ALONG ABOUT THE time Ashley had decided her idea of becoming an outlaw was dumb, Arabel heaved a bored sigh and said something that could not be ignored.

"Imagine the two of us going clear out to the territories, only to meet cowboys and end up married. We could have settled for farmers in Kentucky, and saved ourselves from a long, long trip."

"I hope you aren't seriously looking to hitch yourself to any handy man and raise a litter of children, rather than do something useful with your life," Ashley groused, staring at her sister instead of at the rumps and twitching ears of four steadily plodding mules.

"Raising a family can be very rewarding."

"Not as rewarding as what I have in mind," replied without thinking over the consequences of such an announcement.

"You planning on chasing down outlaws and turning them in to collect the rewards?" Arabel laughed, increasing that laughter when the off-hand wheeler mule brayed at the unexpected sound. Jackson always had been a talker.

"Quite the opposite." She felt ignorant for having trapped herself into revealing plans she wasn't one hundred percent sure she even wanted to follow through with.

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