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split us up,” she demanded of her siblings. To her dismay, they all refused to meet her incredulous gaze. A deep and searing hurt made breathing difficult. “How can you break your promise to keep us together?” She turned away so they wouldn’t see how perilously near tears she was.
    How could they do this to her? How could they even think of leaving her behind? Didn’t family mean anything to them? If they separated, there was a good chance they’d never see each other again. What if something happened to them and she never found out? She’d heard stories of that happening. She blinked back her tears and didn’t see Jordan sneak into the house or James back away as he imparted the last of his news.
    “It won’t be for long, Jess. There are several other families who can’t go for the same reason. Able sent for his brother, who’s agreed to come and take the rest of the party west. It won’t be long before he arrives from St. Louis. You’re going to come out with another family. You might even catch up with us.”
    Jessie glanced over her shoulder at James and caught the look he and Jeremy exchanged. Her eyes narrowed. She had a bad feeling about this. “Who?” she asked, watching James twist his hat in his hands. He took two steps back.
    “I’ve, uh, made arrangements for you to join the Smiths.”
    “The Smiths?” she screeched, all hurt and fear of the future gone in a blinding flash of fury. “You can’t be serious, James. Not the Smiths, with that stuck-up Mary Jane or her disgusting brother Robbie?” Jeremy ducked into the house, leaving Jessie to stare at James, her face a mask of disbelief and horror.
    When he didn’t deny it, tears of betrayal slid down her cheeks. “You can’t do this to me,” she shouted, stomping her foot and throwing her arms out to her sides. “I won’t travel with them. Robbie is filthy and disgusting.” She closed her eyes and shuddered at the thought of enduring close quarters with the slovenly boy whose clumsy attempts at courtship were annoying at the least and ridiculous at best.
    When she opened her eyes, James was gone, leaving her alone with her rage. Jessie swore a blue streak, her emotions warring between anger, feelings of abandonment and the worst hurt she’d ever endured. Stunned, she leaned her elbows on the wooden rail and stared out into the heavy darkness. Her world had collapsed around her feet like a poorly constructed shanty.
    She wiped at the moisture running down her cheeks and narrowed her eyes. James might think the matter settled, but it was far from decided, she told herself, her mind racing. She’d always been able to change their minds. Why should this time be any different? One by one, she’d sway her brothers to her side and then, as a team, they’d convince James to wait.
    A soft whine followed by a wet nose nudging her hand interrupted her thoughts. Jessie looked down to see Sadie standing with her two front paws on the lower rail, her devoted gaze up on her mistress. Near her feet, Jessie noticed her misshapen hat. Sadie loved to fetch her hat whenever she tossed it aside. That small, normal gesture of love calmed her. She bent down tohug her beloved pet, then plopped her hat crookedly onto her head. Staring out into the darkness, Jessie let stubborn determination chase away her fear of the future. “Sadie, we’re going with them,” she vowed. “We’ll find a way.”

Chapter Three
    Sitting on the bank of the Missouri River the next afternoon, Jessie hunched her shoulders against the chilly breeze that swept through the trees. Above her, shiny green leaves rustled, and small greenish flowers drooping from catkins showered down upon her. She scooped a handful from the ground and threw them into the wind.
    “There’s got to be a way,” she repeated as she leaned against the dull gray bark of the tree. Her thoughts returned to the previous evening. No amount of coaxing or threatening, tears or outbursts of temper had