"Boss?" Josh looked up to find Grady and Cody standing nearby. They both looked grim. "There isn't a speck of food in this whole camp. When you said she hadn't eaten in a week, you might've been right," Grady informed him.

Josh swore again and, taking a more secure grip on the girl, awkwardly rose from the chair. "Let's get out of here," he said, carrying her toward the horses.

"Where are we taking her?" Grady asked.

"To Blanche's," Josh said, deciding in an instant that Blanche Delano's ranch would be the most proper place for a young girl to stay.

"Uh, Mr. Logan, we can't take her to Mrs. Delano's," Cody said. "I ran into one of her men yesterday, and he said she'll be in Dallas for at least another week."

Josh swore again, but before he could think of an alternative, Grady said. "We'd better get somewhere quick. Did you get a look at that sky?"

Josh looked. Only moments ago the day had been perfect, sunny and clear, but now black clouds loomed on the horizon. The haze beneath them signified rain, and rain in the distant mountains meant untoward dangers to those on the plains. They had to get the girl and themselves to shelter.

"We'll take her back to the ranch, then," Josh compromised, and headed for the horses. "Candace can look after her for the time being."

Felicity lay against Mr. Logan's chest and listened to this exchange very carefully. She had to be careful or else her eyes would slide shut and she would miss a word or two and lose track of the conversation. They were taking her to Mr. Logan's ranch, and Candace would take care of her. Felicity liked the name Candace. Candace was the queen of Ethiopia, or at least she had been, back in Bible times. Felicity knew she would like Mr. Logan's wife.

"I'll take her, boss," Cody offered eagerly, heading for his own mount. "Just hand her up to me."

"No," Josh said, for some reason unwilling to trust the girl to anyone's care but his own. "I'll take her. You hold her a minute while I mount up." Reluctantly, he passed the limp little body over to Cody, noting with some satisfaction the startled way she looked at the boy before her big blue eyes searched his own out again.

With equal reluctance, Cody passed the girl up to Josh, who settled her across his lap for the long ride back to the ranch. "Are you comfortable?" he asked her.

"Mmmmm," she replied, snuggling down into his arms and inhaling deeply of his man-smell. In her semiconscious state, she almost imagined that her father was holding her, making everything better. She was hungry, of course, but she'd been hungry for so long she hardly noticed it anymore, so that didn't count. What did count was that she could close her eyes and not have to worry about something bad happening to her while she slept. This man would take care of her.

"Felicity?" he said, coaxing her from the beckoning oblivion.

Her eyes flew open, and for an instant he was so startled by how very blue they were that he forgot what he was going to ask her. "How long has it been since you've eaten?" he finally remembered.

Her sweet face puckered with the strain of concentration. "I caught a rabbit two days ago," she remembered, "and I gathered some wild things."

Josh frowned. A rabbit wasn't much nourishment to last for two days, even for a girl as small as this. She needed a good square meal and fast. He nudged his horse into a trot. The other men followed closely behind.

The rocking of the horse lulled Felicity, and she closed her eyes again, settling herself against Mr. Logan's shoulder. Inhaling, she smelled the mingled scents of his cowhide vest and tobacco and his own musky fragrance. She felt like a little girl again, curled up in her father's lap, long before all the bad things had happened, long before her mother had died and she and her father had taken to the road, and long, long before she had found her father's cold, lifeless body. She slept.

Josh squinted into the distance, studying the progress of the storm. He could hear the rumble of thunder in the distance and knew the rain would reach them before they reached the ranch. Instinctively, he urged his horse faster, but not because he was afraid of getting wet. They had to get to higher ground before the tons of water washing down the far mountains swept onto the prairie in a giant wall and devoured them.

Still, he felt no fear but only a curious sense of excitement, even though he understood perfectly the danger they were in. Savage and merciless though it was, this was his land, as much a part of him as his own flesh and bones. He owned the ground they rode upon, legally and outright, but he also knew that whatever the government papers might say, in reality the land owned him. The Indians had accepted that fact, never comprehending the white man's idea of property, and Josh accepted it, also.

As the endless canopy of sky turned slowly gray above him and thunder echoed from afar, Josh recalled what his father had told him time and again. "Never put your trust in other people," he had warned. "They come and they go, but the land is always here. You can love the land, son. It will never betray you."

Josh and his father knew well the pain of betrayal, the pain that loving a person could cause. They never spoke of it, but it was always there, hovering and haunting, coloring every aspect of their lives. And when Josh had buried his father, bequeathing him finally to the earth he loved, Josh had found himself completely alone except for his land. But that had been enough, then.

Lightning streaked across the horizon, and Josh tightened his grip on the girl in anticipation of the noise that would awaken her. He knew a sudden pity for this little Felicity, this rootless wanderer whose only remaining bond with the earth was a wagon which might not even survive the fury of the coming storm. She was as alone as he. For the first time he felt the burden of that loneliness as he cradled her protectively.

The crash of thunder jarred her awake, and for one horrible moment Felicity thought she was once again alone on the plains with that horrible storm breaking over her. But only for a moment. Strong arms tightened around her in silent comfort, and she became fully aware of her surroundings. A storm was breaking, all right, but Mr. Logan would protect her.

Shifting a little from her half-reclining position in his arms, she looked around. The clear blue sky was now gray and overcast, and a chill wind cut through the worn fabric of her dress. She had seen many of these storms in her life and knew the havoc they could wreak. She turned her gaze to the face of the man who held her. His grim expression chilled her more thoroughly than the cool breeze.

"How far are we from your ranch?" she asked.

"Too far," he replied, telling her that they would not make shelter before the storm hit. What he did not say, and hoped she would not notice, was that they were crossing a large gully. The ground beneath them was bone dry, but at any moment a flash flood could turn the gully into a raging river capable of carrying them and their horses to oblivion. But they had no other choice than to cross the gully, since to avoid it meant adding several hours to the trip. If only they could make it before… "Hold on!" Josh yelled, leaning forward to provide her body greater protection as he spurred his huge Appaloosa into a gallop.

Felicity clung for dear life. At first she only feared falling from the running animal, but then she heard the distant roar and understood with terrifying clarity the reason for the mad run. Flash flood!

Jarring, bouncing, clutching, and praying, Felicity caught a glimpse of the water, the enormous gray mass a hundred feet high, churning and foaming and charging relentlessly toward them. Closing her eyes against the horrible sight, she realized the Appaloosa was straining. They were running uphill. Uphill, away from the water-to safety! Her prayers changed, thanks mingling with entreaties for the other two men whom she could no longer see.

Josh was cursing his own stupidity. Why had he not allowed Cody to take the girl? The two of them together would not weigh much more than Josh alone, and Cody's mount could have easily carried them both at a dead run. He had stubbornly insisted on taking her himself, and now his horse was laboring under the double load. Would they make it? Would his stubbornness cost the girl's life as well as his own?

Expecting to see Cody and Grady race by him at any moment, Josh guided his mount up the ever-steepening incline to the plateau above that beckoned mockingly. The Appaloosa was straining but he wasn't winded. Thank God he had thought to ride the big animal this afternoon. A smaller pony would have faltered long since. A few more feet, only a few more. Josh risked one last glance at the water. Still plenty of time if they didn't slip. And then they were free.

The Appaloosa reared when Josh jerked him to a halt and turned him around to check the progress of his two friends. Just as the horse's front hooves hit the ground again, an agonized animal scream pierced the now constant thunder of the approaching flood.

The scream came again and again, and Felicity stared in horror at the horse that lay thrashing halfway up the hill, its foreleg snapped and shredded into a gory mass. The boy, the boy who had found her, had struggled free and was scrambling up the hill, but he would never make it ahead of the water. Even she could see that. He would disappear beneath the liquid avalanche as if he had never even existed.

Josh took in the scene in an instant. From the corner of his eye, he saw Grady's horse clawing its way over the top. Grady had not yet seen, and by the time Josh could call to him and get him to turn…

"Stay here!" he commanded, thrusting the girl to the ground. Without even making a conscious decision to do so, he spurred his horse back down the hill.