Mina was so cold that Chaeyoung had to lift her down from the horse. As snow whirled all around them, the girl took her hand and led her into the house.

A rush of warm air hit Mina's face as she stepped inside. A cheerful fire burned in the fireplace, and Chaeyoung guided her to the warmth. She took a brightly colored Indian blanket from the back of a chair and placed it around her shoulders.

"Stay here where it's warm. I'm going to see to the horse."

Her teeth were chattering, and all she could do is to nod. She dropped down in front of the fire, sprawling in it's warmth. When she was able to move, she glanced around the room. The log walls had been honed and smoothed and whitewashed. A woven Indian rug covered the plank floor, and several Indian artifacts hung on the walls. Three rifles hung over the fireplace, and a coatrack stood near the door. There was a small high-backed bench and two straight-back chaired. A battered desk was the only other furniture, and she noticed the neat stacks of paper on top. A shelf attached to the wall held several books. There were no curtains at the two small windows, the lass wonder for a moment, whenever she'd looked, there's no womanly frills in the girls room of any kind. It is very manly room, well for the least, its surprisingly neat and clean.

She could see a bed through one of the doors, so she suspects the door to her left would lead to a kitchen.

Mina heard someone stomping the snow off outside the kitchen and thought Chaeyoung had returned. But a young boy entered with an armload of firewood. She thinks the boy is just merely on his fourteen or fifteen of age.

He placed more logs on the fire and put the rest in a wood bin. Only then did he removed his hat, smiling brightly. "I'm Young K, ma'am. Chaeyoung noona asked me to tell you she'd be in shortly."

He had sandy hair and soft brown eyes and a shy smile. She could tell that he was nervous, because he kept shuffling to his feet, so she tried to put him at ease. "I'm pleased to meet you, Young K. My name is Myoui Mina. Do you live here at the ranch?"

"Yes, ma'am. Me, Kim Wonpil and Im Junhyuk are Ms. Son's hired hands. Junhyuk hyungs wife, Yerin, is the one taken care of the laundry." He nodded toward the door. "We lived in the bunkhouse, just beyond the barn. And the Im couple live in a small house just beyond that."

Mina smiled at the amount of information Young K imparted to her in such a short time. She'd already learned more from him than Chaeyoung had told her in all the time they had spent together.

Young K backed toward the door and putted back his hat on his head, then touched the brim. "Ma'am."

Cold wind swirled through the room when he opened the front door. After he'd gone, she frowned thoughtfully. She knew so little about Chaeyoung; she never talked about herself. She had not mentioned anything to her about her ranch helper. But of course she'd have hired hands to help out on the ranch. Otherwise she could not have gone looking for her.

She was luxuriating in the blissfull warmth when the door opened and Chaeyoung entered. She hung her coat and hat on the coatrack and came toward the fire. She moved over so the girl could sit beside her.

"Storm's getting worse," she said worriedly. "I'll probably lose more cattle before it blows itself out. Wonpil said we've already lost twenty head."

"I'm not surprised. It's been an unusually harsh winter. I'm so sorry about your cattle."

She tossed several more logs on the fire. "I keep forgetting you are a rancher's daughter." the girl gazed down a her. "Of course, your father could lose several thousand head, and it wouldn't hurt him."

"It wouldn't hurt him now. But there was a time father had to struggle to keep the ranch from being taken for taxes." the lass looked into Chaeyoung's eyes, suddenly feeling angry. "You don't have a very high regard for my family, do you?"

There was a remorse in the girl eyes. "I know it sounds that way to you, but you are wrong. The Myoui name is well respected in the state. And you have my greatest respect."

"Then why do you --"

She couldn't tell the lass that she had to use every means at her disposal to keep her at arm's length. She knew she shouldn't strike out at her with cruel words, but she couldn't seem to stop herself. "I have lived too much away from civilization, and my social graces aren't what they should be. I don't know how to treat a woman like you.

"You treat a woman like me just as you would treat any other woman. Actually, you have been wonderful to me, except for the times when you imply that I'm spoiled and always want my own way. Who else would have gone right into the Hong brothers' hideout to rescue a woman she didn't even know?"

The girl touched Mina's arm. "Sometimes I speak without thinking. Please forgive me."

A tender smile formed on her lips. "Of course."

"Have you ever had to do without anything you really wanted?" Chaeyoung asked Mina, trying to understand her. She was feeling unsure of herself because she was all too aware of the shabbiness of her house now that the lass is in it.

She stared into the fire for a moment before she answered. "I have known extremely hard times, Chaeyoung."

She cursed herself for being a fool. The lass had been kidnapped, roughly handled, probably