Richmond, VA 1882

"Come on Rachel! Don't be such a slowpoke."

"Emma, wait up. You know I don't ride as fast as you." The two fourteen-year-old girls had been excited to have a day off school, and with the permission of their parents had decided to ride out to the meadow for a picnic. Both girls had grown up on horseback, but Emma seemed to have a natural connection with her horse. Sometimes Rachel could swear that she could talk to a horse, and it could talk back to her. She often scared Rachel to death because of all the daring things she tried. Their father usually scolded her when she came home covered in dirt or when he caught her trying new horse tricks. He swore she was going to break her neck one of these days, but their mother just laughed at him. She would remind him of what she was like before they were married.

Rachel and Emma loved to hear the story of how their parents met. Their mother, trying to get her younger brother and sister out of the orphanage they lived in, had cut off her hair and dressed like a boy to ride for the Pony Express. Their father had worked at the same station, and he was the first one to find out she was a girl. Of course, everyone else eventually found out too, but by then they were already in love. They got into lots of adventures and trouble, and she drove their father crazy. He would worry every time she rode out, but she always came back safe. They were married just before the war, and moved back to Virginia where their father was from. Their older brother James was born about a year after they were married, and the twins, Rachel and Emma, were born six years later. James was in college in Boston now, and Rachel missed him a lot. They were really close. He was supposed to come visit next week, and she couldn't wait to see him.

Rachel suddenly realized she had been daydreaming again. She looked around for Emma, but she was nowhere to be found. "Oh, great," she muttered. "Now she's going to be mad at me for not keeping up."

For being twins, the two girls were nothing alike. Emma was daring, adventurous. She was always doing something, and hated sitting still. she always got in trouble for fidgeting in school, while Rachel on the other hand loved school. She could usually be found reading or just sitting still to think. Emma got annoyed with her for daydreaming all the time. Both girls loved riding their horses, but for different reasons. Emma liked to go fast and do new, exciting tricks, while Rachel loved to use the time to think or just enjoy nature. But as different as they were, the two girls were best friends.

"Hey daydreamer. Come on. I found a great picnic spot!" Emma rode back to meet Rachel. "I'll race you there."

Rachel sighed. Emma would never leave her alone until she agreed to race with her. But she guessed it could be fun. "Okay, you're on!"

They took off, and Rachel was actually able to keep up with her sister. She was so excited that she didn't pay attention to where she was going. Her horse stepped in a hole and stumbled. The motion threw her off, and she felt herself falling. She hit the ground, and looked up to see her horse's hooves coming down on her.

"Rachel!" Emma yelled and ran to her. The girl wasn't moving. Emma shook her shoulder. "Rachel, wake up. Come on, please!" She was panicking now. "Rachel, you're gonna be okay. I'm going to get help. Don't worry, I'll be back as fast as I can."

She rode as fast as she dared toward Richmond. She desperately hoped she would find someone soon; home was about an hour away, and she didn't want to wait that long. Rachel needed help quickly. So she was relieved when, about ten minutes later, she say a young man riding toward her.

"Please, sir!" she cried. "Help me!"

The young man stopped and looked at her. He appeared to be about her brother's age, but he had a rugged look. He looked like one of those cowboys she had read about in her brother's adventure books.

"What's wrong?" he asked. His voice was low and deep, but gentle at the same time. She knew instantly that she could trust him.

"My sister is hurt. She was thrown from her horse and she's not moving. Please, come with me. She needs help."

"Can you take me to her? We'll get her some help, but I need you to stay calm and show me where she is, okay?"

Emma nodded and wiped away her tears. She turned her horse and led the man back to Rachel.





Louise Macloud wiped the hair from her face. It was incredibly hot in the kitchen this afternoon. But her family would be coming home soon, and they would be hungry for dinner. She had come a long way as a cook since her Pony Express days, but sometimes she still wished that she could hang up her apron and ride the trails again, especially on hot days like today. She sighed.

"Those girls should have been back by now. They promised they would come home in time to make a strawberry pie for dessert. It's Kid's favorite."

"You know them. Those girls probably just lost track of time. I'm sure they'll be home soon," Cassie said. Lou and Kid had been surprised years ago when they saw Cassie in Richmond. She had left Rock Creek shortly after Noah had almost died trying to protect her, and none of the riders had heard from her after that. After the war, she returned to the South to try to find her family. They had all been scattered when the Northern armies raided the land, and she ended up in Richmond with nowhere to go. Her brother had remained in the West, so she was alone in a city where she did not know anyone. When Lou and Kid found her, she was sick and almost starving. They took her in, and she had lived with the ever since. She was part of their family now, and Lou's best friend.

Louise walked to the parlor and looked out the window, searching for signs of her daughters. She gasped as she saw Emma coming up the walk beside a young man who was carrying Rachel. She ran out the front door to meet them.

"What happened?"

"She was thrown from her horse, Mama," Emma said.

"Bring her inside please," Louise led them to the girls' room, where the young man laid Rachel on the bed.

"I'll go get a doctor," he said, and walked out the door. Louise and Cassie removed Rachel's muddy clothes and dressed her in a nightgown. She still had not moved.

"Cassie," Louise said quietly. "Would you go find Emma please? Make sure she's okay. I'll sit with Rachel until the doctor comes."

Cassie found Emma sitting in the parlor looking out the window. She walked over to the girl and put her hand on her shoulder. Emma turned around to look at her.

"Oh, Cassie. It's all my fault!"

"Shhh, honey. Nobody is to blame."

"But I dared her to race. She didn't want to, but I dared her to!" The poor girl was obviously very upset. Cassie knew that there was nothing she could say that would comfort her right now, so she just held her tightly and let her cry.

The doctor arrived about thirty minutes later. In all the commotion with Cassie taking him to Rachel, and Emma trying to tell Kid, who had arrived home just after the doctor, what was happening, nobody noticed the young man slip out of the house.

The family waited impatiently for the doctor to come out. He had sent Louise out of the room and asked Cassie to help him. He told Louise that he would let them know as soon as he could tell anything. So she and Kid and Emma were sitting in the kitchen waiting. She dished up plates for them all, but nobody could eat much. Emma couldn't stop crying, thinking it was all her fault.

"Emmy, you have to stop blaming yourself. It's nobody's fault. Any kind of accident could have happened, and there would have been nothing you could have done to stop it." Louise looked to her husband, pleading with her eyes for him to say something to comfort their daughter.

"Your mother's right, Emma. Nobody is going to blame you, so you have to stop blaming yourself okay?" he gently pulled her into a hug. Emma nodded, trying to stop crying.

They all jumped up as the doctor came into the room. "She should be fine. She has a pretty bad bump on the head, and her ankle is broken, but if she doesn't develop a fever, she'll be good as ever soon. Keep her in bed for at least a week, and then depending on how her ankle is doing, we'll let her sit up. But she'll have to stay off her ankle for at least six weeks."

Louise nodded. Emma jumped up, "Can I see her, Mama? Please." Louise looked at the doctor.

"That should be fine honey," he said. "She should be waking up soon, so don't tire her out, but you can visit with her for a while."

Emma went upstairs, and Kid and Louise walked the doctor to the door.

"Thank you Doc," Kid said, shaking his hand.

"You should be thanking that young man that brought her back her," the doctor told him. "If it wasn't for him, this could have been a lot more serious. He got her back just in time." He left, promising to return the next day to check on the patient.

"What's he talking about?" Kid asked.

"Emma went to get help when Rachel fell. A young man brought them back here and then went for the doctor."

"Who was he?"

"You know, I was so busy taking care of Rachel, that I didn't even get his name."

On to Chapter One