She picked up the envelope and studied it thoughtfully. The block letters had been carefully penned and looked almost like a child's. The postmarkread Fort Worth, Texas. It must have been from one of Winn's companions fromthe cattle drive.

She smiled to herself as she dropped the letter to the table and returned tothe supplies. This might be just what Winn needed to cheer him up. News from his friends would let him know he hadn't been abandoned after all.

She was setting a box of baking soda on the shelf when she froze. If it was news that Winn's friends were returning for him, it would plunge her into asdeep a despair as Winn seemed to be in now. She stared at the letter from across the room. She was tempted to open it, read it, perhaps even answer itwithout let ting Winn know it had arrived.

She heard Winn and Greg coming in the front door and scolded herself for herdeceitful thoughts. She called Winn into the kitchen before she could changeher mind.

"A letter came for you," she said.

Greg climbed on a chair and looked into the box his mother was unpacking.

"Did a letter come for me, too?"

"No, silly." Cynthie ruffled his dark hair."But Louie bought you a piece of hard candy. I think I lost it, though."Greg laughed."No, you didn't."Cynthie smiled at the little boy."No, I didn't." She produced the candy from her ap.r.o.n pocket. "Can't fool you, can I? Now run and thank Louie."In a second, the back door slammed behind the little boy.Cynthie took a knife from a drawer and slit the envelope. Winn had taken a seat at the table and waited patiently during her conversation with Greg.

She glanced at him as she dropped the knife in its place and withdrew the

letter. Either he was very good at hiding his feelings or he didn't care at all about the letter.

She cleared her throat.

"It's from a Theodore Jack- son, Junior."

"Slim," Winn provided.

She took a step toward him and, with an effort, drew her eyes back to the

letter.

"Dear Winn," she began. She scanned the letter quickly, noting several

misspellings. It was all in the same careful block letters and not difficult to read.

"I did not want to leave you alone but Mike would not wait and I do not know

how to get home. I will speak to Mother and Father.When they know that you saved my life they will let you come live with us.I must hurry now or Mike will leave without me. "She looked from the letter to Winn."His address is at the bottom," she added. Her heart ached for him but his expression was closed and she didn't know how to comfort him.

When he said no thing she whispered, "You saved his life?"Winn shrugged. After a moment he managed a small smile."Nice of him to write."Cynthie watched him closely. He had a choice now, though she prayed he wouldn't go. After a moment, she asked, "Shall I answer the letter?"Winn sighed."Not yet. Let me think about it."Cynthie watched him rise and leave the kitchen. In a moment she heard the door to his room close quietly. She reread the letter and shook her head.What could she do for him? How could she make him happy? In a few daysthere would be an Independence Day celebration in Wichita. Winn was going along with her and Greg. She had a feeling that wouldn't make any differenceto Winn, since no thing else did."Can you hear all the people, Winn?" Greg was too excited to sit still.Winn had held Greg as they crossed the river and now they were on their way to the livery stable to leave the horse and wagon.

"Have you ever celebrated Tendence Day?"

Winn grinned.

"Every year," he lied. He hadn't celebrated anything during the War, least

of all Independence Day.

"But every place does it differently so this will be new." He didn't saythat almost everything seemed new to him now.Greg had come and sat down beside Winn to talk to him. In a moment, though, something else caught his attention and he scrambled across the wagon bed to

get a better look.

He was the first one out of the wagon at the livery stable and was practically jumping up and down,

waiting for the others to be ready to go.Finally, he was walking toward the source of all the noise and excitementwith his mother on one side and Winn on the other. From the smile on his face anyone would have thought he was the happiest boy in the world.

Peter was trailing a short distance behind carrying the basket with platesand utensils for the four of them and the cake Cynthie had baked as hercontribution to dinner. Louie had chosen to stay behind, unwilling to haveeveryone away from the ranch at once. Jeremiah had gone in early to get Maryso they could attend the celebration together.

At Waterman's Grove a plank stage had been constructed and the orator of theday, William S. Jay of Emporia, was already drawing a crowd.

Cynthie led her group to the table that had been set up to hold the food.

"I'm glad you made it."

Cynthie turned at the familiar voice.

"Good morning, Kyle." She smiled at her little boy and^ added, "We wouldn't have missed this for anything." She turned away from Kyle,toward Peter, and opened the basket.

Winn's attention was centered on Cynthie's voice. Had that cheerful greetingbeen meant for Dempsey? He felt a wave of anger just as Greg pulled away.Winn tried to catch the little hand but it was gone before he knew it.

"Greg?" The lack of an answer might not mean he was gone, just not answering.

"I still think you should have let me bring you," Kyle said. He glanced ather companions. A little child, a blind man and a half-grown orphan. He didn't think they were proper escorts for a beautiful woman, but he knew

better than to say so.

Cynthie was trying to take the cake out of the basket Peter held open for her while Kyle stood so irritatingly close she could hardly move.

It wasn't all Kyle's fault. She knew she would be having a completely

different response had it been Winn standing so close.

' "Greg?" The boy always ran away from Dempsey. Winn should have antic.i.p.ated it when he first heard the man's voice instead of let ting his jealousy get the upper hand.

"Greg!" Winn called again, louder this time.Cynthie's head come up at the sound of his voice. She looked around quickly but didn't see her child. "What happened?" she asked, ma king her way toWinn."I don't know. He just let go. You don't see him?" Winn wished he could think about this calmly but he couldn't go look for the child.

With the river so near, and every type of person imaginable crowding intotown, the child could be in danger."I'll find him," Peter said.Winn felt the youth brush past him. Cynthie's hand was on his arm."Don't worry," she said.He tried to relax. She could see what the crowd and the area looked like.If she wasn't worried, he shouldn't be.Kyle tried to make his way to where Cynthie was talking to Sutton.Peter had thrust the basket into his hands before he took off and then the crowd had seemed to work at pushing him farther away from

Cynthie. By thetime he was at her side, she was comforting Sutton as if it hadn't been hisfault at all.

"Why didn't you hang on to the boy?" Dempsey demanded.

Every muscle in Winn's body tensed. If it weren't for Dempsey, Greg wouldn'thave run away. He tried to hold his temper for Cynthie's sake."Peter will find him," Cynthie said, turning to Kyle and opening the basket again.

"I don't think he'll wander very far."

Sutton's very presence here filled Kyle with frustration. Must she advertise

the fact that she had taken in a stranger? What was she telling everyone about him?

"Well, this is no place for a child anyway," he grumbled.

As he said it, Winn could hear a squeal of laughter that could only have been produced by a little girl, followed by a boyish shout.

Obviously Greg wasn't the only child at the celebration. Winn hoped Cynthieheard the voices, too.' "How could you leave a blind man to watch your child?" Kyle continued.

He had lowered his voice, and Winn knew he wasn't expected to hear it.The condescending tone the man was using on Cynthie infuriated him. Hisfeelings were aggravated by the knowledge that the man had a point. Ifanything happened to Greg, it would be his fault.

Winn heard the fancy spurs jingle."I need to talk to you, Cynthie." The voice was a little farther away.Winn guessed he was following Cynthie to the table."Go ahead and talk, Kyle." Now Cynthie's voice was coming toward him."Alone." Winn could smell the cigar smoke. He thought he heard the basketpa.s.s from one person to the other.

"Kyle," Cynthie said softly.

"I can't just leave Winn."

Kyle knew if he let the anger he was feeling show, Cynthie would turnstubborn; sometimes she wasn't easy to control. But he had had all he could stand of Sutton. Anger overruled caution and he grabbed her arm, ma king hergasp and the dishes in the basket clatter.

"If he needs a keeper, how in the h.e.l.l could you put him in charge of yourson?"

Winn lost control. Jealousy, worry and anger combined to make him reckless.

He threw a punch directly at the voice. He felt the barest contact and knew Kyle had dodged the blow or else he had misjudged the man's location. He heard Kyle's surprised laugh and knew a frustration worse than any he hadexperienced before.

"Winn!" Cynthie had his arm.

"What's gotten into you?"

He wanted to tell her that he didn't like Kyle touching her or talking to herbut he had no right to tell her anything of the kind.

"Kyle," she said and Winn heard a warning in her tone. So the b.a.s.t.a.r.d was ready to hit him back. He wished Cynthie hadn't stopped him.

Cynthie looked from one to the other, angry with both of them. Her son was lost and all these two wanted to do was fight with each other. The best thing to do was separate them. If she knew Winn was safe she could talk to Kyle alone and then get rid of him. She looked quickly around and found abench at the end of the long table.

"Come sit over here," she said to Winn.Winn heard the hardness in her voice and knew she was angry. He couldn'tblame her; he had acted like a fool. No doubt he had looked ridiculous throwing a punch at someone he couldn't see. There was really no thing hecould say to defend himself.Kyle followed behind them. Cynthie slapped the bench and he raised his eyes heavenward in disgust. He would have liked to show Sutton where it was by bodily throwing him onto it.

Once Winn was seated, Cynthie gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"Stay here a minute. I'll be right back."Kyle couldn't watch this anymore. He grabbed Cynthie's arm, setting thebasket she carried next to Sutton, and nearly dragged her away.

' "What is the matter with you?" Cynthie demanded when he brought her to astop under a tree near the bank of the river."Can't you guess?" He dropped his voice to its most seductive.

"I can't stand seeing you with Sutton."

"Kyle, you were rude and insulting. You had no right to talk to Winn like that."

"The fool lost your child."

At the stricken look on her face, Kyle decided to change his tactics.

"I'm sorry. I'm just worried about little Greg. And I can't help but feel

jealous. When is that man going to leave?""I've written to the Perkins School for the Blind. It's in Boston. If they'll take him, he'll go." Maybe saying the words would help her acceptthem. She looked across the river without seeing it.Kyle saw the sadness in her face and knew a moment of blinding fury. He glanced toward the table where they had left the object of his anger.

There were too many people moving around to see him.

"He's taking advantage of you," he said.

"He's been here for weeks."