It wasn’t long before Mrs. Randall’s slow, steady breathing filled Sophia’s ears. Yet she herself couldn’t fall asleep.
As she laid there, looking overhead at the canvas above her, all she could think was that she’d never slept anywhere but at home. The home she had to abandon. It hadn’t been much, just a little apartment, but once it had been filled with the voices and great love of her parents.
But they were gone now, leaving Sophia with only memories and the money they’d meticulously saved and invested for years and years. Money that Mr. Durham claimed was owed to him.
Sophia shivered under the warm quilt at the thought of that man. He wouldneversee her parents’ hard-earned funds. And she would certainly never marry him.
Instead, she would go to Colorado.
Colorado. Sophia turned the word over in her mind and tried to picture it. But all she knew of the place was a vague notion of mountains, Indians, and wide-open space. Whether any of that was true, Sophia didn’t know. But right now, anywhere was better than Kansas City, and so Colorado it would be.
Mr. Durham would never find her there. She wondered if he were looking for her now. Her heart picked up pace at the thought. No, he wouldn’t be alarmed just yet. If he’d stopped by today, she hoped he would simply think she was out, doing some shopping or visiting. By the time he figured out she was missing, the wagon train would be long gone. And he oughtn’t have a clue that this was the journey she’d decided to take. She hadn’t told a soul where she was going.
And even if he did figure it out, he wouldn’t think to look for her as Daisy Timperman.
Guilt sidled up next to Sophia again. If Miss Timperman had already paid for her place here and didn’t arrive, surely there wasn’t anything wrong with Sophia taking it. No, the guilt she felt was because she was pretending to be someone she wasn’t. Perhaps she ought to have confessed that she wasn’t Miss Timperman and paid if Mr. James had asked her to.
But every penny counted, even with the amount Sophia had. She didn’t know what might be awaiting her in Colorado. That money could be used to pay for an apartment or for a room in a boarding house. For food, clothing, and other necessities that she’d had to leave behind.
If Sophia knew anything, it was that money meant security. And for a woman on her own, security was everything.
That money would keep her safe in an unknown place. She tried not to think too much on theunknownpart. Surely Colorado had a few established towns that would be safe for a young woman to live. Perhaps she might eventually meet a good man and have a family of her own, something she’d hoped to do in Kansas City before her parents’ illnesses had required all of her time.
Sophia snuggled down under the quilt. She said a quick prayer for forgiveness for her lies about being Miss Timperman. And then she pushed away the fears, worries, and guilt at deceiving Mr. James and the Randalls. She filled up that space with thoughts about her new life to come—lovely, tall mountains, a nice little room, and a handsome gentleman looking for a girl just like her.
Chapter Two
PUEBLO, COLORADO —August 1877
The wagon train arrived three weeks late.
The news reached Matthew Canton as he took supper at the boarding house for the twenty-second day in a row. He had exactly enough money for three more days in Pueblo.
He left his meal half-eaten, tossed on his jacket, and grabbed his hat as he ran out the boarding house door and down to the Arkansas River where the wagon train was supposed to make camp before departing to follow the trail north.
It was easy to spot with all the white canvas and the smoke of multiple campfires reaching toward the sky. During his weeks of waiting, fear had begun to displace the nerves Matthew had felt about finally meeting Miss Timperman. According to the folks in Pueblo, wagon trains were delayed all the time because of weather, illness, lame animals, or any number of other things. But as one week turned into two, and two turned into three, Matthew began to worry.
