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trunks and boxes and change into something else.
    Annika pinned on her hat and stood up so that she could draw her cloak over her shoulders. The black satin merveilleux cape enveloped her clothing. She’d brought it along, not only for added warmth, but to repel dust and soot, unwanted additions to any train ride. She fluffed the wide ruffle that covered the shoulders of the cape and tied the ribbons that held it closed beneath her chin. She was especially fond of the scrolled initials, AS, worked in heavy gold thread on the edge of the collar above her right breast.
    A few moments later, the harried conductor, portly and balding beneath a stiff black cap, entered the Pullman and hurried down the aisle. He paused when Annika glanced worriedly up at him. He leaned toward her. In a voice loud enough to carry to the other curious travelers who had paid dearly to ride in the well-appointed sleeper where the seats were converted into upper and lower berths at night, he explained their sudden stop in the middle of nowhere.
    “We dropped a crown sheet,” he said matter-of-factly.
    “A what?” she asked.
    “Crown sheet. Dropped down on the hot coals of the engine and the thing exploded. Blew the windows right out of the cab when the firebox door flew open.”
    “Was anyone injured?”
    “All three men in the cab were scalded. Brakeman’s the worst of the lot. Things would have been worse if they hadn’t had on so many heavy clothes. We’ll have to send someone down the line to wire Cheyenne for a new crew. If we’re lucky, we’ll be on the way within a few hours.” He pushed his cap onto the back of his head with his thumb. “Never forget the story of the train that stalled in ‘seventy-five. Bound for Denver out of Kansas, trapped by a storm for eleven days. I heard the passengers ended up eating oysters that were part of a shipment to California.” He straightened, faced the rear of the car, and announced, “You may as well get out and stretch your legs for a while, but don’t wander too far away. Hopefully we’ll be leaving before too long.”
    He hurried on to spread word of the accident through the rest of the passenger cars. The ladies and gentlemen aboard began to stretch and talk among themselves. Annika joined the more adventuresome travelers who began to leave the car.
    It was not until she reached the metal stairs and grabbed the freezing handrails on either side that she realized she had left her gloves in her valise. Anxious to feel more of the clear, crisp air on her face she decided not to go after them, but to continue on and return to the car if her hands became too cold. She stepped out of the train carefully and then, when she was standing on the uneven ground near the tracks, paused to look around.
    The land was as wide and endlessly barren as it had appeared from the window of the train. Here and there patches of snow had melted, giving the impression of open tears in the fabric of the landscape. The earth was mud brown against the snowy whiteness surrounding it. Tufts of thick, winter-brown buffalo grass and scattered stones added texture to the ground. The air was cold, the wind sharp and stinging, but she found it a relief from the dry, close heat generated by the stove inside the train.
    As she began to walk away from the small crowd milling alongside the train, Annika looked toward the west and noticed the gradual, almost imperceptible slope of the land. She realized that since they were still east of Cheyenne the train must be stalled somewhere near her brother’s ranch, which was located on land that backed up to the Laramie Range not far from the small town of Busted Heel, Wyoming. She thought it ironic that Kase had arranged to meet her, not in Busted Heel, but in Cheyenne. He had written that he wanted to combine meeting her at the station with a trip into town for supplies. Instead of being but a few miles away, he was waiting for her down the line.
    As she raised her face to the