Dust hung heavily in the air as Chaeyoung watched Eun Junho from Myoui's ranch direct his drovers to cut the bulls from the herd. The trail boss pushed his dusty hat off his forehead and turned to Chaeyoung, grinning.

"Easiest drive I ever had. Looks like they made it without losing much poundage."

Chaeyoung's gaze went over the thousand head approvingly. She'd never seen a finer breed. "They look good to me."

"You want a head count? As far as I know, we only lost two."

"Your word is good enough for me, Junho. If you'll come up to the house I have a bank draft for you to take to your boss."

Junho blotted the sweat from his brow. "Can't do it, Ms. Son. I don't handle the money side of the business. Mr. Myoui will take care of that."

Chaeyoung had taken a mortgage on the ranch to get the money to pay her father-in-law, she wanted it in his hands as soon as possible.

"There's food at the bunkhouse. Take the men up there and see that they're fed."

"I heard Zed's been cooking." Junho said meaningfully. "There ain't a man of us that can drink that old man's coffee."

Chaeyoung laughed. "I heard that about his coffee--that's why I've steered clear of drinking it. But I believe my wife helped him cook today."

The older man nodded in approval. "Then we'll feast. Miss Myoui---er, Mrs. Son's quite a cook."

Chaeyoung motioned for Young K and Wonpil to drive the cattle onto the mesa, where there was more sweet grass. "Come on, Junho, I'll ride to the house with you."

It was after sundown before Chaeyoung got a chance to look at the herd. Mr. Myoui had chosen prime beef for her. She shook her head. This was a mighty fine herd, and tbey would yield good beef for the army.

She glanced over the valley dotted with cattle. Life was good, and with Mina beside her, it got better everyday.

It was a beautiful midsummer day, the sun was shining, and a warm breeze blew from the south.

Chaeyoung had workers building a new bedroom and enlarging the parlor, as Mina had wanted. Her wife had been stuck in the house for over a week because the men had been too busy with the large herd and unable to ride with her.

She needed fresh air, and she was tired of listening to the hammering of the builders. Chaeyoung had said she'd be riding to the west pasture that morning, and she made up a basket of food and decided to ride out and surprise Chaeyoung.

She thought Zed might be in the barn, because he was never far away from her. He wouldn't mind riding out with her. There had been word of Lee Hyeong Gyun, so she'd begun to relax. Word had reached them that Jeongyeon had been transferred to serve under the command of Capt. Young Min Ho in the 7th Cavalry, so there would be no point in Lee pursuing her any longer. Probably Mr. Lee had left Seoul, because every lawman in the state was looking for him. She knew that her father had put a large bounty on Lee's head, and most likely every bounty hunter in the country was after him, too.

But Chaeyoung still worried about her safety, and she tried not to take any unnecessary chances.

Zed was nowhere to be found when she reached the barn, so she saddled her horse and mounted. When she rode away from the ranch house she still hadn't see Zed.

Mina rode to the top of the hill and glanced about her, overcome as she always was by the beauty of this land. Chaeyoung had a fine ranch here, and now with the army contract Chaeyoung would soon have nothing to worry about.

Mina nudged her horse toward the herd of cattle Chaeyoung and her father were breeding for experimental reason. The cattle scattered as she passed through, and she smiled when she saw several cows heavy with calf. Apparently the experiment was working. Put a bull with cattle, and you were going to get calves, she thought.

Mina reched down and touched her abdomen. She hadn't told Chaeyoung yet, but she was sure she's going to have a baby. Warmth flowed through her as she thought of Chaeyoung's baby growing inside her. She hoped it would be a boy with fierce brown eyes and brownish hair like his Mama.

Lately Chaeyoung had been more relaxed , and Mina no longer felt such tension in her wife. She also noticed that Chaeyoung laughed more these days. Would she be happy about the baby? Mina was almost sure her wife would be.

She'd tell her tonight. As she rode along, she planned just what she would say to her wife. Laughter bubbled out of her, and she spurred her horse to a faster pace, anxious to see her wife.

*********************

Lee Hyeong Gyun had been watching the Son's ranch for weeks, just looking for the chance to catch Myoui Mina alone. He never thought of her by her married name, because in his mind she still belonged to the who was responsible for the death of his sister.

He'd grown a beard and let his hair grow long and no one seemed to recognize him, not even in Daegu or Seoul, where he was known. Of course, he took care not to draw attention to himself when he was around people.

He had set up camp in a secluded, rocky canyon where grass wouldn't grow; Son Chaeyoung didn't run cattle there, and it was unlikely that any of her hands would ride that way.

He climbed up a hill from which he could see the entire valley, just as he did everyday. He spotted a dust cloud, and as he watched it for a few moments he could see it was a lone rider. He lifted his field glasses and trained them on the rider. His mouth curved into a smile.

It was Myoui Mina, and she was alone!

Mina loped at an easy pace, thinking she should have seen Chaeyoung by now. When she heard a rider behind her, she reined in her horse and waited for her wife to approach. It wasn't Chaeyoung--the figure is tall. When the rider rode closer, a prickle of fear spiraled down her neck. He wasn't one of Chaeyoung's men, or her father's, either. He was a stranger to her.

Instinct warned her to get out of there. She jabbed her horse with the heel of her boot, and the blooded animal shot forward at an all-out run. But when she glanced back, the man seemed to be gaining on her.

"God," she prayed,  help me--it must be Lee Hyeong Gyun!

Chaeyoung was on her way home ahead of her men when she saw something on the ground just ahead. Puzzled, she dismounted and discovered that it was a basket with its contents scattered about as if it had been dropped. She recognized the basket as the one Mina always used when she brought her lunch.

Her heart stopped beating, and she glanced about, taking in everything around her. Something had happened to her wife! She bent down and looked closely at the hoof prints. Mina had been riding fast. She walked a little farther and found the prints of a second horse; it had also been running fast.
"Oh, God, no," she cried, leaping onto her horse. With the expert eyes of a tracker she followed the trail, kicking her horse into a run. The tracks were fresh. She had to find Mina before Lee caught her!

She felt as if someone had reached inside her and