Chapter 2

One Month Later

"Once upon a time, in a land called California, there was a beautiful princess named Audra. She had long golden hair and a smile to rival the sunshine."

"What does 'rival' mean?" Audra asked.

"It means your smile was almost as bright as the sunshine, but nothing is really as bright as the sunshine – not even that smile of yours," Nick said.

Nick was 16; Audra was 6. Nick wasn't really all that keen on reading bedtime stories to his younger sister – especially when he'd rather be out on the range with the cattle, or downstairs with his parents, discussing ranch business. He thought he needed to be learning more about the ranch, because someday, he'd need to help run it, and he wasn't learning it up here.

But, big brother Jarrod was off at the war, so the bedtime story duty fell to him. Eugene, age 4, had already rolled over and fallen asleep – princess stories were not his cup of tea. But Audra was listening closely, especially since the story was about her. And her smile really did rival the sunshine. Nick liked seeing it.

He liked it so much that 15 years later, when he was roused from the nap he had slipped into while on the back of his horse, he was still smiling at the memory.

"Come on, Nick, wake up," Heath said.

Nick opened his eyes. The sunshine was still there, even if Audra's smile wasn't. And the cattle were all there again, too.

Nick sighed, "You know, I wish that sister of ours would come home from all those travels back east. She brightens up the ranch."

Heath chuckled. "What made you think of that?"

"Remembering how I used to tell her bedtime stories when she was little," Nick said. "She loved it – as long as I was making up a story about Princess Audra."

Heath laughed more. "Well, I hope you can hold off a bit longer. It's still three more days before she's due in on the train."

"You know trains. Three days will turn into four."

"Well, it'll be soon. Mother's already planning the party."

"I'm sorry Jarrod won't be here," Nick mused. "And with you and me leaving on a drive in a week or so…"

"Well," Heath said with a sigh, "if we don't get these critters all together, we won't be taking them to Modesto and we won't be getting gone on a drive. Come on!"

They went back to work, their minds back on the chore at hand, memories of a 6-year-old Audra retreating for Nick as the ugliest cows in California kept turning to stare at him. He sighed to think that once upon a time, he preferred their company to his siblings'.

XXXXXXX

Nick and Heath tossed a coin, and it was Nick who went with his mother to pick up his sister at the train depot, while Heath worked with the ranch hands to finalize getting the herd ready to move to Modesto. As Nick helped his mother out of the surrey at the depot, Victoria looked up to see people milling about the platform, but no train.

"Oh, I wonder how late it's really running," Victoria said.

"Knowing the Coastal and Western, we probably should have planned to come tomorrow instead of today," Nick asked.

"It better not be that bad," Victoria said.

Nick escorted his mother to the platform, then ducked into the office to see how bad the delay really was. He came out with a very unhappy face. "Bad news."

"How bad?" Victoria asked.

"It'll be here in half an hour or so."

Victoria swatted him, and he laughed. Then the two of them sat down on a bench there by the building.

"How much extra luggage do you think she'll come home with?" Nick pondered.

"With your sister, who knows?" Victoria asked. "She does favor those eastern fashions."

"You know, one of these days she's liable to come home with a husband."

"God forbid," Victoria said. "But I don't think she's likely to do that when she knows Carl Wheeler is still here and available."

"I know you really have an interest in seeing those two get together, but I just don't know if it's meant to be."

"Why not?"

"I'm just not sure Audra's gonna want to settle for a rancher. She's always liked her boyfriends to be a little more sophisticated and educated and like that."

"True, but you know what they say. Boys usually end up marrying their mothers, and girls end up marrying their fathers. And your father was a rancher."

Nick grunted a bit. "I suppose one day soon we'll be finding out what kind of husband Princess Audra really fancies."

"Come on, now, Nick. She's not that much of a princess."

"Oh, I didn't mean now. The other day I was remembering when Jarrod was off at the war and it was my job to make up the bedtime stories. I made up a lot of Princess Audra stories."

Victoria chuckled. "Like what?"

"Like Princess Audra trapped in the tower until she let down her hair so the handsome prince – that was me – could climb up."

Victoria laughed more. "That was 'Repunzel,' Nick."

Nick shrugged. "I never said my stories were original."

They kept chatting, and the extra half hour the train was taking to get there disappeared. But the train still didn't appear. "They probably held it in Sacramento because the train from the east was late," Victoria suggested.

When another half hour went by, Nick went back into the office. "What's going on?" he asked Chad, the station manager. "Where's the train from Sacramento?"

Chad shrugged. "I'm sorry, Nick. The last information I had put it in here half an hour ago."

"Can't you wire Sacramento?"

"I've tried. Nothing's going through. My guess is the lines are down."

"Where was the last stop you have confirmed?"

"Lodi, an hour ago. My guess is there's some kind of trouble on the wire between here and there. Maybe some kind of trouble on the track, too. Landslide, maybe."

Nick didn't like the sound of any of that. He grumbled as he went outside, thinking about what to do. When Victoria saw him, she didn't like the look of him at all. "What? What is it?" she asked.

"Chad in there heard from Lodi half an hour ago, but now he can't get through. Telegraph wires are down."

"Do you think we should talk to the sheriff?"

Nick gave it a thought. "Why don't you run over there and do that? I'm gonna go get a horse from the livery and ride up the line toward Lodi."

"You shouldn't go alone, Nick."

"I'm sure it's nothing more than a landslide blocking the track and tearing down the wires between here and Lodi, or something like that. Tell Fred to come after me, and we'll have this all cleared up in a few hours. After you talk to Fred, you head on home."

"Home is not where I want to be."

"I know, but it's the best place for you."

"No, I'm getting a room at the hotel. That way I'll be here when you find out what's happened. I won't be an hour away."

"All right," Nick caved in. "You go on and see Fred. I'll see you in a few hours."

Victoria headed straight for the sheriff's office while Nick jogged off to the livery. Sheriff Madden was posting new wanted posters when Victoria came in. He wasn't expecting her and was surprised when he looked over his shoulder. "Victoria! What brings you here?"

"Nick and I were just at the train depot to pick Audra up from the Sacramento train," Victoria said. "The train is an hour overdue and the last stop Chad has verified was Lodi. The telegraph wires are down and he can't reach them now. Nick has gotten a horse and is riding up the line, but I think you should go, too."

"Oh, it's probably nothing, Victoria," the sheriff said. "Nick will see what the problem is and be back before you know it."

"Fred, please," Victoria asked. "The train not here, no telegraph working – please go check it out."

The sheriff sighed. Audra had been gone for several weeks, and now Victoria didn't know what was happening with her daughter – "All right, I'll head right on up there. Is Nick riding the track?"

"Yes."

Sheriff Madden grabbed his holster and strapped it on. "Don't worry. We'll get to the bottom of this in a hurry."

"I'm going to the hotel," Victoria said as they left. "Please let me know when you get back."

Sheriff Madden nodded. "I'll do that. You just take it easy. I'm sure there's nothing wrong other than some kind of maintenance issue. You know how trains are."

"But the telegraph wires – "

"They have problems too, especially if there's a landslide or something. You just go sit tight. We'll be back before you know it."

The sheriff mounted up and took off. Victoria watched, trying hard not to worry – it was a train, for heaven's sake, they don't just vanish - but she worried anyway. Trying to get herself together, she headed for the hotel.