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Action Army, 1873 model. The Peacemaker.” He smiled. “This particular piece must be near to twenty years old.”
    â€œYou know your guns,” Einar conceded.
    â€œI know more than guns, Einar. And I know enough about them not to bring one into a place like this unless you mean to kill or be killed.”
    â€œSo, what would you have me do?” Einar said, anger stinging his voice.
    The man smiled.
    â€œHave a little faith,” he said.
    â€œSo my wife’s always telling me.”
    â€œThen she’s right.”
    â€œShe’s dying.”
    â€œI know. Maybe she’s dying, maybe she’s not, but either way, you got those two lovely kids.”

    Einar’s eyes darkened, but the man raised a palm.
    â€œEasy, Einar,” he said. “No one’s going to hurt your kids. And they’re not going to starve.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œBecause I’m going to give you a job.”

12
    Silence
    â€œI start in the spring,” Einar explained to Maria when he got back. “Mr. Salisbury works for the government. Governor Brady sent him in when they heard about the rush. You know that man who got knifed? I told you about it. He was going to be the Assay Clerk. Now they’ve got no one.”
    â€œWhat’s an Assay Clerk?” Anna asked.
    â€œHe’s a man who tests the gold. He sees how pure it is. The purer it is, the more it’s worth. Every town needs an Assay Office, and this place is going to have one. And I’m going to be the man who does the testing and the weighing and the paying.”
    Maria smiled.
    â€œBut how will that help us now?”
    â€œHe’s given me some money; they’re going to bring some food over later on. We’re going to be all right. We …”
    He stopped, catching himself. He looked down into
the dim eyes and gray face of his wife and didn’t know what to say.
    â€œThat’s all right,” she whispered. “That’s all right. It will be all right. You’ll see. Have faith in God.”
    Einar smiled. With great effort, Maria propped herself up.
    â€œBut why did he choose you?” she asked.
    â€œWell, that’s the thing. He said he chose me because he says the only man you can trust in a town like this is one who’s got too much to lose.”
    Maria looked blankly at him.
    â€œYou three,” Einar said, laughing. “You and the children. He said he could trust a family man. See? You two have been some use after all!”
    He pulled Anna toward him and gave her a hug. She felt the bristles of his beard against her cheek and giggled.
    â€œHere, son,” Einar said to little Sig. “Here’s a job for you. Take this and put it back in that box. Carefully. Understand?”
    He pulled the Colt from his waistband and handed it to Sig, who beamed at his father. An almost comical solemnity came into the little boy’s face, and he walked steadily off to do his job, holding the gun before him as if it were as fragile as a dream.
    â€œEinar!” Maria cried. “No! You mustn’t let him touch it. You mustn’t. Guns are evil. Evil, Einar.”
    Einar laughed.

    â€œThe boy must learn respect for it while he’s young.”
    â€œNo,” Maria said, her anger wearing her out so quickly. “No, he mustn’t … My children must not know evil things. They must learn to trust in the love and the care of God.”
    Sig ran back to Einar.
    â€œI did it!” he cried happily. “I did it.”
    â€œGood boy,” Einar said, ruffling Sig’s blond mop of hair.
    Silently, Maria turned her face to the wall.
    â€œGood boy,” Einar repeated.
    â€œPappa,” Sig said, a puzzled look on his face.
    â€œYes?”
    â€œThe thing in the box.”
    â€œYes?”
    â€œWhat is it?”

13
    The Call of the Wild
    â€œL ove,” Maria said to her children on the day she got out of bed for the first