"Sergeant—?"
"Dugan, ma'am."
"Thank you, Sergeant Dugan. We're the Tower family and this is our daughter, Barbara."
"You sure are welcome, miss!" Sergeant Dugan breathed.
Joe brought the rest of his sleepy, fretful family in, and left Emma and Barbara to put them to bed while he went outside with Sergeant Dugan. The soldier examined the mules with the practiced eye of a man who knew animals.
"They certainly are done," he agreed. "We'd better take them to the stables where they can have hay and grain. The cow can go in the corral."
Thankfully, Joe permitted the soldiers to take care of the mules and the cow.
The Towers had come through the first portion of their journey. That much was over now, and his family was safe and out of the storm. He wanted to be with them, to watch them bask in the warmth of the fire, to share with them the well-being of this wonderful, though temporary, shelter.