Mia held on to Josiah, her arms wrapped around his neck and her fingers threaded through his silky long hair. She didn’t want to let him go. It was one thing for him to go off and gather horses or pick up cows but another altogether to ride all over the countryside with a posse chasing after a band of killers.

His arms holding her to him tightened. “You need to let go now, Mia. Where’s my feisty little rabbit?”

“She’s terrified you’re going to get yourself killed and leave me here alone to run a ranch by myself.” She bit back a sob, not liking the unfamiliar feeling of terror filling her up. She never panicked and had always reasoned her way through things but, for some reason, she couldn’t see past this. His leaving was devastating her.

He kissed the side of her head and pulled away. Holding her face between his hands, his dark eyes glistening in the early morning light. The sky behind him filled with a beautiful shade of orange and just above the horizon turned into a bright yellow as the sun began to appear. “The outlaws know their time is limited now that Bass is chasing them. I give the posse a day, maybe two before we catch up to them. You can handle things here for that short of a time. Elias and Billy are good with the horses and know what to do, and Summer has been a big help to you with the housework, hasn’t she?”

Mia nodded.

Josiah smiled and gave her a slow, lingering kiss, ignoring the rustle of horses behind them as the posse waited for him on the road. The pads of his thumbs were rough, but she didn’t mind. She liked the way it felt on the smooth skin of her cheeks.

She took a deep breath and tried to give him a return smile. “I’ll be fine and so will the children. Go. The men are getting restless. Just promise me you’ll come back to us in one piece—no bullet holes.”

“Time will fly by. You’ll see.” Josiah mounted his horse and followed Bass and the rest of the posse as they moved up the road.

Mia watched until they turned east, knowing they would bypass Eufaula and head to the last known place the outlaws had been seen. Whatever happened after that, she had no idea.

“He’s gone?”

Mia turned and found Summer standing behind her in her nightgown, her long brown braids hanging over her shoulders. Mia nodded but couldn’t give the girl the reassuring smile she wanted to. Instead, Summer surprised her by wrapping her arms around her and holding her close.

“Josiah is strong and smart. He’ll be just fine,” the younger girl whispered. “And from what Elias told us last night about Bass Reeves, I’m certain all the men will come home. He made the marshal out to be quite a hero.”

“He did?”

“Elias is quite taken with him. He told us he was going to grow up and be just like him.”

“It’s a lofty goal. As his teacher, I guess I can use that to get him to study.” She leaned back and met Summer’s gaze, and they both giggled. “How about we make a bunch of hotcakes before the boys wake up and have a little girl time?”

Summer gave her a shy smile. “I’d like that.”

“Me, too.”

The two worked together and in no time had a piping hot and delicious-smelling breakfast on the table. Mia turned to go upstairs, only to find the two bleary-eyed boys already standing at the bottom.

Billy rubbed his eyes with his fists, his black hair standing straight up. “It smells real good upstairs.”

“Smells even better down here,” Elias said and hurried to his chair.

They ate in silence, no one looking at the empty chair at the head of the table. Mia scooted her hotcake around in the syrup, her appetite dulled after she sat down and saw Josiah’s empty spot at the table.

“Mia, what are we going to do today?” Billy asked, stuffing the last bite of hotcake in his mouth. She smiled at the syrup he’d managed to smear over the lower half of his face.

“How about we do something a bit different?” She laid her fork on her plate and pushed it away, her hands dropping into her lap. “After you and Elias clean out the horses’ stalls, then feed and water them, I’d like to swap stories.”

The children frowned at each other, then at her. Summer, as the oldest, spoke up first. “We don’t understand. What kind of stories?”

“The stories you were told when you were little by your parents. The important histories about the Creeks or any other tribes they might have mentioned.” She met Elias’s green gaze. “Stories your mother may have told you about the negroes and the slaves back east. The important stories that tell who your people are. I want to learn about your cultures, and I can tell you a few tales about who the white people are and where they come from.”

Billy scowled at her. “Why would we want to know about them?”

Mia smiled at him. “When you first saw me, what was your first thought?” She glanced at Summer. “Or yours? You thought I was a mean white woman who wouldn’t want you around, didn’t you?”

The three children glanced at one another, then slowly nodded.

“You based that opinion on what you knew about a few white people, am I right?”

Again, they nodded.

Her smile widened. “Now, if you had known more white people before meeting me or learned their history, do you think your first impression of me might have been different? Would you have reacted differently?”

Summer shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“I think you would have. Knowledge opens up everything, who people are. If the white people back east understood the Indian cultures better, maybe they wouldn’t be as fearful."

“They do this to us because they’re afraid of us?” Billy asked, his face twisted in disbelief.

Mia nodded. “Yes. Fear can make people do terrible things. Things they normally wouldn’t do.” She stood and gathered up the plates. “Now, you boys hurry and get dressed, brush your hair and teeth, and then take care of the horses, while Summer and I clean up in here.”

As the children got themselves ready for the day and completed their chores, Mia put the kettle on for coffee, which she badly needed. Knowing the boys' daily ritual included asking for a snack halfway through the morning, she prepared a plate of cookies she'd baked the day before and set them on the counter, covering them with a red and white checkered cloth so they wouldn’t dry out.

She poured herself a cup of coffee, allowing for a bit of cream and sugar, and sat in the rocking chair Josiah made for her. Summer was the first to return and dropped onto the couch then the boys ran inside, laughing and trying to trip each other. Mia smiled and pointed to the two empty spots next to Summer.

“All right, who wants to tell their story first?”

Elias held up his thin arm. “I will, Miss Mia.” He took a deep breath and lowered his arm. “My ma used to tell me about a black woman who was born as a slave. Her family worked for mean people who would loan her out to other families. Worse families. One day, she got tired of being hit and decided to run away. She made her way north, moving from house to house, getting help from people who didn’t like slavery. Well, she made it to safety, but she wasn’t happy cuz her family wasn’t safe. So, she went back time and again, helping them all as well as others escape north.

“Ma said Harriet was a fine woman who called herself a conductor on the Underground Railroad for eight years. Said she used to joke that she could honestly say that she never ran her train off the track and never lost a passenger. She was my ma’s friend.”

Mia nodded. “I’ve heard of her, Elias. Her name is Harriet Tubman. She is an amazing woman, to have achieved those feats of bravery in this day and age. That is definitely a story worthy of sharing. Thank you.”

She glanced at Summer and then Billy. “Next?”

“I guess I’ll go next,” Billy said.

“You sound so excited.” Mia chuckled.

He rolled his eyes but smiled. “The only story I remember is about a rabbit and the wildcat. I don’t know who told it to me, though.”

“That’s all right,” Mia said. “Just tell the story.”

“Well, there was this Rabbit who was hopping down a trail. I can’t remember what time of day it was, but I don’t think it matters. Anyway, he stops cuz he sees a paw print in the sand. He sticks his own foot next to it and admires his claws. The print didn’t have any, which he thought was funny.

Well, he hops down the trail and comes upon a Wildcat just sitting there. He looks down and sees that the cat has no claws. He decides to tease him about it.

“Let’s play a game of scratch,” Rabbit says to the Wildcat.

Wildcat smiled. “Very well.”

“I will make the first scratch,” Rabbit insisted. With a wide flourish of his front leg, Wildcat bowed and held still.

Rabbit hopped close to Wildcat and scratched him as hard as he could then glanced down at his claws, expecting to see the cat’s hair, but there wasn’t any. His claws were clean.

Rabbit hopped back, sure the Wildcat couldn’t harm him because he had no claws. “Now, it’s your turn.”

The Wildcat reached out with his front foot and grabbed Rabbit’s back and jerked the skin right from his body.”

Mia sat back in her chair, one hand holding her stomach. “Well, that was unexpected. What do you think it means?”

Billy shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just a story.”

“Is it?” Mia asked, her gaze slowly moving from Billy to Elias then finally to Summer. “What do you think, Summer?”

The girl turned her gaze toward the window overlooking the trees out back as she thought. “I think it means people aren’t always the way they seem on the outside. That inside, they might be different.”

“That’s exactly what I think it means, too,” Mia agreed. “I do sort of feel sorry for the poor rabbit.”

Summer shook her head. “You shouldn’t. Misjudging someone can be deadly.” She slumped down a couple of inches into the cushions. “I suppose it’s my turn?”

Mia nodded.

“The only story I remember was one my father told me when I was really little. He used to pick me up and carry me on his shoulders and walk through the woods early in the morning. This was my favorite story—don’t really remember why though.” She cleared her throat. “The men married women outside of their clan. After the children were born, the mothers of these classless children were sad to see they weren’t accepted. For many days the women prayed to the Creator, who heard their prayers and saw the sincerity in their hearts.

“He told the women to go to the place of soft ground and black waters and search for a plant that would cry out to them from under the ground. The women were to do what the plant instructed and they would not only find a clan name for their children but also be able to feed their people forever. After many hardships and prayers, the women finally found the plant and it told them how to grow it, giving the clanless children the name of the White Potato Clan.”

The girl’s story was short, but it had the most meaning of all three stories. Mia’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Summer, that’s a beautiful tale and so fitting to your real life story.” She swiped the tears from her cheeks with the backs of her hands. “I want to go into town and fix something special for our dinner. Would you like that? Here’s my idea. We will each think of something from our childhood, and if we can’t think of something, then we can ask questions in town from some of the older people who may know a few recipes we can try. I want the three of you to be as comfortable in this home as I am, which means we need to blend our cultures. I want to know more about your cultures, and I hope, you can learn a bit more about mine.”

“What about Josiah’s?” Billy asked. “What is his culture?”

Mia smiled. “He is mixed. His father was Choctaw and his mother was White and Creek.”

Billy’s eyes widened. “He’s part Creek like me?”

“He is. So, do you like the idea of fixing different dishes from each of our cultures?” The three children nodded. “Good, then let’s go and hitch up the wagon and visit the mercantile.”

The trip to town took no time at all. Mia’s plan took root and excitement built until all three children were practically bouncing inside the wagon as they rolled down the main street. She pulled to a stop in front of the mercantile and set the brake as the children jumped to the sidewalk.

“Let’s get what we need without spending too much time. I don’t know how much time we’ll need for preparation." Inside the store, she sent the children for their required ingredients. They met at the sales counter where she quickly paid, including a penny candy for each of them. Once everything was wrapped up and loaded, they headed back to the house.

Mia pulled the wagon up to the front of the barn. “Summer, would you mind taking care of the horse this time while the boys carry in the food? Elias, please hand Billy the lighter parcels and carry everything into the kitchen, and I’ll be inside in a moment.” She watched them, making sure they were careful as they made their way inside, and then turned to Summer. “I promised Josiah I would have you double check what they do with the horses. They’re so young. He knows you understand the importance of cleaning the stalls and making sure they’re taken care of. Can you do that for me?”

Summer nodded. “I don’t mind. I like being with the horses, too.”

“Thank you.”

Mia helped unhitch the horse from the wagon, then grabbed her pelisse from underneath the bench and walked to the house. She let the screen door lightly slam behind her as she mentally checked over the list in her head and tried to figure the cooking times for everything they planned for their multi-cultural dinner.

She set her pelisse on the table, but jerked to a stop when something hard jabbed into her side and a filthy hand covered her mouth.

“Now don’t you go screamin’ on me, you hear? I can’t stand it when women scream and wail.”

Mia’s eyes widened when she saw Billy and Elias sitting on the floor, back to back. She tried to get to them, but the strange man’s grip on her arm was too strong and she couldn’t move.

“Don’t go making any sudden movements. Them boys ain’t goin’ nowheres. Matter of fact, they’s gonna stay put right thar, ain’t ya boys?”

Billy and Elias both nodded. Elias’s gaze never moved from the stairwell. Mia could only assume there was another man there, but from where she stood, she couldn’t see anyone.

The back door slammed shut and loud footsteps thudded through the house. “No one else is here, boss!”

“Johnny!” Billy hollered, folding his legs underneath him as he tried to stand up, but the large boy shoved him back down, ignoring him as he strode past. Billy scrambled up again. “Why’d you do that? I thought we were friends?” The young boy said, his voice filled with hurt.

Johnny glared at him. “I ain’t yer friend. Yer just an annoyance I put up with for information.” He turned his gaze to the man holding Mia, not noticing or caring how his words affected the seven-year-old. “The man must have left this morning just like you said he would. Now we’ve got his family for lev—lev—”

“Leverage, boy. Leverage. You’re sure he’s gone?”

“I said he was, didn’t I?”

The big man holding Mia backhanded Johnny across the mouth, splitting his lip open. “Don’t sass me! If’n I know that Bass, he’ll pull around where we killed that family and foller our trail. Might take him a while through the woods, but eventually he’ll get here. I aim to be at our meetin’ shack by then.” He motioned with several swings of his pistol to the two younger boys. “I want you to tie ’em up and take ’em out back.”

Johnny walked to the door and reached into a bag Mia hadn’t noticed before, pulling out a coiled rope. He moved closer to Billy and Elias, but before he could tie them up, Billy raised his fist and slammed it into Johnny’s nose. The older boy flew back into the table, the chairs falling outward.

Elias jumped up and stood in front of Johnny and screamed at Billy. “Go, Billy! Run! Run!” He then turned and dropped down on top of the larger boy, tussling and fighting him with his scrawny arms, giving Billy time to run through the house and out the back door.

“Run, Billy! Run!” Mia screamed as loud as she could, all her hopes and prayers resting on the fact that Summer would hear her and know something was wrong and would stay away, and that Billy would make it. That he would get away. She didn’t know how many man were outside, but she knew Billy was smart and knew where to hide.

She kicked at the man holding her, his meaty fingers digging painfully into her upper arms. “Let me go,” she yelled, trying to loosen his grip, but she only succeeded in making him angrier as he grabbed her by the nape of her neck and squeezed. Her vision blurred and little black dots danced in front of her eyes.

Against Johnny’s size and heavier weight, Elias didn’t stand a chance, and the larger boy had him trussed up with his hands behind his back and a dirty rag in his mouth to keep him from hollering. Mia stared down at Elias, willing him to look at her. Finally, his green gaze met hers. His eyes were bright and alive with excitement, and he gave her a slow wink. She bit back a smile. This young boy was truly amazing and gave her the jolt of faith she needed instead of the other way around.

“Don’t try nothin’ like that again, do you hear me? Or you’ll regret it,” the man's gravelly voice whispered next to her ear. “Now,” he said, jerking her through the door and down the porch. “We’re gonna give that husband of yours and Bass Reeves a little message—to let them know you and your wastes are joinin’ us for a while.”

“Those children are not waste, you cretin!” Mia struggled and jerked one arm back as if she were trying to slap him, getting her first good glance of her attacker.

He was a mountain of a man, almost as wide as he was tall. His face had turned a brilliant shade of red, which almost matched the color of his unkempt hair. He slapped her face, which felt like she’d been thrown into a brick wall. “Don’ you be callin’ me names, you harlot!”

Muttering to himself, he jerked her toward the bag Johnny had spilled on the table and grabbed another piece of rope and tied her hands behind her back. Within a few seconds, her fingers began tingling, but she didn’t have time to complain because he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder and carried her outside, dropping her onto the ground in a heap beside Elias.

“What’re they gonna do, Miss Mia?” he whispered, his words garbled, but understandable, as he talked around the cloth stuck between his teeth. She watched, fascinated as he continued to grab at it with his teeth and tug, each pull loosening the knot until he was able to slip it out of his mouth completely.

“I’m afraid it’s not going to be good, whatever it is.”

A loud crash sounded inside the house, then several more. The red-haired man and Johnny hurried out through the kitchen door as the sound of glass shattering upstairs broke the unusual silence hovering over them. Mia watched, horrified, as the red-orange flames of a fire consumed the curtains in the two upstairs bedrooms. Movement downstairs caught her eye, and she knew the men had set the downstairs on fire as well.

Their message for Josiah and Bass was burning down their home.