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

Gregory reached the southern border of the claims and still hadn’t found Frank. He didn’t dare go farther west because the fire was still coming this way. He hadn’t found Frank to the north, so maybe he’d headed south to check on the Nordhuffs once he’d figured the homestead was safe.


Gregory slowed Daisy down. The heated air proved difficult to breathe in. The western wind blew more smoke in their direction, making it hard to see as well. It was as bad as the fog two summers before when Gregory had headed to the Nordhuff place. Only, the fog hadn’t burned his eyes or his throat. All Gregory could see, taste, or feel was the vile smoke, the aftermath of the fire that scorched the prairie on that summer afternoon.


Chapter 52