Nate showed up with his team, all of them dressed in dungarees and chambray shirts with the sleeves rolled back. The mayor had said they'd needed a uniform of some sort, and this was what they'd come up with.

The miners wore any old thing they'd washed that month, and Zeke and Bernie's team all had new red bandannas tied around their necks.

The Shady Lady's players were unmistakable and right in character in their colorful low-cut satin dresses and ankle-high boots. Lily never missed an opportunity to flaunt or shine, and she was shining this morning.

She wore the red dress she'd had on the day Judge Adams had inspected her employees and searched her business and home for the Brand girl. Black lace trimmed the bodice, and she wore a black straw hat to keep the sun from her eyes.

Nate scanned the crowd for reactions and noted that Lily had drawn attention exactly as he knew she'd planned. "Costumes don't make a good team," he told his teammates.

George gathered the team leaders and went over the rules. They drew straws to determine who would play each other first.

Everyone got a look at the competition this way, and the weaker teams were defeated quickly.

The miners were tough competition, lasting to the finals. By the time they broke for lunch, everyone needed a second wind.

Mitch sat with the Gibbs family, the Douglases, Spooner, and Clive and Suzanna.

The Callahans had prepared and packed baskets full of food and drinks. "Don't overeat," Clive warned his team members.

The employees from the dance hall were lounging on the back of a wagon and in the surrounding grass. They had unpacked a crate of sandwiches, fruit and cheese, and were obviously enjoying the outing and the nice day.

"Can you believe they wore those dresses?" Beatrice spoke to Evangeline and Catherine Douglas, but Nate overheard. "It's bad enough they were allowed to join this activity, but to flaunt their sordid occupations in our faces is rude beyond extreme."

"Clothes don't make the person," Nate said.

Beatrice gave him a disapproving look, and Evangeline studied him.

"It's for a good cause," Catherine said. "Their entry fee is going the same place ours is."

Amos frowned at his wife, and she looked sorry she'd spoken. She studied her sandwich in her lap.

Evangeline observed the gathering from beneath the brim of her wide hat. "I think I'd have been disappointed if they'd come attired in any other fashion."

The comment surprised Nate.

It apparently shocked her mother. She stared at the young woman as though she'd spoken heresy and her hand went to her bosom.

"Well, they're sure colorful," Spooner pointed out. "And they whupped all the other teams so far, no matter what they got on. Guess we'd best be thinkin' less about their dresses and more about hittin' the balls."

Howard and Wade's team lost that afternoon, as did Bernie and Zeke's. At the end, the miners competed against the mayor's team to see who would play the Shady Lady after church the next day.

Nate remained frustrated with Peyton's lack of performance. Now that Lily's team had done so well, he didn't want to lose.

One of the miners got struck in the head with a fly ball. Doc Umber treated him and he was hauled off the field.

Nate took his turn at bat with determination. When the ball was pitched, he swung and hit it with a thwack that splintered his bat and sent the ball sailing beyond the field. His home run brought in the players on the bases and won the match.

So it would be his team against Lily's.

They glanced at each other as congratulations and good-natured ribbing went on all around them. Lily loved a good fight, and he had no doubt that she'd give the game her all the following day.

"Will you stop by this evening for a game of cribbage?" Evangeline asked.

She'd beat him three games out of five the last few times they played. "I probably do need to salvage my dignity."

She laughed. "Mother says if I insist on occupying myself with such a vulgar pastime, I should at least let you win."

"I appreciate that you don't," he replied. "I wouldn't want to wonder. This way, the fact that you're more clever than I isn't a secret."

She seemed inordinately pleased by his statement, smiling and tucking her arm through his.

"I'll see you early this evening," he told her. "I won't be able to stay long. It's Saturday night."

He bathed at home, dressed in fresh clothing and buckled on his holster. At the livery, he saddled his horse and rode the perimeter of town, observing tracks and studying the landscape.

Smoke he'd noticed earlier in the day caught his attention and he rode out to investigate. The smoke curled from a campfire near the Little Deer Creek, as he'd suspected.

Instead of the miner he thought he'd see, however, he found a woman and several children camped beside a wagon. Roasting on a spit over the fire was a squirrel.

Nate climbed down and walked toward the campfire.

The woman looked nervously toward the oldest boy, who appeared about twelve. He wore pants that showed the tops of his boots and bore patches in both knees.

She said something to him, and he picked up a rifle that had been leaning against the wagon and handed it to his mother. She kept the barrel lowered, but the message was plain.

Nate swept off his hat. "How do, ma'am. Sheriff Nathaniel Harding's the name."

"We haven't broken any laws, have we?" she asked.

Two little girls sat on the ground and nearby another held a baby.

"No, ma'am. I saw your fire and came to have a look. Been mighty dry in these parts."

"I'm very careful," she told him. "We're not bothering anybody out here."

"No, no," he agreed easily. "Just doin' my job."

"We're preparing our supper. Would you care to join us?"

That squirrel would barely feed the lot of them, let alone another mouth, but the woman had her pride. "Thank you, ma'am, that's generous, but I had my supper. You travelin' alone?"

He didn't even see a coffeepot. A jug that probably held water sat on the ground.

"No. My husband is hunting."

"He a miner?"

She nodded.

"Where are you headed?"

"East," she said simply, then looked away.

"Good luck to you. Maybe I'll see you in town."

Nate got on his horse, paused to look over the woman and five children, then rode out.

There was no man, he'd bet a dollar to a plug nickel. She'd either been too afraid or too embarrassed to say so.

Later as he played cards with Evangeline, he had trouble focusing on the game. Making rounds of the streets and businesses in the dark, his thoughts strayed back to that mother and her children alone out there in the night. He'd camped out a thousand nights alone, but he was a man. He'd even be uncomfortable knowing Lily was alone at a camp, and she was the most self-sufficient woman he knew.

He couldn't imagine how they'd make it any farther east with those tired-looking horses and no food or supplies. Maybe there'd been provisions under the tarp on the wagon, but he doubted it.

Later in the evening, Nate visited each of the saloons and eventually made his way to the Shady Lady. Lily and her girls were celebrating their base ball skills with an evening of red beer and red dresses. He perched on a stool at the bar and smiled at their frivolity. Thomas played his banjo and made up a ribald song about Lily and the balls she'd sent flying that day.

Lily called an end to his composition and asked the musicians to play a song Helena could sing to.

The Polish woman stood on a chair in the midst of the gathering and sang a song in her native language. It was haunting, the simple notes and the longing in her voice conveying a universal message of love. When she sang it through once more in English, there wasn't a dry eye in the dance hall. Love lost. Love longed for. The applause was slow in coming as listeners came out of the spell she'd woven.

"I didn't tell you to make us all blubber like babies," Lily chided her, swiping at her eyes. "Get on with something cheerful."

As the music resumed behind her, Lily picked up a few empty bottles and made her way to the bar.

"Evening, Sheriff."

"Miss Lily."

He was nursing a now-warm beer.

"Want a fresh drink?"

"I'm good."

"That was an impressive hit today."

He shrugged. "Your whole team is impressive."

Her grin brought a sparkle to her eyes. "We are, aren't we?"

"Sheriff?" one of the miners called to Nate from the doorway. "There's somebody out here wants to talk to ya."

Nate got up and crossed to the bat wing doors. In the glow of the gas lamp stood a boy. Recognition dawned immediately. The boy who was camped outside town with his mother and siblings.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

NATE LED HIM AWAY from the noisy saloon, and they stood at the corner of the street. "What's on your mind, son?"

"You're really the sheriff, ain't ya?"

"I am."

"I don't think my ma trusted you right off."

"That's understandable. And wise."

"We don't have a place to live anymore."

"What happened?"

"My pa sold all the furniture and the stock and took off. The house and land didn't belong to us. The mortgage came due and we couldn't live there no more."

"So you've been living out of your wagon since then?"

The lad nodded.

"How long has it been?"

"Weeks, I think. Not sure how many. Even I know fall's comin', and that means winter. We might be doin' all right for now, but soon it'll be cold and there won't be blankets or food. My ma's doin' the best she can."

"Sure she is. Do you have any family? Grandparents?"

"My grandma back in Nebraska is old. My mom's pa won't have nothin' to do with us."

"What's your name?"

"Boone, sir. Boone Waldrop."

Nate extended a hand. "Pleased to meet you, Boone. You're a fine man for looking out for your ma and your sisters."

The boy's hand was small, the bones in his fingers delicate in Nate's enormous paw. "Brother, too," he added. "He's just one."

"It's a good thing you came to me. You and me can get some help."

"Like what?"

Nate glanced down the street. "I'm not sure what just yet. But don't you worry. We'll take care of things. Does your ma have bullets for that rifle?"

Boone nodded.

"Good." He propped his hands on his hips. "What about food? You got supplies in that wagon?"

Boone shook his head.