Frank Greerson and Gregory Young have been discharged from the Army and are headed to their childhood homes. They both defied their parents in 1861 when they joined the Army. After battling southern rebels and preserving the Union of the United States of America, the two men set out to battle the Kansas Prairie and build a life together. Once they find their claim, they encounter common obstacles to life on the Kansas Prairie in 1866: Native Americans, tornadoes, wild animals, and weather.<br><br>When a prairie fire destroys their crops and takes their neighbor’s lives, Frank and Gregory are instructed to find their young son’s aunt. Faced with leaving a destroyed claim, the railroad coming through their land, and dwindling funds, Frank and Gregory must decide whether to leave the place they have worked hard to make their own or fulfill their friends' dying wishes.

A Place to Call Their Own

“He’s rotating the crops,” Gregory pointed out. “This almost isn’t the place I grew up on.”


They walked past bales of straw standing guard in the wheat field, the wheat long gone since July. Corn stalks hung heavy with drying ears just waiting to be harvested. The alfalfa fields looked good, too. There would be plenty of harvest work to keep everyone busy.


On the way back to the house, Gregory showed Frank another pasture.


“And this is the pond. This is where I would come just to be by myself. I would fish and swim, and sometimes just lounge. The water mesmerizes me. It was at the edge of this fishpond I made the decision to join the Army.”


“It’s beautiful. I can see why you like it here.”


“This is my quiet place away from the world. Whenever Ma or Pa went looking for me, they always came here. You’d think that after they learned about my secret spot, I would have found another place. But not me. I always came here.”


Chapter 9