her blouse, then began to burp Em. “It’s good practice for when you become a mommy someday.”

“I’m not sure I want to be a mommy.” The youngster shrugged her shoulders, "Did you want to be a mommy when you were my age?"

The question came at Hannah like a slap across her face; it was all she could do to keep from laughing. "Let’s just say that being a mommy was about the furthest thing from my mind when I was seven." Hannah couldn't hide her smile.

“But now you have two, Cade and Emma.”

“That’s true.” Hannah replied, “I guess when the time was right, I became a mommy.”

She sighed, “Well, I guess then…when the time is right, I’ll become a mommy too.”