Publisher's Synopsis
As Book Two opens, Jesús and the Fountain's must find homes for the Apache woman, Amy, and for Mrs. Cumberbatch, the abusing minister's wife, both who fled the abusing husbands after the Bronco Sue Dawson trial in Silver City. The task is difficult for Amy, and she struggles amongst the city-folk. On the other hand, Mrs. Cumberbatch is a go-getter, and it isn't long before she has found a new path but with it comes old problems.
Jesús establishes himself as an aspiring and able young lawyer. His superior intellect and ability to apply himself endears him to his uncle. Soon Jesús wants to become a Fountain.
As all adolescents do, and despite his advanced studies and achievements, Jesús continues to worry about ... well, pretty much everything. As his first love cools, he takes an interest in another young woman whom he shares his Italian Mexican heritage with. Lucia's father, Juan Luna, operates the stagecoach waystation at Luna Well. Lucia is aggressive and Jesús feels the need to educate himself on all things love, sex, and marriage. Local telegraph operator Miles Wilson becomes a mentor to young Jesús on these and other matters leading to some innocently humorous discussions between the two.
Jesús get's his first court case when a large livestock company in Chicago tries to claim lands owned by the Refugio Civil Colony. They send their lawyer to challenge the Land Office's ruling that they have no basis for their claim. The case involves knowledge of the checkerboard political geography of southern New Mexico Territory, the status of rivers as boundaries and the multitude of land laws that were in effect in the late 1800s.
The San Marcial Ring land fraud case occupies the Colonel and Jesús over a couple of years. As they slog through the prosecution of several members of the ring, Jesús's interest in Lucia Luna grows. Their isolation caused by the winter of '87-'88 yields frantic letter writing which fires their yearning for each other, leading to Miles Wilson, St. Genevieve's and the San Augustin.
