Chapter 17

Joseph POV

Three weeks after Thomas and I returned home from St. Louis, we sent Thomas back down the river to fetch the additional window panes. We made plans for me to meet him at the fort in eleven days. This allowed us to no longer need to pay the livery for boarding. This would also be a test run for Thomas, to see if he could make it to St. Louis and back without any problems.

Before leaving the fort, I paid for the work horses that the livery owner had found for me. I was happy to find that the two horses came from the same horse ranch and they were sturdy horses. The livery owner assured me that not only were they harness broke, they were also saddle broke, which was a plus here in the mountains. I paid the livery owner for the horses and then Apollo and I made our way back up the mountain with Dakota and the two new horses in tow.

Eleven days later, I met Thomas at the fort as promised, this time with the work ho