Read Online Mona Hodgson - [Hearts Seeking Home 01] by Prairie Song - Free Book Online Page A

each of the drooping children. “When we get to the right place, we’ll spread out a quilt and rest our toes and our legs, and fill our empty bellies. I’m sure the captain is just up ahead, waiting for us.”
    “Pssst. Miss Caroline.” The children’s grandmother waved her over to the wagon, where she sat perched on the seat like a peacock. Davonna Kamden adjusted her feathered bonnet, a hat better suited to Memphis than the prairie that lay a few weeks ahead of them. “I haven’t seen Mr. Cowlishaw all morning. Wherever did our captain gallop off to?”
    “Miss Hattie told me Mr. Cowlishaw rode ahead to scout our path.”
    “Oh no.” Mrs. Kamden’s gaze darted to the left, then to the right. “Back in Saint Charles, I heard talk of them bushwhackers that raided farms and ranches. Is there going to be trouble?”
    Maisie’s green eyes widened. “Are those bad men following us?”
    Caroline gave the elder woman a look she hoped would encourage keeping such concerns to herself then looked at the little girl. “Maisie, everything is fine. There are no bad men following us.” At least not directly.
    “Miss Caroline?” Lyall tugged her apron, his face pinched. “How do you know?”
    “Mr. Cowlishaw and his brave trail hands are seeing to our safety.” She may not approve of Garrett Cowlishaw’s Confederate affinities or of his use of the words
dithering wife
in reference to Anna Goben, but she had full confidence in his ability to lead them. “In the meantime, do you think it would be fun to play a game?”
    “Aye, let’s.” Duff pushed his canvas cap back on his head. “I like games.”
    “Good.” Now all she had to do was come up with one. For more than a year, she’d lived with two nieces and a nephew close in age to these three. What would Mary, Cora, and Gilbert enjoy doing to pass the time? “To play the game, we all need to be walking.”
    “My son gave me a job to do.” Mrs. Kamden raised the reins she held in her hand. “I’m not going to play your game.”
    Whatever the game proved to be, she’d intended it for the children, not fortheir gran. Something wasn’t quite right with Davonna Kamden, and because of it, she was proving to be much more of a challenge than any of the children. And a distraction.
    Caroline recalled Garrett Cowlishaw’s last attempt to discourage her from making the trip west.
    “It’s going to be a difficult journey… You’ll be traveling with a family you don’t really know… Carrying tremendous responsibilities.”
    The captain of the caravan didn’t think she could meet the responsibilities and complete the journey.
    Caroline sighed. Unfortunately, she was no longer sure she could prove the man wrong.

    Garrett sat on a tree stump, watching the first wagons pull into the clearing. Following Boney’s lead, the others formed a semicircle in front of the stand of oak.
    Even in a meadow teeming with wagons, animals, and people, Caroline Milburn managed to capture his attention. The young widow strolled playfully with the three youngest Kamden children in her charge. Caroline spun left and right with Maisie, Lyall, and Duff, her gingham skirts billowing with each spin.
    He looked away so as not to be accused of staring.
    “Captain!” Three-year-old Maisie darted toward him. “Captain!”
    Her brothers joined her. Six-year-old Duff tugged the kerchief knotted at his neck. “What do you see, Captain Cowlishaw?”
    Garrett looked at Caroline, who followed the children at a slower pace. “What do I see?”
    “Uh, yes. What do you see around you?” Caroline tipped her head up, raising the brim on her bonnet. Her eyes were as bright green as the new leaves on the trees.
    What did he see? A woman who was turning out to be very good with the children, strangers or not. A resourceful woman. A woman who made him wish he hadn’t gone to war, or at least hadn’t fought on the opposing side. Only their first day on the road and he was already doing a poor