Tracks To Love — Alice Addy

The number of poor immigrants entering New York City in 1862 only added to the problems of a nation at war. Fatherless children and mothers unable to provide a home for their little ones swelled the homeless population far beyond what the city could endure. Crime was out of control and the misery found on the streets could no longer be tolerated. The children on the streets needed to be rounded up and relocated. Little five-year-old Evie was such a victim when she suddenly found herself riding on a strange train, along with other orphans, bound for small towns and farms out west. There was a desperate need for children to help on the farms and ranches scattered over the prairies and grasslands. There, also, were couples that yearned for a family with children of their own. As eager and as loving as these individuals could be, there was little need for a small girl child with a lame and twisted foot. No one would be interested in the beautiful child with the large and sad eyes. However, people grow up and change over the years, bringing with them the hardships of their past. Even caterpillars eventually emerge from their cocoons as beautiful butterflies, and so it was with Eve. She was glorious and tough. She would need to rely on that strength in the coming days, as her life was, once again, about to change in ways unthinkable. Handsome men vied for her hand and called out for her attention, but only one would be worthy, and even he would have to prove himself. Danger and heartbreak were constant companions, until one day . . .