The trek westward from San Felipe out to the new land took much longer than was really necessary. Andrew seemed to know every settler for miles on either side of the trail, and a stop at each place was made mandatory by the eager hospitality which isolation had instilled in these Texas pioneers. It was a breach of etiquette, almost a cruelty, to pass by a place without stopping for at least a howdy, a chance for the womenfolk to learn what was new back in the old states, time for the menfolk to spit and whittle and talk some politics. Frank seemed especially to enjoy it, for he had always been one to whom no man remained a stranger long, and no woman if she was comely, though being married to Hope had tamed that aspect of his personality somewhat. Annie found the settlers eager to see more of their own kind moving in around them. She mentally calculated that if she lived up to every return visit she had promised the women along the way, she would spend much of the summer at it.

Zaragosa left them at the first stop they made beyond San Felipe. He was eager to pick up his son and return to his family and duties at Bexar. He would let Michael, Marie, and Petra know the wagons were coming. Annie could see that Andrew genuinely regretted seeing him go. Frank was lavish but sincere in his gratitude for all of Zaragosa’s help. James shook Zaragosa’s hand and said, “Thanks,” but Annie thought he had to work at it a little. She wondered about James sometimes.

Andrew reined in beside her wagon and pointed toward a long log structure to the left of the road. “That’s the Willet farm,” he said. “I promise you, this is the last place we stop. But Widow Willet wouldn’t forgive us if we passed her by.”

James asked, “Widder? What happened to her husband?”

Andrew was hesitant in his answer, looking uneasily at Annie. “An Indian raid. But that was about five years ago.

Been mighty little Indian trouble in this colony for a long time.”

Annie read more into his words than he had said. “You’re wishin’ I hadn’t come.”

“I never said that. I’ve got a family, and so has Michael. If we didn’t feel like it was safe, they wouldn’t be here.”

James volunteered, “I never did encourage Annie to come. I was against it from the start.”

Andrew gave Annie a thin smile. “I’m glad she did. She’ll be good company for Petra and Marie. As for me and Michael, she’s our baby sister.”

James declared, “Been a long time since she was a baby. Back home, they was already figurin’ her for an old maid.”

Andrew’s smile widened. “I think it’s a little early yet to be callin’ her such a thing. She’s just now come into full bloom.”

Mrs. Willet reminded Annie a little of Mother Moreno, though she was several years younger and much lighter of skin. Whatever the nightmare of losing her husband had been, she had long since made peace with the world. She had her children about her, and a couple of small grandchildren from her son Zeb and a willowy young woman called Birdy. Mrs. Willet talked at length about their plans for expanding the farm, their bright hopes for the future.