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

After the Indians headed far enough south, Frank and Gregory lugged the tubs of water to what remained of the burning embers. When they reached the pyre, they paused and said their own prayer for the baby girl who hadn’t lived. Although the Indians had done a good job of banking the embers, the extra water poured around the perimeter put their minds at ease against a possible wildfire.


As Frank was pouring the last of the water from his tub, he said quietly, “Poor thing never had a chance.”


“She was never loved. Without love, nothing can grow.”


“Or if she was conceived in love, when the love stopped, so did her will to live. The girl never seemed to take much interest in her. The baby just slowly drifted away. You did pretty good with everything yesterday.”


Gregory blushed. “You’re the one that got us moving with the clean water.”


“And if I remember right, you and James Nordhuff had a grand time last summer when I was gone to town,” Frank argued.


Chapter 45