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Chapter One

1913 Montana

Eloise Jenkins, Eli for short, was walking the train tracks toward town, when a group of boys approached.

"It's a boy." The kids argued.

"Its a girl." They talked like she couldn't hear them. "Hey, I'll let you ride my bicycle if you show me what's under that shirt." One of the brave boys bargained.

She kept walking, but they were relentless.

"Hey, I said something to you." One of the boys grabbed her shoulder and spun her around, but it was the biggest mistake of his life.

She kneed him in the groin, then elbowed him in the back.

"Leave me alone!" She warned as he fell to the ground in pain.

The other boys laughed. "It's a girl."

The boys could tell by the sound of her voice, but Eli didn't find it funny in the least.

"Is anybody else going to dare to touch me?" She asked as one boy laid on the ground crying.

"Not unless you ask for it." Another one laughed as he teased.

She turned and walked away. She is new to town and wasn't interested in making enemies. Her baggy pants, oversized button up shirt, and newspaper boy cap, made it hard to tell she's a girl from afar, but her soft facial features of a girl were apparent if anyone dared to get close enough.

In a town where most people know each other, it was big news when new people move to town, unless you're Leo Standish, and don't have time for petty gossip.

Leo stands in his oversized stone mansion yelling at his middle-aged housekeeper.

"I allowed you to bring your son to live in this house under the agreement he behaves himself. One more strike Mrs. Lamont, and you're out without a job or a home." He slams his office door shut and takes a seat behind his desk.

Leo is young for the amount of power he has been given. His father was a ruthless man, but ailments of the heart took his life only a year ago. His mother died twenty-five years ago during the birth of his parent's only child.

The rest of his family lives in the east, the very place Leo studied to be an attorney and was forced to leave because of his father's passing.

Most would be thankful for the two thousand acres Leo inherited, but he despised this land. A stipulation in his father's will has trapped Leo in the middle of this wilderness for another year. If he wanted to be a rancher, he would never have went to Boston.

His father made millions on the railroad, and this land has made him much more, but it was never enough for the small family of two.

Leo himself was wealthy before his father's death. An inheritance he received from his grandfather in Boston, elevated his station within the Boston elite.

Leo loved high society. In fact, he thrived in it along with the perks of being wealthy. Respect was showered upon him and women threw themselves at him. Now he sits in the west where men greatly outnumber women.

Eli was never as fortunate. Her mother left her when she was five with her drunk of a father. Together they roamed from one ranch to another, as her father could never keep a job for long.

She hasn't received much education, although she is bright and she works hard picking up her father's slack. She doesn't let her size stand in the way of a job well done.

She is surrounded by men. Some are kind, but some are like her father, abusive drunks that have no problem attempting to violate her, but those aren't the guys she fears the most. The evilest men are the ones that don't need alcohol to do evil things.

Eli often wonders what it would be like to wear the beautiful dresses she sees on the women who live in the big houses of the ranches she has lived.

She rarely gets to leave the ranch, so when she does, she just wants to be left alone.

A few years ago, she and her father lived on a ranch in Wyoming where the rancher's wife took her under her wing. The kind woman was never blessed with children of her own. She introduced Eli to Austen and Dante. She educated her, but like all the other ranches she lived on, her father was fired.

There are others that live on the ranch about her age. One of them being a boy whose mother works in the big house. His name is Joseph, and loves to stir up trouble.

The walk to town is a long one, which had her walking all day. She had slipped a few coins from her father's drawer in hopes of finding the perfect book. She also had a much larger reason to take the full day trip to town. She slips a letter in the mail and hopes for a response. The postman has instructions to hold back any mail she may receive in return. Once she finally completed her errands, she dared to follow the same tracks home in the dead of night.

Eli is typically a brave girl, taking chances that most would acknowledge as idiotic, which includes tonight as she walked home in the dark.

The bitter evening air made her hug herself for warmth as she walked. Every noise she hears sends fear through her small frame.

A twig snaps as she senses the presence of something she's sure means her harm. She walked a little faster, and the footsteps draw closer. Suddenly the hair on her neck stands, and goosebumps form on her soft skin. She shivers in fear as she realizes whatever made that noise, is right behind her.

She suddenly turns and strikes, then hears a thud and a groan.

"OUCH!" Cried out a voice just as a face became clear from the natural light of the moon.

"Why'd you do that for?"

"Joseph?"

"You're dangerous." He moaned.

"You haven't seen anything yet. Sneak up on me again, and you'll see what I'm capable of doing to you."

She offered her hand and helped pull him up.

"Why are you out here all alone?" He asked as he rubbed his soon to be a black eye.

"Same as you, I'm walking." She turned and walked away from the boy.

"I mean, why are you walking so late? It's dangerous out here at night." He isn't just referring to the wildlife, but the random hobos that are sometimes spotted on the tracks.

"It's no more dangerous for me than it is for you." She said as he caught up to her and walked beside her toward home. She smiles at the fact that it would most likely be herself defending the boy, instead of the other way around.

"It's different for girls. Men want to do bad things, where all they would want to do to me is rob me." He chuckled. "I don't have anything but a pocket knife for them to take."

"You could fight them off with a pocket knife." She suggested, but he only smirked.

"There's a cattle drive coming up, and cook said I could come along and help him." Joseph is a few years younger than Eli, and she finds his eagerness adorable. She only hopes her father is going on this one cattle drive. It could mean weeks of peace and quiet, as long as the not so kind men go along.

Joseph walks her to her bunkhouse, and feels proud he was able to provide her protection for the evening.

"I'm certain to see you tomorrow, Joseph." He gives her a nod as he began to walk to the main house.

Leo sat by the warm fire in his den drinking a glass of his fathers best bourbon, when he heard the young man enter. He finds the scrawny boy annoying.

"You would do best to be in your room by nightfall," Leo speaks without turning toward the boy.

Feeling proud of himself he stops to brag. "I was providing protection to a young lady. She wanted a walk in the night."

Leo laughs at the boy since he did find it amusing.

"What were you providing protection against, a rabid mouse? Still, I'm unsure you would be the one doing the protecting. Besides, I'm unaware of any young female occupants in the bunkhouses.

Joseph hates the owner of this ridiculously large home. He is arrogant, and for some reason loves to pick on the boy.

"I was walking Eli home." He said in a confident tone.

Leo took the last sip of the amber liquid and stood. "I'm not one to buy into such stories. Go on now, get to bed, because I believe you have plenty of chores in the morning." He poured himself another drink.

Leo would know of any young women on the ranch, although he is aware of a few young men that bunk with their fathers. There are young families, but no women that need to be escorted home in the dead of night. If there was a young woman, he would be completely aware.

Leo isn't as thorough as his father, mainly because he is just sulking his year on the ranch away. He has no appreciation of the ranch and what it provides for him.

He sat by the fire and lit a cigar, before opening a book and reading. He is restless and bored without the company of a female for nearly a year in this place. The women on the ranch are old enough to be his mother, but he has considered the option just to tame his desires.

He stops reading and thinks back to the girl he left behind in Boston. Her long silky hair fell down her back and her skin was like satin. She smelled of wildflowers and had a sweet taste. Once again Leo will fall asleep longing for the company of a beautiful woman. He thinks he has it so rough, but he has no idea what a rough life looks like, but Eli knows very well how hard life can be. She falls asleep dreaming of faraway places, where she could be the adventurous woman she so badly wants to be.

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