Beryl’s father is badly injured, and the wagon train leaves her and her little brother behind and at the trading post. They are at the mercy of the trading post manager, his wife, and their adult son, James. Winter is cruel and fraught with danger, especially when new supplies are needed and the trader must leave for several months. Grieving after her father’s death, Beryl sees that James loves her young brother. Soon she comes to care for James too. Young Sam loves Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, but he begins to imagine another Christmas story. Come spring, Beryl will have to decide whether she and Sam will continue on to Oregon or go back East.
This novella was first published in the Westward Christmas Brides collection, from Barbour Books.
