Chapter 11

Emily POV

I knew when Joseph left yesterday morning, that he really didn’t want to leave. He was still worried about a possible stranger in the woods. Clara and I were able to persuade him that we would be fine. We both believed, and so did Brody, that it was just a passerby who was hungry. With the number of new people in the area it wasn’t a stretch to come to that conclusion.

People were beginning to flock to the Territory looking for gold. Just a few weeks ago, there had been talk of possible gold or silver in the Dakota mountains. Most people were currently searching in the eastern part of the territory, while a few were venturing north. We hadn’t seen many adventurers in our area, but that didn’t mean anything. We all knew that eventually, they would come. But for now, it was still quite in our neck of the woods.

After Joseph and Brody left, Thomas headed off to check the fox and rabbit traps in the northern