Chapter One

The wind began blowing as Nick pushed Coco forward, passing a few bushes. He'd been gone for a good two weeks and was looking forward to arriving home, kicking off his boots and simply relaxing. Nick couldn't help but wonder if he'd have been better off seeking anywhere that would give him shelter for a few hours – as the wind was starting to pick up even more. It wasn't like his family was expecting him home-he was actually a couple days ahead of schedule.

"Whoa!" Nick let go of his hat as he took a hold of the reins with both of his hands instead of just one. A couple of small squirrels had run in front of Coco, almost hit him in fact. They had startled the horse and caused the fine animal to rear up in the air. In between the wind which had doubled in power and Coco whirling one way and the other, Nick found himself sitting in the middle of the dirt road and Coco galloping off in the direction of the ranch.

Cursing, Nick stood only to find himself falling to the ground as pain shot through his right ankle. He didn't know if it was broken or just badly sprained, only he knew wouldn't be walking on it. He looked around. When he saw a couple of boulders sitting near a couple of trees, he crawled over to them. The trees might not be the best shelter, only he'd rather be sitting next to either a tree or boulder as he tried to figure out what to do.

When a clap of thunder echoed in the distance, Nick-who had been deep in thought- startled and looked around. Though, in all honesty, he wasn't really sure why. It's not like there was anything useful lying around. Just as he accepted that it was going to rain and he was going to get soaked to the bone, he heard the sound of a wagon. He sat up as straight as he could and looked towards the approaching wagon.

"What!" He couldn't help exclaimed as the man and woman sitting on the buckboard came into view. He had no clue to who man was only the woman…she was the last one he'd expected to see near Stockton. That is, he was convinced of it until the wagon stopped and the man climbed down, walked over to him, and began talking.

"You'd think I'd know better than to argue with Leah. When she says someone's in trouble; someone is." As the nicely dressed, silver haired gentleman talked, he was also kneeling down. "What happened? Which leg is hurt?" He asked as he glanced sideways.

Nick – who was shocked to hear the man refer to the woman by the name of Leah- told him everything and then asked if the stranger could take him to the Barkley ranch. "I'd appreciate it, sir."

"Name's Eric Miller; however, you can call me Fen. Nickname, and too long of a story to explain how I got it." The gentleman smiled and then turned, looked towards the wagon and called out, "Come and help me, Leah! We need to get this gentleman into the wagon!"

"Yes, Uncle Fen! I'm coming!" The blonde-haired woman climbed down from the wagon.

Nick was startled. The voice and face did not match the name Leah to him. Only, as much as he wanted her to be someone else-something was telling him he was wrong. 'She needs to talk again.' Nick thought silently.

'Fen' turned back to towards the injured rancher. "It's going to rain on us soon. We need to get you into the wagon and then find a place to park."

"I know a place, just up the road, an old, abandoned shack. It's not large only it will give us shelter." Nick told Mr. Miller as the gentleman and his niece helped him up. It took a bit only soon Nick was sitting in the back of the wagon.

"Where are you from?" Nick asked as he felt a drop of rain-he hoped the abandoned shack he was thinking about would come into view soon.

"Originally?" Fen continued to smile. "New York, only you can't tell it by my speech. I've been living all over the west for too many years to keep that accent in my voice." The gentleman chuckled without looking backwards. "My niece here, she can speak for herself."

"I was born in Colorado only raised in Nevada, Utah territory, Montana and a number of other places." Leah readjusted the way she was sitting and looked at Nick. She'd seen the way Nick looked at her when she'd rushed to help her uncle with him, and the way he was studying her now. No one had to tell her why either. She was ninety-nine percent sure she knew exactly what 'the problem' was. "My father didn't let the grass grow under his family's feet. Sort of wish he had for my twin sister's sake." Okay, maybe she should just flat out say her twin's name only- she was still torn between being upset with 'that woman' and feeling sorry for her. She wasn't surprised when her uncle gave her a reprimanding look.

Twin sister? Nick's eyes widened. He didn't know… he stopped himself mid thought and frowned slightly. The more he thought on it, there was something different in the tone of her voice. The more he thought on that, Nick realized just how little he knew of the woman he'd met- one that had to be Leah's twin sister. If the woman wasn't, then Leah had a triplet. He would have started asking questions only the abandoned shack had come into view, and a few more drops of rain had fallen.

"Best head over there!" Nick pointed towards the line shack. "We can take shelter in it for now." 'Hope it's still abandoned.' Nick thought as Mr. Miller pushed the horses towards the shack.

By the time they had parked the wagon and put the horses under a lean-to that was attached to the shack, it had started to rain steadily-though it didn't down right pour until they were inside and had Nick resting on the 'couch'.

"Until someone claims this place - and takes the time to properly fix that door-the wind will only blow the door open again." Nick looked at the door Leah had shut once he was on the couch. "I know; I've had to take refuge here before." Since the door had been wide open when they arrived - Mr. Miller had no reason to doubt the words Nick spoke. The gentleman hurried and lowered the wooden handle that was used to lock the door.