No! She would not think about that. Felicity lifted her chin and straightened her shoulders and gingerly set the rifle back down again. There was no use wishing for things that could not be. And there was no use in working herself up for a case of the vapors either.

"'Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day…" she quoted doggedly. Quoting Scripture always used to calm her down. Until recently, that is. Since her father's death several weeks ago, she had quoted it almost constantly, but she was still afraid. Mortally afraid. And so lonely that sometimes she thought she might even die herself.

For just a moment this morning, she had been thrilled to see the cowboy riding toward her camp. He was the first person she had seen in such a very long time, and his presence proved that she must be getting close to civilization after all of her wanderings.

He had been nice, too, concerned about her being alone out in the middle of nowhere. She had known better than to confess to being alone, of course, but her lies about her father being out hunting hadn't fooled him.

"Look, miss," he had said, "it isn't safe for you to be out here all by yourself. The Rocking L Ranch is just over there a ways. Why don't you let me take you there? Mr. Logan-he's the boss-he'll see that you get to town or wherever you want to go."

Felicity had been tempted, very tempted. The chance to see other people, the chance to get to a town, was compelling, but she knew better than to go off with a stranger, especially a man. Her father had warned her about men. Even the ones who acted nice were only after one thing. She could not trust this boy, no matter how young and harmless-looking he was. "I'm not going anywhere with you. Now you go on and git. I've got a gun in the wagon and I know how to use it," she had lied.

He had argued with her, reminding her of the wolves and the other wild creatures that posed a threat to her safety-a threat of which she was only too aware already-but he had not been able to convince her. At last he had ridden away, promising to return with his Mr. Logan.