Chapter 26

Pauline sat in the overstuffed wing-back chair next to the unlit fireplace in the main room of the large ranch house as the ranch hands who were going out each day searching for Aiden stood before her with hats in hand. They reminded her of nervous school children as they shifted from one foot to the other while fidgeting with their hats.  She wondered if she really looked that foreboding or if it was simply a matter of them not being used to standing in the presence of an eastern lady.  She hoped it was the latter.

 After much grilling, she learned that Aiden’s horse returned without him the same day of the ambush.  When Angus was able to speak and told them that he saw Aiden heading for Indian Ridge, they went out each day and searched for him, but with no luck. When she told them she intended to go and search herself, they worriedly warned her of the perils of the Indians who lived in that area.  They claimed they were lucky not to have run i