The outfit moved slowly. It had left Carey’s Crossing at early dawn and had put twenty-five miles between itself and that last outpost of civilization.
“Why don’t you let the horses trot down this hill slope, Asher?” The woman’s voice had the soft accent of the South.
“Are you tired, Virgie?” Asher Aydelot looked earnestly down at his wife.
“Not a bit!” The bright smile and vigorous lift of the shoulders were assuring.
“Then we won’t hurry. We have several miles to go yet. It is a long day’s run from Carey’s to our claim. Wolf County is almost like a state. The Crossing hopes to become the county seat.”
“Why do they call that place Carey’s Crossing?” Mrs. Aydelot asked.
“It was a trading post once where the north and south 18 trail crossed the main trail. Later it was a rallying place for cavalry. Now it’s our postoffice,” Asher explained.
“I mean, why call it Carey? I knew Careys back in Virginia.”
“It is named for a young doctor, the only one in ten thousand miles, so far as I know.”
“And his family?” Virginia asked.