Three weeks before the adoption hearing, Caleb woke to smoke.
At first he thought he was dreaming.
Then Jasper screamed from the barn.
Caleb was out of bed instantly.
Orange light flashed through the bedroom window.
“Fire!”
Phoebe woke screaming.
Caleb ran into her room.
“Coat. Boots. Now.”
“What happened?”
“Barn.”
He wrapped a blanket around her and carried her outside.
Wind drove sparks across the yard.
The barn roof was already burning.
Caleb set Phoebe near the well.
“Stay here!”
“Jasper!”
“I'll get him.”
Caleb ran into the barn.
Smoke swallowed him.
Jasper kicked against his stall.
Two cows bellowed.
Caleb released them one by one.
A burning beam fell behind him.
Phoebe screamed his name.
He reached Jasper.
The horse's eyes were wild.
“Come on!”
Caleb freed him.
Jasper charged out.
Caleb followed seconds before part of the roof collapsed.
By the time neighbors arrived, the barn could not be saved.
Morning revealed the damage.
Hay gone.
Tack destroyed.
Winter feed ruined.
Half the fence burned.
Caleb stood among smoking timbers.
Phoebe held his hand.
“Can we rebuild?”
“Yes.”
He said it automatically.
Then Sheriff Holloway approached.
“Caleb.”
Something in his tone was wrong.
“What?”
Holloway held up a small glass bottle.
“Kerosene.”
Caleb stared.
“Found behind the barn.”
“Accident?”
“No.”
The fire had been set.
The question was by whom.
Suspicion immediately turned toward Vernon Lund.
He had been released pending trial on forgery charges.
But Vernon was reportedly in Omaha.
At least according to his attorney.
Then another possibility emerged.
The proposed railroad route had been officially announced.
It crossed directly through part of Phoebe's inherited Lund property.
Land buyers had already begun approaching.
One man had offered a remarkable sum.
Caleb refused because the property legally belonged to Phoebe and he would not sell without court approval.
Two days later, someone had burned his barn.
Whitcomb saw the connection.
“Could be intimidation.”
Caleb's expression hardened.
“Let them try again.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“That's exactly the wrong attitude.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Think like a father.”
“I am.”
“No, you're thinking like a man who wants to confront whoever did this. A father thinks about whether Phoebe is safe.”
That stopped him.
Eleanor was right.
For several nights Phoebe stayed with the Turners while Caleb and Sheriff Holloway investigated.
Phoebe hated being away.
“You're sending me away.”
“Temporarily.”
“You promised.”
Caleb knelt.
“I'm protecting you.”
“Papa used to say that when he left me with Mrs. Turner.”
“And he came back.”
Phoebe's eyes filled.
“Not the last time.”
Caleb's heart twisted.
He pulled her close.
“This isn't the same.”
“How do you know?”
Because he could not promise life.
Because people died.
Because fires happened.
Because evil existed.
Instead Caleb said, “I don't. But courage isn't knowing nothing bad will happen. It's loving people anyway.”
Phoebe sniffled.
“Miss Reed told you that?”
Caleb frowned.
“No.”
“It sounds like her.”
Even terrified, the child could embarrass him.
He smiled.
“Maybe she rubbed off on me.”
Phoebe eventually agreed to stay with May.
The investigation broke open three days later.
A hired farmhand named Lewis Crane was arrested after trying to sell Caleb's distinctive silver-mounted saddle in Fairbury.
The saddle had supposedly burned.
It had actually been removed before the fire.
Under questioning, Crane confessed.
He had been paid.
Not by Vernon.
By a railroad speculator named Edgar Fallon.
Fallon had tried purchasing the Lund land cheaply before public announcement of the route.
Anders had refused.
After Anders died, Fallon assumed a guardian could be pressured.
Caleb proved harder.
The barn fire was meant to frighten him into selling.
Fallon was arrested.
The adoption hearing remained scheduled.
But Caleb now faced another problem.
Financial damage from the fire was severe.
The court could question whether he remained capable of supporting Phoebe.
Caleb considered selling part of his own ranch.
Then something happened he never expected.
Neighbors came.
First Silas Turner.
Then Reverend Barnes.
Then men from Deshler.
Then families Caleb barely knew.
Wagons arrived carrying lumber.
Hay.
Feed.
Nails.
A carpenter named Joseph Bell brought six men.
Miss Reed organized meals.
By noon, forty people filled Caleb's yard.
Caleb stood speechless.
Silas handed him a hammer.
“You planning to watch?”
“I can't pay everybody.”
“Nobody asked.”
“Silas—”
“Good men travel, Morgan.”
Caleb froze.
Phoebe had told May the phrase.
Apparently May had told everybody.
Silas smiled.
“Sometimes they travel with lumber.”
For three days, the community rebuilt the barn.
Phoebe returned on the second day.
She stood on the porch watching dozens of neighbors.
“Are they all good men?”
Caleb glanced at the women carrying food and lumber.
“Good people.”
Phoebe nodded seriously.
“Papa was right.”
Caleb looked across the prairie.
“Yes.”
That evening Eleanor sat beside him.
“You're not alone, Caleb.”
“I've been noticing.”
“You've spent years acting like independence means nobody gets close enough to help.”
He gave her a sideways glance.
“You always talk this much?”
“Only when I'm right.”
He smiled.
Then became serious.
“Eleanor.”
“Yes?”
“I was afraid.”
“Of the fire?”
“No.”
She understood.
“Of us?”
He nodded.
“I loved Margaret. Losing her almost destroyed me.”
“I know.”
“Then Phoebe came along and somehow I let myself love her.”
“Children don't ask permission.”
“No.”
Caleb looked at Eleanor.
“And now there's you.”
She did not move.
He continued.
“I can't promise you life won't hurt.”
“I wouldn't believe you if you did.”
“I can't promise I won't be afraid.”
“Neither can I.”
“But I don't want fear choosing for me anymore.”
Eleanor's eyes softened.
Caleb reached for her hand.
She let him take it.
Inside the house, Phoebe appeared at the window.
Her face pressed against the glass.
Caleb noticed.
“She's watching.”
Eleanor did not turn.
“I know.”
“She'll ask questions.”
“I know.”
“A lot.”
“I teach children for a living.”
Caleb smiled.
Then kissed Eleanor.
It was gentle.
Brief.
And somehow more terrifying than riding through a burning barn.
When they separated, Phoebe opened the window.
“I saw that!”
Caleb closed his eyes.
Eleanor laughed.
Phoebe leaned farther out.
“Does that mean Miss Reed is staying for supper?”
Eleanor called back, “Only if Caleb asks.”
Phoebe turned toward him expectantly.
Caleb looked at Eleanor.
“Stay for supper?”
“I'd like that.”
Phoebe disappeared from the window.
They heard her shout inside.
“MISS PRINE! IT WORKED!”
Caleb stared.
Eleanor burst out laughing.
Apparently, Caleb realized, he and Eleanor were the last two people informed of Phoebe's plan.
For once, he didn't mind.