"Yes, you may be of assistance, " she replied.

"The lady needs a sound horse, " Daniel called out. He was saddling his own horse, a beautiful gray stallion with a surprisingly calm disposition, but he was also keeping a watchful eye on Grace.

She looked completely out of place. "Pink fluff, " he whispered. The woman belonged in a fancy parlor, dressed the way she was in that ridiculously feminine hat and those impractical leather slippers.

Harry sure did like her though. The man had a rapturous look on his face and kept trying to edge closer to her. Probably because she smelled so good, Daniel thought, but he didn't care what Harry's reason was. He wanted him to back away.

"How about getting the lady a horse, Harry? " Daniel called out, his tone just as sharp as he intended.

"Your husband sounds a might possessive, " Harry whispered before turning to Daniel. "I'll fix your woman up with the best I got." A few minutes later, Harry came strutting forward leading a swaybacked gelding that Grace suspected had lost all of his teeth. The poor thing was obviously on his last legs.

She took one look at the sorry beast and politely declined. "No, thank you." Harry rubbed his jowls while he considered which of the other horses to show her. "I only just inherited this stable from my brother, and I'm not familiar with his stock, " he said. "But I recall one pretty little mare. You're gonna like her just fine, " he promised as he turned and hurried away. "I guess you could say I was saving the best for last." Grace politely but firmly declined the pretty little mare too.

"What's the matter with this one? " Harry wanted to know.

"She simply won't do, " Grace replied. "She should be put out to pasture. With such spindly legs she wouldn't have enough stamina for a trip down the street. May I have a look at the other horses? " Harry got his back up. "No, you may not. You stay right here, and I'll fetch the best I got and bring him out to you." Grace didn't think it was a good idea to remind Harry that he had already brought out the "best" of the lot. She patiently waited, and when he showed her yet another swaybacked horse, she shook her head.

Harry threw his hands up in defeat. "Go ahead and look, ma'am. I'll let you have whatever you think you want." It only took her a couple of minutes to find a sound horse. She was a fiesty mare Harry had hidden in one of the rear stalls.

Harry immediately tried to talk her out of her choice. "I'll grant you, she's sound, but she's mean, " he explained. "You don't want the lady riding her, " he told Daniel.

"Grace? " "Yes, Daniel? " "Can you handle her? " "Yes, I can. "

"Well, now, she will get you where you want to go, " Harry agreed.

"But . . . " Grace reached up with her gloved hand and patted the animal. "Oh, she's lovely. She'll do just fine. What's her name? "

"Damnation." Grace's eyes widened. "Harry, if you don't wish to sell her to me, simply say so. Cursing isn't necessary."

"I wasn't cursing. That's her name, " he insisted. "The owner that sold her to me told me her name after the bargain was struck. I'm telling you plain and simple. Her name's Damnation."

"That won't do, " Grace announced. "I'll call her Daisy." Harry rolled his eyes. "I don't think you understand, ma'am. You can call her anything you want, but she'll only answer to Damnation. Do you still want to take her? " "Yes, please. Daniel, isn't she lovely? "

Daniel was trying not to laugh. When Harry had told them the name of the horse, Grace's cheeks had turned as pink as her blouse. She thought Damnation was lovely, and he agreed just to get going.

After accepting the money from Daniel for the horse and saddle, Harry began to have second thoughts.

"Are you certain your wife can handle such a mean-spirited animal? "

"He's sure, " Grace answered before Daniel could speak.

Harry gave up. "I'll fetch you a riding crop then. You're going to need it with this hell-raiser."

"No, thank you, " Grace said.

"I'm telling you, she won't do what you want unless you lash her.

You're going to need the riding crop." The argument would have escalated if Daniel hadn't stepped in. Harry, he decided, was in the wrong line of work. The man was afraid to get near the horse. Daniel quickly saddled the mare and led her out to Grace.

Harry was pleading with Grace now. She wouldn't accept the crop, even when he told her he'd give it to her for free.

"It's time to get going, " Daniel announced. He tied her valise behind the saddle and then lifted her up so that he could adjust the stirrups.

She felt as light as a handful of feathers. He couldn't hide his smile when she put her straw hat back on her head. White ribbons trailed down her back. He thought she looked as though she was about to go for a Sunday ride through the park.

Looks could be deceiving, he knew. She'd surprised him when she'd proven to be so knowledgeable about horses, and the way she sat in the saddle told him she hadn't exaggerated about her riding experience.

"Why are you smiling? " she asked.

"We just might make it to the train, " he replied. "That's what I was thinking." There was a speck of dirt on his chin. Before she could think better of it, she reached over and gently brushed it away.

He reacted as though she'd just struck him a hard blow. He jerked back and turned away from her.

"Let's go, " he ordered. "Harry, open the back doors for us. We'll go out that way."

"How long will we be in Texas? " Grace asked.

Daniel was about to swing up into his saddle when she asked the question. He turned to her. His arm was casually draped over his saddle, his head was tilted ever so slightly to the side, and she thought he looked exactly like one of the wild and rugged gunmen of the West she'd read stories about. The wilderness men, as they were called, were bigger than life and couldn't be tied down. They roamed the land seeking adventure and danger, and left broken hearts behind them. Was Daniel like that? she wondered. She thought perhaps that he was. He just looked the type who would never, ever settle down.

"There's no way of knowing, " Daniel answered, wondering why she was frowning so intently. "Why do you need to know? " "I have other commitments, " she said. "They're personal. Could you please make a calculated guess, Daniel? I really do need to know."

"It's going to take us a week or two to get to Blackwater, depending on the amount of trouble we run into, " he said. "Then you'll have to stay until the trial's over and the other men have been caught"

"Why?

" she interrupted. "That could take months."

"I can't let you go on your way until I'm certain none of the other gang members will come after you." She closed her eyes. "All right then, " she agreed. "You're telling me I could be in Texas for as little as a few weeks or as long as two months."

"Could be longer, " he told her.

Her reaction surprised him. Tears came into her eyes. "Then it's settled."

"What's settled? " he asked, confused by the sadness he heard in her voice.

She was so disheartened she could barely think what to do. "It's over, " she whispered. "And I've lost."

"Grace, what are you talking about? " "I don't blame you, Daniel.

Really I don't."

"Will you make sense? " he demanded. "Explain why you're so upset."

"My future, " she cried out. "It's ruined. Even one month's too long.

Don't you understand? No, of course you don't, but it doesnyt matter.

It's all my own fault for having such silly dreams. I've wasted too much time already, and I'd never be able to become established in the amount of time I have left." Her sigh was long and weary. "I have to make a stop at the telegraph office before we leave town."

"No, " Daniel said.

"I'm sorry, but I must insist."

"Tell me why, " he argued.