Free Defiant Heart by Tracey Bateman

boy.”
    Blake rode up. He looked down from his mount like a king on a throne and gave Kip a stern frown. “That was rather foolish, don’t you think? What if she hadn’t stopped?”
    Kicking at the dust, Kip shrugged. “I don’t know. I just figured she would.”
    â€œLook at me, son.”
    Kip did as he was told for once and bravely met Blake’s gaze.
    â€œWhat you did was brave. I admire you for that. And I can’t deny that I’m relieved that stupid cow got caught before she did any real damage to anyone’s property. But do you realize how dangerous your stunt was?”
    â€œI guess so,” Kip mumbled.
    â€œYou guess so? Look how worried your sister is.”
    Fannie drew a sharp breath as the attention shifted to her. How could Blake do that? Tears she hadn’t even known she was shedding flowed down her face. She wiped them away with a quick swipe.
    Kip swallowed hard, and remorse showed on his face. “I’m sorry, Fannie. I just wanted to stop that ol’ cow.”
    Embarrassment combined with the rush of realizing he’d narrowly escaped death was too much for Fannie. She scowled at him. “That was the dumbest thing you’ve ever done, Kip Caldwell. Mama and Pa are likely turning over in their graves about now thinking how you almost joined them.”
    Blake cleared his throat. “Well, let’s just be glad he’s all right. And, as punishment for this stunt, you’ll have extra duty for the next two weeks.” He turned to the half-Indian scout. “What do you think, Sam? Should he join you hunting and scouting?”
    Fannie watched in outrage as Kip didn’t even try to hide his elation at his so-called punishment.
    Sam nodded soberly. “I could use a strong young man to help.”
    â€œThat okay with you, Miss Caldwell?”
    Fannie was on the verge of spouting her opinion of what sort of disciplinarian he was when she realized what he was doing. He was taking Kip under his wing. Giving him a chance to focus his impulsiveness in a positive direction. She blinked hard against a rush of fresh tears. For a second she could have happily thrown her arms around the infuriating wagon master and thanked him over and over. Instead, she sat abruptly and nodded. “That’s fine.”
    Blake turned to Kip. “Can you ride?”
    â€œI-I don’t have a horse, sir.”
    â€œThat wasn’t the question.”
    He gave a short nod. “I used to ride, but haven’t since my ma died, and Silas sold the horses.”
    â€œKip,” Katie hissed, reminding him that they didn’t share their personal life.
    Blake seemed to have the matter well in hand. “It’s all right. I have two extra horses. You can borrow one of mine.”
    â€œThank you, sir!”
    â€œI hope you have a sore behind for a month,” Fannie muttered.
    â€œWhat was that, Miss Caldwell?” Blake asked.
    â€œNothing.”
    Four other wagons had joined the train in Hawkins, so they were over a hundred wagons—four hundred passengers and then some. Maybe closer to five hundred. An enormous undertaking for a wagon master. But he had several captains overseeing sections of wagons. Trusted men he felt would lead with fairness as well as a firm hand. Edna’s father-in-law, Vern Cooper, was in charge of the section of train Fannie had joined.
    Thanks to Mr. Markus and his unruly heifer, they had reached the creek later than expected and thus were late making camp. But that didn’t seem to bother the travelers too much. Seemed like the first few days after a stopover, they were anxious to push on a few extra miles and eat a later supper. And Blake was happy to oblige. But he, too, fought against a thick layer of trail dust and an overabundance offatigue. He was more than ready to stretch out on his bedroll for a few hours of sleep. But several more hours of work loomed ahead of him and everyone else