Chapter One

      Independence, Missouri

      Early May, 1845

      You’re supposed to be a man, so stop acting like a girl, Matilda Prescott silently warned herself.

      She couldn’t afford to be distracted by a handsome cowboy. But there was something vastly appealing about a man so different from the dandies she’d known back in Saint Louis. Her eyes tracked him as he sat straight and tall in the saddle, moving as one with his mount, the sun glinting off his red-gold hair.

      With no small effort, she dragged her gaze away from the rider. Hitching up her too-large pants, she concentrated on taking long, manly strides with no eyebrow-raising, feminine hip-swaying, as she headed toward the nearest covered wagon and the man loading provisions.

      “Do you know where I can find the wagon master?” she questioned, pitching her voice low and deep.

      The man scratched his whiskered jaw. “Miles Carpenter’s the gray-bearded gent in the red shirt over yonder.”

      “Thank you.” She touched her hat brim, then headed toward the older man.

      He was sitting on an overturned barrel, examining a broken leather harness.

      “Mr. Carpenter? I’m Matt Prescott.” She extended her hand. “My younger sister and I would like to join your wagon train.”

      He gave her an assessing look before setting his work aside and returning her handshake. “You’ll need a wagon and team and enough provisions to last through four or five months.”

      “We have all that, sir. Everything’s at the livery stable, ready to go.”

      “I heard a wagon had been left behind by the previous group. Was that you?”

      “Yes, sir.” She gulped nervously, fearing what else he might’ve heard. Was her plan about to unravel at the seams?

      “Why were you left behind?”

      The question eased her mind considerably, proving he didn’t know the full story of how another wagon master had refused to take along two unescorted females after their father’s death. She couldn’t let the same thing happen a second time. Which was why she wasn’t giving this man the chance to turn down Matilda Prescott.

      “Our father took ill after we reached Independence and when he wasn’t able to travel, the wagon train left without us.” She stayed as close to the truth as possible to minimize the possibility of tripping herself up later.

      And prayed God forgave her for this deception.

      “Where’s your pa now?” Mr. Carpenter asked.

      Mattie blinked several times, determined she wouldn’t allow any tears to fall. Her father’s recent passing was a raw, unhealed wound, but she couldn’t show any weaknesses. Men didn’t cry. She dug her nails into her palms and closed her eyes, focusing on the physical pain to keep her grounded in the present.

      When she had her emotions under control, she lifted her lashes and met the older man’s gaze. “Our heavenly Father called him home.”

      “I’m sorry to hear that, son.” He rested his hand on Mattie’s shoulder for a moment, giving it a comforting squeeze. But she knew better than to hope his sympathy would extend to accepting the Prescott siblings without question. “How old are you?”

      “Nineteen.”

      He eyed her askance. Should she have shaved a few years off her real age? She lacked the whiskers of a mature man, but the wagon master would surely deny her request if he thought her only a boy.

      She waited for his judgment and breathed a sigh of relief when he let the matter of her age drop.

      “It’s a long, difficult journey, and every family needs to pull their own weight. Can you handle the hardships we’ll encounter?”

      “Yes, sir. I can take care of my sister and myself.” She hoped.

      Please, Lord, help me keep Adela safe.

      The younger girl was the only family she had left on this side of the Missouri River. But an aunt and uncle waited for them in Oregon Country, if only Mattie and Adela could reach them.

      Several tense moments passed without a response from the wagon master, and Mattie’s heart pounded in her chest.

      Finally, he nodded. “We leave tomorrow.”

      “We’ll be ready.” She turned to hurry away before he changed his mind.

      She missed a step when her gaze landed on the handsome cowboy she’d spotted a short time ago.

      He was walking in her direction and offered her a cordial nod as he passed. “Howdy.”

      She returned the gesture, but not the greeting, his intense blue gaze rendering her mute. Her eyes followed him as he continued toward Miles Carpenter.

      Dressed in a blue chambray shirt, which contrasted with the red highlights in his hair, the younger man was a strapping figure next to the more portly frame of the wagon master. His angular jaw sported a dusting of cinnamon-colored bristles, and he was handsome enough to turn any woman’s head.

      Realizing she was staring at him like a brainless ninny, she shook herself out of her stupor, then quickly ducked her head and continued on her way. Before anyone took note of her—pretending to be a him—making eyes at the cowboy.

      “What can I do for you, Josiah?” she heard Miles Carpenter ask.

      She didn’t listen to the answer. Instead, she turned her thoughts to the numerous tasks awaiting completion before tomorrow.

      A sudden gust of wind caught the brim of her hat, sending it sailing across the ground. The current of air blew the hat into the legs of a horse, and the animal spooked, bucking and unseating its rider.

      Mattie rushed forward and snatched up the dangling reins to control the horse, keeping it from trampling the rider beneath its hooves. “Easy,” she soothed the frightened animal.

      Scrambling out of danger, the man climbed to his feet and yelled an obscenity at his mount. He drew back his arm to strike its hindquarters with a short leather crop. The horse’s eyes rolled and it danced to the side, a sure sign that the crop had been used on him before.

      “Stop!” She had no respect for anyone who would mistreat a defenseless animal. Inflicting pain on the horse was the mark of a weak man. In her outrage, she forgot to speak in a deep voice, and she hastily lowered her pitch. “It’s not the horse’s fault.” She stroked the animal’s velvet-soft nose to calm it.

      The man turned angry eyes toward her. “You are correct,” he bit out in a clear-cut British accent. “The fault lies with you.”

      She trembled inside, but stood her ground. He angled away from the horse, raising his crop toward her, instead.

      She had only a moment to regret her impulsive intervention. Ducking her head, she raised her arm in defense and waited for the blow to fall.

      * * *

      Josiah Dawson caught the crop in midair before it could make contact with the slight young man he’d seen talking to the wagon master a short time ago. The kid’s shaggy brown hair was cut in uneven hunks, and his baggy clothes appeared two sizes too big for his frame, as if he hadn’t quite grown into them, yet.

      Josiah could understand why Miles had expressed reservations about allowing this boy to join the group. Only a few minutes had passed since that conversation and already the kid was mired in a sticky situation, taking on a man almost twice his size.

      Josiah