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

“Do you think she knows what to do, Greg? She’s got to have been around other nursing mothers.”


Gregory grabbed the dirty coats and made them into a bundle that resembled the baby and mimed putting the bundle up to his own breast. At this sight, the girl smiled and held the baby to her chest. She grabbed her breast from beneath the folds of her dress and presented it to the child’s mouth. The infant started to suckle on her mother’s breast and then stopped. Evidently sensing the problem, Frank grabbed a clean cloth and gave it to the girl. She wiped her breast clean and gave it to the child again. The baby girl took to the breast again, drinking her fill. The infant drifted off to sleep in her mother’s arms. Frank put the clothes basket on the floor beside the girl, and she laid the baby down.


Talking to her as if she understood, Frank said, “Now that the little one is taken care of, it’s time to take care of you.”


Chapter 42