Ruby's muscles ached and her bones felt rattled in her skin like an upset jigsaw puzzle, never to be put back together again. The thin bench of the wagon did nothing to absorb the jolts of the trail, and she hugged her husband's arm as he gripped the reins. The horizon, which used to hold such promise of their new life together, now taunted her—a destination always out of reach as they followed the rise and fall of the hills, a small consolation after the monotonous flatlands.

Ruby swallowed as her stomach lurched with each jolt, and she bit her lip to keep from screaming. "I can't take it!" she finally exclaimed, causing Peter to pull on the reins to bring the horses to a gentle stop.

She scrambled off the wagon, unable to keep the bounce out of her step as her feet connected with the solid ground. The contact reminded her of her sore feet, but it was nothing to the ache in her rear end and the restlessness in her soul.

"Ruby, come back!" Peter yelled as he scrambled down after her. "Get back in the wagon!"

Ruby closed her eyes as a thousand defenses came to mind to persuade him to stop for a moment. Peter Smith, you can't drag a woman out into the middle of nowhere and keep her cooped up in a covered wagon and not expect her to go stir crazy!

She paused, took a deep breath, and slowly turned to face him. When her eyes met his, her anger melted away and she returned his look of concern with a small smile. "I'm fine," she reassured him, recalling all the times her queasy stomach had forced them to stop along their journey. Truth be told, she thought she was made of stronger stuff, but nothing could have prepared her for life on the trail—nothing to eat but cornmeal gruel and biscuits after their beans and rice ran out, going for days without seeing a source of fresh water, making washing difficult, sleeping with nothing but canvas over one's head—or sometimes the stars, which admittedly wasn't half bad on a clear, warm night….

But the worst thing was sitting in that damned heap of a wagon over miles of bumpy trail. It was enough to make her feel like a caged animal, and she almost had to fight the urge to take off running in any direction, just for a taste of freedom.

"I just needed to stretch my legs," she explained as Peter took her hands in his.

"I know this hasn't been easy," Peter said as he rubbed his thumbs over the back of her hands, his gaze fixed downwards for a moment. "I promise we're almost there. Soon, we'll have our own little house, and you'll never have to sleep in a covered wagon again."

Ruby grinned and squeezed his hands. "Is that a promise?"

Peter looked up to meet her gaze, and his smile widened to match her own. "You know it is." His eyes then focused behind her, and she turned around to see what had caught his attention.

"We'll have a place with a view like this," he said as he hugged his arm around her shoulders. The sight took Ruby's breath away: several feet in front of them, the earth dropped to the valley, as if they stood high over the tree line. The colours of fall—with every shade of auburn and yellow and gold—made the valley look alight under the kiss of the sun. Beyond that, the mountains rose out of the landscape, fading to a soft blue to meet the clear sky, as if they had stood over the valley for thousands of years and would continue to stand guard for thousands of years more.

Ruby's heart lifted and she couldn't help but bounce under Peter's embrace as she raised herself on the balls of her feet. "It's beautiful," she breathed.

Peter kissed her temple before spinning around, taking in their surroundings. "It's exactly like I pictured it," he said as he waved his hand. "Can you see it?" He started to run towards an imaginary point several feet away before he spun around to face Ruby. "Just over here."

Ruby beamed. "A cabin—with curtains in the windows!"

Peter raced to another corner of the clearing, and Ruby laughed to see him acting like a little kid. "And over here—a barn!"

"And a garden! Where we'll grow food that will put Granny's vegetables to shame."

"And those trees are just made for swings for all those kids that are gonna look just like their mama," Peter added as he made his way back to Ruby.

"I don't mind if they look like their father," Ruby said more softly as her heart warmed at the thought.

"We did it. I think this is our new home!" Peter raced to Ruby and took her in his arms to swing her around, making Ruby squeal in delight.

As he placed her on the ground, Ruby felt like her heart would burst when she saw that he was grinning as widely as she. "It's perfect," she breathed with her hands clasped around his neck. She gladly accepted the kiss that he pressed to her lips, closing her eyes as she kissed him back. Then, she leaned her forehead against his and teased, "This perfect home for a perfect family might just make up for you stealing my grandmother's one-and-only granddaughter away." She barely had time to catch the glint in her husband's eye before he picked her up and spun her around again. Ruby couldn't help but squeal like a schoolgirl as the weight of the weeks of planning and travelling dissipated in an instant.

That night was one of the most peaceful and restful nights Ruby had ever spent in their little wagon, stuffed with all their earthly belongings—including more than a few books that Peter constantly grumbled about carting along. Still, his threats held no bite as he tossed aside the last pounds of beans and rice to ensure that they could keep his wife's prized possessions—and besides, they'd need a little bit of culture in their new home, so which was really more important? Still, Ruby made sure she never complained about the dry biscuits and cornmeal pancakes that had sustained them since then.

They'd both been so excited as they settled in for the night, dreaming of the homestead that was almost theirs. More practically, they'd decided that the next day Peter would go into town to register his claim on the land while Ruby took stock of their supplies and perhaps explored to find the nearest source of water… or the spot that would provide the best view from their future covered porch.

Come morning, Ruby awoke in her husband's arms with the faint light of dawn peeking in the crack of the canvas. She could smell the dampness in the air as the dew clung to the landscape and she paused to listen to the crickets chirping their greeting to the morning sun.

Ruby bit back a grin as she sat up slowly, making sure not to disturb Peter as he rolled over with a groan. She slipped out of the wagon through the canvas cover and made her way over to the horses tied up to a tree several feet away.

"Hey, Prince," she murmured as the stroked the horse's velvety muzzle. Gently she untied the reins from the tree and slipped them over the horse's head before jumping up on his back, her hands gripping the mane as she turned on her stomach. She swung her leg around and sat up so she was straddling the horse, and with a squeeze of her knees and a click of her tongue, they were off.

Peter would kill her if he knew what she was doing, but the stillness of the morning called to her, the moon still visible in western horizon as the soft light in the east announced the sun's impending arrival. There was something about the moon that always calmed Ruby—the one constant in this adventure, for wherever she was, she could look up and see that friendly face shining down on her—the waxing and waning phases that always kept time as a solid, predictable presence. For a moment, the world was suspended in a magical trance, and Ruby urged Prince into a gallop as they flew along the landscape. Ruby's hair whipped all around her and the cool air stung her cheeks and lungs as she drank in the heady feeling of freedom, with only the open sky above her and the powerful muscle of the horse beneath her. It was the farthest thing from being ladylike—riding bareback in her nightclothes—but what did it matter in the middle of nowhere?

Soon, Ruby tied Prince back up to the tree. "It'll be our little secret," she whispered as she patted his neck. Then, she snuck back inside the wagon to join Peter.

"Where were you?" Peter moaned with his eyes closed, and Ruby wasn't entirely sure if he was awake.

"You don't ask a lady such things," she teased. "Where do you think I was?" He simply wrapped his arm around her and gave her a squeeze as she snuggled back into him. With a quick kiss to his chest, she was off to sleep, suddenly very tired—and very happy.

The next thing she knew, Ruby awoke to the sound of Peter cursing outside the wagon.

"Jiminy Cricket!" she heard before he poked his head into the little shelter. She sat up slowly and blinked away the sleep from her eyes before she focused on him.

"One of the horses got away," he sighed as he shrugged on his coat, and Ruby groaned. "I'm just going after him. I shouldn't be long—he's probably just a ways downstream."

Then, he disappeared, and Ruby frowned as she tried to will her body to move.

"Wait!" she cried as she threw back the canvas to see Peter already mounted on their other horse, Lady. "I'm coming with you!" The sudden realization of what must have happened hit her with a pang of guilt.

"No need." He shook his head. "I'll be back with Prince before breakfast." Then, he shot her his lopsided grin as he added, "Be sure to make me lots of pancakes. I'll be hungry."

If Ruby didn't know any better, she'd say that he was teasing her, but she grinned back at him before he disappeared on horseback. Ruby wasn't the greatest cook, but she'd certainly become far more adept than she'd ever wish to be at making pancakes out of their cornmeal gruel.

What had sounded delicious a second ago suddenly sounded revolting as Ruby's stomach turned at the thought of the smell that would soon rise from the frying pan. She leaned over the side of the wagon, lucky enough to miss the wooden side as she vomited into the grass below.

A smile bloomed as Ruby decided that it might be time to let Peter in on what she had suspected for a while now—that, to say the least, her queasiness had a very different source than her being a lightweight on a swaying, jolting wagon.

Ruby rushed to get ready, slipping into her favourite red dress. Her heart felt about to burst as she imagined her husband's reaction when he would return to learn that their family might be growing far more quickly than either of them had expected.