Free Orchids in Moonlight by Patricia Hagan

straggle.
    In the first moments of activity, Jaime stared out at the wagon behind, watching as Imogene and the others emerged to head for the bushes for their morning privacy. There was no sign of Cord, but she had not really expected to see him, anyway. He was far too smart to get caught.
    Imogene spotted her and gaily called "Good morning." Jaime nodded, then ducked back inside. The prostitutes had discovered her presence some weeks earlier but had been sworn to secrecy. Jaime found Imogene to be quite friendly and actually liked her, but that morning, as she watched her walk toward the bushes, she chided herself for actually feeling a twinge of jealousy. Cord Austin's kiss, unfortunately, was still a vivid and pleasant memory, and looking at the woman who had obviously known it last was unbearable.
    "I'll get over it," she muttered under her breath.
    Ella heard and patted her shoulder. "Sure you will. Before you know, we'll be far enough along for you to thumb your nose at Captain Austin, and he won't be able to do a thing about it. Won't that be wonderful?"
    She skipped along toward the bushes with the other women, not waiting for an answer.
    But Jaime had nothing to say, anyway.
    With a sigh of resignation, she settled down, resolved to make it through another day.
    * * *
    On schedule, they reached the steep drop Cord had warned about. There, with many of the women weeping and wailing over being forced to leave family heirlooms behind, the wagons were lowered to the bottom one by one.
    Jaime, wearing a slat bonnet, blended in with the other women. Cord was far too busy to take note of an extra person.
    All around they could see evidence of other wagon trains having gone before them, for the area was littered with discarded items: weather-beaten furniture, rusting iron stoves and cooking utensils, and even luxury possessions, like ornate clocks, fine china and silverware, musical instruments, and books.
    In the valley below they could also see the skeletons of wagons that had broken the ropes and tumbled downward to crash and splinter—a sobering sight that somewhat helped to ease remorse over abandoning cherished belongings.
    A cool woodsy glen awaited where Cord allowed a layover day for everyone to gather up the belongings that had been lowered by separate ropes and repack their wagons.
    For the next fifty miles the trail was an uphill grade, slight but constant. It was late June, and the nights were growing steadily colder with the rising altitude. On the distant horizon, they could see the snow-patched Laramie Mountains, which formed nature's stepping stones up into the rugged Rockies.
    The scenery was spectacular, with strange formations of earth and rock.
    Jaime wondered wistfully if her family had taken the same trail when she was only two. She had no memories of the journey out and only vague recollections of the return.
    * * *
    On they traveled, weeks passing in misery. July came and with it tempers to match the soaring temperatures. They had covered over six hundred miles since leaving Independence. Everyone was tired; both strength and patience were growing thin. Animals were exhausted, as well as a third of the supplies. There were fights among the men, arguments among the women.
    Sometimes, when things got out of hand, Cord stepped in to break up an altercation. As a result, anger was transferred to him, and as the wagon train approached the frontier outpost of Fort Laramie, he found himself the brunt of much animosity and resentment.
    Increasing the tension, some of the men began to share the horrible tales they'd heard of how the trail got worse beyond Fort Laramie. The night Cord overheard Harry Turnage talking about the Donner party, he exploded.
    It was a real horror story. Blocked by snow in the Sierra Nevadas, the pioneers had been forced to resort to cannibalism to survive.
    "Why waste your time talking about something that happened twenty years ago? It was sad, but they made the wrong decision when