There was a split second where I thought it was the men and they were back to take me with them, regardless of what my uncle said. Instead it was my uncle, looking worn out, his hair disheveled.

He stopped when he saw all of us in the room, now sitting like eager cats in our chairs, our eyes on him and prodding for information.

“What in the dickens is going on here?” he boomed, shutting the door behind him. “What happened?”

“Did you find Martha?” Avery asked. If I didn’t know he was such an honest man, I would have thought he was just asking to be polite.

He nodded, brows drawn together. “Yep. On our way back. She was up in a pine tree, too afraid to come down. She’s hungry and shook up, but she’ll be all right. Though Ned gave us permission to shoot that dang horse on sight if we ever come across it.” He glanced over the rest of us. “Now you can’t all be that interested in Mrs. Kincaid’s well-being. Come on. Spill it.”

We glanced at each other. Aunt June’s lips were tight and her focus was on Avery. He told my uncle to take a seat in the rocking chair and then explained everything from the beginning.

I don’t know what I was expecting. Maybe for my uncle to think it was a terrible idea. But that wasn’t the case at all, at least not when it came to me heading out there. Dollar signs floated above his head.

“But dear,” Aunt June said, wringing her hands together. “She’s family and we’re responsible for her! We can’t send her off with a bunch of strange men. It’s obscene!”

His shoulder ticked up in a shrug. “Eve can handle herself.”

“Well, I won’t allow it. I wouldn’t do this to Eve or to my own flesh and blood.”

“Then let’s ask Gail, shall we?” He smirked at his own joke about my mother. I started thinking maybe a mountain expedition would be more preferable than spending my days here.

“Patrick,” Aunt June said shrilly. “No. Not unless Avery and a female chaperone go with her. She’s just eighteen.”

He rolled his eyes. “The more people to join her, the less money she gets. And we got married at eighteen. What else is Eve going to do with herself?”

“I don’t care. I promised Gail I would take care of her and that is what I’m doing.”

I couldn’t help but smile at my Aunt. She almost never spoke her mind, let alone stood up for me. Unfortunately, I could tell from the look in his eyes that this only made him despise me more.

“Fine,” he grumbled. “I’ll arrange for a chaperone.” He wagged his finger at Avery. “But just so you know, I’m taking some of your pay as well. It’ll help me find a replacement for you while you’re gone. Lord knows I can’t handle this ranch on my own with the both of you out searching for a lost cause. I don’t know what these men are expecting to find out there, but so long as they’re paying us, I don’t really care either.”

And that was that. My fate was sealed without anyone even asking what I wanted. Oh, I suppose if I had started making a fuss right away things might have been different, but I doubted it. If I refused to go, Uncle Pat would make my life miserable here and I couldn’t leave for good without leaving my mother behind.

“The men said they’d be coming back soon,” June said. “They didn’t seem the sort to have their patience tried.”

Uncle Pat sighed at that and told June to get her shawl, that they were going down the road to the Young’s and enquiring if one of their elder daughters would be willing to come along for a quarter of the pay.

Once they left out into the early night, Avery, Rose, and I sat around the fire and waited again.

“Eve,” Avery said, leaning forward on his wool pants and clasping his slender hands together. “If you don’t want to do this, just tell me. You have barely said a word about the whole ordeal.”

“It’s not for lack of trying,” I said dryly. “If I had more time to think about this, maybe I’d know how I feel. Honestly, I feel nothing right now. I don’t fear for my life because you’ll be with me. At the same time, I don’t want you to go.”

He nodded slowly and looked to the flames. I was very aware of Rose sitting quietly in her seat, her dress bunched up around her, watching and listening. “See, the problem is I do want to go. But I don’t want you to. And it seems we’re a package deal.” I smiled at that. He glanced at Rose and my smile faded. “Rose, what do you think of all this?”

She beamed at him with her pretty smile and bounced excitedly in her chair, patiently waiting all this time to tell us what she thought. “I think it’s a wonderful idea, this whole thing. How heroic you’ll be, Avery, joining those wild men and rescuing the poor souls out there.”

He sat up straight, chest puffed out like a pompous goose. “You’re right about that. And when I get back, I’ll buy you anything you want.”

When Rose nearly shrieked—as if she wouldn’t get some of the money I earned—and started yammering about getting a fancy cage crinoline because her starched petticoats weren’t holding up, I excused myself and headed upstairs to talk to my mother. The fact that Avery said he’d buy her something and that she was mentioning her undergarments was rubbing me in all the wrong ways, and the fact that I was bothered by that when I had a dire situation on my hands didn’t help.

I paused outside my mother’s door and knocked lightly. I never wanted to barge in on her, and when sometimes she didn’t answer the door, I left her alone. This night, however, I hoped she’d get up and let me in. Though she wouldn’t say a word, she needed to hear from me what was going on and I needed someone to listen. My mother and I had never really been close, but I still knew I could tell her anything.

I waited with my breath in my throat before she finally opened the door. I heard her scuttling back to her chair as I stepped inside the room. It was cold and dark save for a single candle on the bedside table. Aside from the stack of books alongside it, the bed, the washbasin, and the chair she was sitting in, there wasn’t much to her room. It was like she’d never been able to call it home. I guess I wasn’t much different either.

I sat down on her bed, the springs creaking beneath my weight while she stared at the flame dancing above the candle. That was her thing—she never looked like she was even aware of you sometimes, as if her mind was somewhere else. It probably was half the time, yet I knew she was very aware of everything.

“Mother,” I said, my own eyes drawn to the flame as well. I paused, gathering my thoughts. Our shadows danced on the walls. “Mother, I know you saw those men today. Heard them. Maybe you heard more than that. But they’ve asked for me to accompany them into the mountains. Rumor has it I’m the best tracker in town…I guess people didn’t know who to recommend with Pa gone.” I saw her flinch slightly at his name, so I knew she was listening.

I went on. “I don’t want to leave you here, but I know your sister will take good care of you. She was really worried about me, believe it or not, and made Uncle Pat agree to an escort for me. Avery is going too, which is both good and bad. At least you know I’ll be safe.” She continued to watch the flame. “I’m not even sure I want to go, to be honest. I…I have a strange feeling about it. Them showing up. The disappearance of the Donners and their search party. A horse trying to kill us last night because he didn’t get enough oats.”

I was trying to joke about that last part, foolish pride or something, playing off the fear. But my mom looked straight at me like she’d just snapped out of a dream.

I cocked my head, eyeing her quizzically. “What is it?”

She opened her mouth, trying to say something, but nothing came out. This was quite new—usually my mother never even attempted to speak. I watched her closely as she made a motion for a pen. Before I could do anything, she got up, her shawl flapping around her, and pulled out the bedside table drawer. She took out a pen and paper, and for the first time in a long time, she began to communicate with me.