It is Jordan's special star--a celestial token of hope for the life and love she dreams of. How brightly will it shine in the night's darkest hour? A host of stars crowds the desert sky, arching from the east, with its thriving towns, to the western mountains and an unknown future. Bound for the Oregon frontier, Jordan Bryce and her new husband, Colin, a dashing ex-mariner, face danger from both man and nature: a deadly buffalo stampede . . . tragedy at a river crossing . . . hostile Indians . . . and hatred within their wagon train, escalating from bitter words to the point of bloodshed. All that separates the Bryce's party from disaster is seasoned leadership, the skillful guidance of Ty Sublette, and the hand of God. For Jordan, the journey west is more than a trip into an untamed land. It is a passage from a teenage girl's romantic fantasies to the wisdom and character of womanhood. But nothing can prepare Jordan for the testing that awaits her beyond the journey's end. There, in the face of staggering circumstances, she will face an impossible decision . . . as two good men--one wounded by past grief, the other branded by his own impetuousness--struggle with the demands of faith and honor on behalf of the woman they love. It is Jordan s special star--a celestial token of hope for the life and love she dreams of. How brightly will it shine in the night s darkest hour? A host of stars crowds the desert sky, arching from the east, with its thriving towns, to the western mountains and an unknown future. Bound for the Oregon frontier, Jordan Bryce and her new husband, Colin, a dashing ex-mariner, face danger from both man and nature: a deadly buffalo stampede . . . tragedy at a river crossing . . . hostile Indians . . . and hatred within their wagon train, escalating from bitter words to the point of bloodshed. All that separates the Bryce s party from disaster is seasoned leadership, the skillful guidance of Ty Sublette, and the hand of God. For Jordan, the journey west is more than a trip into an untamed land. It is a passage from a teenage girl s romantic fantasies to the wisdom and character of womanhood. But nothing can prepare Jordan for the testing that awaits her beyond the journey s end. There, in the face of staggering circumstances, she will face an impossible decision . . . as two good men--one wounded by past grief, the other branded by his own impetuousness--struggle with the demands of faith and honor on behalf of the woman they love. Gilbert Morris is one of today's best-known Christian novelists, specializing in historical fiction. His best-selling works include Edge of Honor (winner of a Christy Award in 2001), Jacob's Way, The Spider Catcher, the House of Winslow series, the Appomattox series, and The Wakefield Saga. He lives in Gulf Shores, Alabama with his wife, Johnnie. Orion the hunter... Bootes the herdsman... Leo the lion . . .,' Jordan Randolph murmured dreamily. 'See, Charlie?' Sitting beside her on the oak swing, Charlie Maddox obediently searched the night sky with a wrinkled brow. 'Ah---lion, did you say?' Jordan ignored him, staring upward, her lips slightly parted. She was not a woman who would appeal to every man's taste, but there were those who found her beautiful---clouds of auburn hair forming a halo around her head, wide-spaced, entrancing gray-green eyes, a trim, shapely figure, a whisper-soft voice. 'Ursa Major, Ursa Minor... did you know, Charlie, that ursa is the feminine form of ursine, or 'bear,' so they should actually be called the Great She-bear and the Little She-bear?' Jordan whispered. 'Bears?' Charlie repeated helplessly, once again sweeping the sky with mystified eyes. He was a rather heavy young man of thirty with brown hair, blue eyes, and a ready smile. Jordan sighed and turned slightly on the swing to face him. 'Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, Charlie. You probably know them as the Big Dipper and Little Dipper.' 'Oh, sure I know them. There's the Big Dipper and there's the Little Dipper, right over there,' Charlie said, relieved. It was difficult for him to follow when Jordan went off into her fantasies. She would use a dreamy, unconnected voice, soft and almost inaudible, and the things she said rarely made sense to Charlie. 'Big Dipper,' she repeated, and sighed. 'Such a boring name for such wondrous stars.' Charlie was an earnest, solid kind of man. 'Well, speaking of dippers, Jordan, we've got some new well dippers down at the store. Fit right on the swivel of the well bucket, you see, so---' 'Oh, Charlie! How can you even think of well buckets on a night like this?' 'A night like this?' Charlie repeated, staring around. 'It's dark and cold, just like nights in February always are.' Dark and cold, that's all he sees! Why can't he see the beauty all around us? To Jordan the night was dramatic, with winter's last cold breath sending shivers over her hot cheeks and bare shoulders, the smell of wood smoke acrid on the air, the stars distant and godlike in