OCTOBER 3, 1861

The bell rang and Melissa followed Michael inside. She took her seat next to him and then looked back as all the other children filed in. She knew most of the children had been staying at the school, and the teacher had been looking after them. She had seen people coming and going at the school, so she knew that Miss Boudreaux had some help looking after all the orphans, and the babies; two girls and one boy were being looked after at Miss Boudreaux's house sometimes by either Caly or LeAnn or both of them at the same time while Miss Boudreaux taught school. Melissa watched as the orphans from the wagon train clustered together and took their seats at the back of the room, which left the middle desks for the orphans that had come in on the train.

When on the first day that school had started up again and all the orphans had attended, Melissa had been surprised to see one orphan follow Jesse and sit down at a desk right beside him instead of staying with one of the group of orphans. But on break time she had learned the reason from Jesse. The girl was Jesse's cousin, Zee, and she hadn't come to town with the orphans. She had come to town on her own because her parents had been murdered. Her sisters and brothers had been sent to live with Jesse's parents while decisions had been made that Zee would stay and live at the Pony Express Station. It would have been nice to have another girl her age to play with since Rose had left, but Melissa found out right away that Zee didn't particularly like her. She was mystified as to why though because she was trying her best to be friendly towards her.

As all the children took their places, Melissa smiled at a boy and a girl that sat down next to each other that seemed to look about her age. There was only one other boy that looked about her age. All the others except for Zee, were much younger than her. Maybe she could make friends with the brother and sister on break. She hadn't learned all the new girls and boys names yet, she would have to listen more intently to learn the brother and sister names so that she could speak to them on break.

She paid close attention to the roll call and they were identified as Paul and Adrianne. She knew they were brother and sister from the first day when they attended because at roll call Mrs. Bourdreaux had said so. Melissa was like sitting on pins and needles all morning waiting for lunch to come. Finally, it was here. She didn't wait for

Michael. She grabbed her lunch bag and bolted for the door. She figured he would follow her because he always carried a blanket that they would sit on and eat their lunch. As she exited, she looked around and saw them. She immediately headed for them.

Michael was astonished that Melissa zipped out of school without him. As he walked down the steps he saw her over by a couple of the new kids. He felt a little pang of jealously because one of the new kids she was with was a boy.

As Melissa had walked up to Paul and Adrianne, she had introduced herself. But the brother and sister didn't speak. So she said, "I just wanted to welcome you to Dreamville."

Finally the boy, Paul, spoke. "Hi, I'm Paul and this Adrianne. Would you like to have lunch with us?" Melissa nodded.

"Is it alright if a friend of mine does too?" Melissa wanted Michael to join them. Paul nodded. "Michael come on." She turned and with her hand motioned for him to come over. "How about we sit over there under that tree? We usually sit there." Paul and Adrianne nodded. Melissa felt happy. She had made two new friends. Melissa led the way to her and Michael's favorite spot. Michael was the last to reach the spot, and he spread out the blanket and Melissa sat down and Michael imitated her. "Come on sit with us." Melissa encouraged them. Adrianne sat down beside Melissa and Paul sat next to Michael.

While having their lunch, they discussed various things. Melissa and Michael told them about their favorite fishing spot, about the rodeo and Michael taking first place while Melissa had taken third place. Paul and Adrianne informed Michael and Melissa that they had never rode a horse before. Melissa and Michael were very surprised about that. They couldn't understood how another child had never rode a horse before, especially since Paul and Adrianne were about as old as them. But later in the conversation Melissa was astonished to find out that they were closer to her age than she suspected. In fact they were a year older than she was, even though they looked about thirteen. Melissa and Michael volunteered to show Paul and Adrianne how to ride as soon as they could.

The bell rang and they all walked back inside together. As Michael and Melissa followed Paul and Adrianne up the stairs, Melissa whispered to Michael. "After school lets ask them if they would like to go fishing this Saturday and then we can also start teaching them how to ride. Ok?" Michael nodded his head. Melissa smiled at him, quickly squeezed his hand and then she ran inside and took her seat.