Wildest Dreams - By Rosanne Bittner Page 0,26

but bearable, not a lot of snow so far. Lettie wore a heavy wool shawl and a wool scarf wrapped around her head and neck. Nathan was wrapped in several blankets. Luke waved to the man as he steered the wagon in which they rode up close to Doolan's house. A huge dog chained to the corner of the cabin began barking wildly at their arrival. It was a beautiful animal, looked as though it had to be part wolf.

"Shut up, Bear!" Will ordered the animal.

The dog quieted, but it watched them warily. The front door of the cabin opened then, and a woman appeared, smiling. Lettie knew it must be Henrietta Doolan. Luke had met Will the first time they arrived at Billings, and the man had told him to come by for a visit anytime. All Lettie knew about these two was what Luke had been able to learn in town—that they had been here for about ten years, struggling against Indians and the elements to build a ranch, a man with the same dream Luke had. The couple was childless.

The woman Lettie saw in the doorway looked as though she had once been very pretty, but now her hair showed gray, and her face was beginning to wrinkle considerably. Lettie wondered if she was really a lot older than Will, or if the harsh living out here had just aged her well beyond her actual years. She was a little heavyset, but still had a nice shape.

"Henny, this here is the new couple I told you I met in town about three weeks ago—Luke and Lettie Fontaine. Luke went on west of Billings to see about claiming some land there."

"West!" Henrietta exclaimed in a rich voice. She looked surprised. "Well, what brave souls you are! Welcome! Do come in!" In spite of the cold, the woman rushed out to take Nathan from Lettie's arms so Lettie could climb down from the wagon.

Luke got down from his side and tied the lead mules, then shook Will's hand. "My wife could use a woman's company," he said with a grin. "This is the first time away from her mother and sister and the rest of her family."

"Well, I understand that feeling," Henrietta said in a friendly voice. Lettie smiled at the woman, and they exchanged a look of longing, both of them delighted to have another woman to talk to.

"I'm afraid I'm a bit of a city girl," she told Henrietta, taking Nathan back into her own arms. "I'm from St. Joseph, Missouri."

A distant loneliness shone in Henrietta's eyes. "Well, I was raised in a city myself. I came west from Chicago in '49 with my family. My father was on his way to California to look for gold. I took one look at our scout, who happened to be Will here, and I fell in love. I was only sixteen, Will was twenty-one. We got married at Fort Laramie, and I lived there for about five years while Will continued to lead wagon trains west—didn't get to see him much." She led Lettie toward the house. "We both finally got tired of being apart so much, and Will was always the type who hated too much civilization, so he chose to come up here to settle."

The woman rattled on nonstop, and Lettie sensed she needed to talk. She wondered if it would be that way for her in a few years, hungering for company, aging ahead of her years. If her figuring was right, the woman couldn't be more than thirty years old. She looked fifty.

"Luke and I had to come to town for more supplies," she explained as she walked inside the cabin. "Luke wants to get some tar paper for our cabin, and we need to stock up on more food."

"Well, out here it's a must that you get to know your neighbors, even if they're eight or ten miles away. You never know when you'll need them," Henrietta answered rather wistfully. "Please, take off your wrap and sit down. And let me see your little son! Will told me the boy's father was killed back in Kansas. I'm so sorry. I'm glad you found a good man who can be a father to him."

Lettie felt a flow of love for Luke at the words. In spite of the hardships and loneliness of the past three weeks, she couldn't be happier with the man she had chosen for a husband. The days were long and filled