August, 1885

Wyoming Territory

Stephanie stared out at the bleak landscape beyond the train window, barren except for an occasional antelope and mile after mile of grass bending to the wind. No chance of escape there. She leaned her chin on her hand and closed her eyes. How had Orson managed to find her?

Suddenly her head jerked up. The train was slowing; her reprieve was about to come to an end, and she had yet to come up with a plan. There had to be some way to beat Orson at his own game, there had to be. Her desperation turned to puzzlement when she looked outside and saw there was no town. Why in the world was the train slowing down? Then it hit her; an unscheduled stop! The perfect solution!

She grabbed her cloak, opened the compartment door and peered cautiously down the corridor. It was empty. Silently, she slipped from the private compartment and hurried to the end of the car. After fastening the heavy cloak around her shoulders and pinning her hat on more firmly, she stepped out onto the platform at the rear of the car.

A shrill whistle rent the air as the locomotive screeched to a halt next to the water tower at a tiny station. With a furtive look around, Stephanie climbed down and sprinted off toward the trees near the creek. Replenishing the engine's huge boilers seemed to take forever as she watched nervously, expecting her escape to be discovered at any moment. Finally, the train chugged off on its journey once more.

Stephanie smiled as the train steamed down the track and around a bend out of sight. She almost wished she could be there to see Orson's face when he discovered she had disappeared again.

She set off for the tiny station buffeted by the violent Wyoming wind, fighting to keep her feet clear of the cloak, which threatened to trip her. At last she reached the platform and mounted the steps with a grateful sigh. Blinking the dirt from her eyes, she tried the door. It was locked. She wiped the grimy glass of the window with her glove to peek inside and was shocked to see nothing but dust and cobwebs. It didn't look as though anyone had been there for a long time.

In her hurry to escape, she hadn't considered the possibility of the railroad using the stop only for water. With a horrible sinking sensation in her middle, she looked at the utter desolation around her. Huge black clouds billowed over distant, blue mountains to the west, and dust rose from the high, sparsely covered hills to the east. Between, tall grass undulated as far as the eye could see. The water tower, the tiny station, and a lonely road that skirted the buildings and then disappeared between the hills were the only signs of human habitation.

"Oh my heavens!" she said aloud. Her impetuous flight had landed her in the middle of nowhere, with a storm fast approaching and not another soul or any shelter visible for miles.

Forcing herself to stay calm, she considered her options. Walking along the tracks was out of the question: that was the way Orson would come when he discovered she was gone. The road had to lead somewhere though. All she needed to do was follow it. The question was, which way? And how far would she have to go before she found help?

Before she could decide, the wind snatched her hat off her head and blew it around the far side of the building. She ran after it, but as she rounded the corner of the station, her cloak tangled around her feet, and she fell to the ground.

A loud noise brought her head up and a terrified scream froze in her throat at the sight of hooves suspended in the air above her. There was a sharp pain on the side of her head, and then nothing.