She shared that she’d had a husband once, but he’d deserted her and their two small children five years ago. After she eked out a living in a mining camp that was eventually abandoned, her last coins had brought her this far. She’d been ready to foster out her children to spare them starvation when Jonas had hired her. Her family now lived in a sturdy little house and owned a cow and half a dozen chickens. “My boys go to school and then hire out to the ranchers in the fall,” she told Eliza. “Fine young men they’re growing up to be.” Eliza and Tyler had met her sons Matt and Daniel at supper the evening before. They were polite young fellows of eleven and thirteen who spoke respectfully to their mother and kindly to Tyler. Ada’s story gave Eliza hope that a woman alone could raise a boy and do well by him. Of course—and this gave her pause for regret—she was running from the very place and the man that had been Ada’s deliverance. She enjoyed tucking clean sheets around the mattresses, dusting rooms and polishing furniture that day.
