As the week went on, Jyn's ominous warning about Fleming Barnes hung in my mind like skunk scent on a shaggy dog. What would he do? He was an important man on this world, and important people doing bad things had ruined Earth. Mars wasn't exempt.

Turned out, Jyn was a lawyer, and she had wanted to get away from it like I wanted to get away from chickens. But then, here we were. Anyway, she filed to annul Riya's arranged marriage, saying it was a sure thing given the circumstances. Jyn refused any sort of payment, but Riya insisted, paying with naan bread.

But this got me thinking, how many other gals got stuck with bad men? And if so, where could they go? Didn't seem like many safety nets were here on Mars, except each other.

Walt broke my thoughts when he burst through the back door, then nearly slammed it shut. Huffing, he peered out the window and said, "I swear that demon rooster is stalking me."

Godzilla didn't bother me or Riya anymore. Maybe it was just a male thing. Pa always had more rooster tussles than I did, but any bird that came after him got punted across the yard. Didn't want Walt to hurt our only rooster. "I'll have a talk with him," I said.

"Really? You reason with chickens?"

"Me and Godzilla have an understandin'."

Walt let out a sigh, shaking his head — don't think he believed me.

"Breakfast is ready," Riya announced, carrying a platter of fried eggs and fresh bread. The eggs were our first from the chickens, so it was kinda special. Then, as we sat at the table, Riya brought out honey in a glass jar.

Walt wrinkled his forehead. "Where did we get honey?"

"Kiren gave it to me," Riya replied with a glowing smile. "He keeps bees for his trees."

"That was mighty sweet of him," Walt replied, emphasizing the word sweet.

Riya giggled, but I just clamped my eyes closed and groaned. "That was bad, even by your standards, Walt."

As we ate, I said, "I was thinkin'--"

"That's dangerous," Walt interjected, wearing that mischievous grin he gets sometimes. Usually, it gave me a happy tingle, but not this time.

"Just 'cause I was thinkin'," I retorted, pointing a finger, "doesn't mean there's goin' to be trouble." Okay, so generally those two things went together, but I wasn't going to tell him that. "I was thinkin' about the other gals that came with me to Mars, and how they was doin'. Haven't talked to any lately, except Riya."

"Then you ought to contact them. You could set up a private SoNet."

"Huh?"

Walt put down his fork and used his hands for emphasis. "A SoNet — an online social network. I can help you set it up."

I grinned. "You're turnin' out to be useful, not-husband."

"Anything for my not-wife."

After clearing away the dishes, Walt used my com-viewer to create a SoNet site in no time, making me the administrator. I named it the Martian Bride Network. Then Riya and I sent out the word to all our contacts, asking them to spread it further.

*****

The truck bounced along through our pasture while Walt steered around the bigger rocks and dips. It was a beautiful day, although windy. The tall grass mesmerized me, swaying in synchronized amber waves like fancy dancers, alternately showing, then hiding the colorful wildflowers that competed for sunlight. Our neighbor's dairy cattle dipped their heads within the waves, searching for tender green sprouts, while birds fluttered above.

If the weather predictions were right, the dry season should end soon. Being cooler on average than Earth, thus less atmospheric energy, the experts explained, Mars didn't have as many violent storms as Earth. But on the downside, it gets dry sometimes. Farming has always been at the weather's mercy, and Mars was no exception.

Hard work for sure, but it was as much a labor of love, and even beyond that, a duty to help feed this world. Walt and I, with Riya's help, spent long hours getting the farm going — we only last night finished planting soybeans in time for the (hopefully) upcoming rains.

Riya insisted that Walt and I take a break from farming and relax some. A not-date, she called it with a sly grin that made me think she was up to something.

So, a picnic along the creek. Riya pushed us out the door with a sack lunch, promising to look after the chickens. With no daytime threats, we allowed the chickens to free range, but then used feed grain to lure them into the coops for the night before the nocturnal predators came out.

I gazed at Walt, my not-husband business partner, as he drove through a shallow dry wash, bouncing us in our seats. He had impressed me with his business sense and work ethic, despite having no farm experience. For a few moments, my wandering mind went out-of-bounds, imagining, well, physical entanglements... I mean, Walt was a handsome sort with a fit, lanky body and a genuine smile that warmed deep parts of me. And the way he looked wearing only a towel wrapped around his waist coming out of the bathroom... Shoot, just putting up with me took him to the top ten percent of potential male suitors.

Walt turned and wrinkled his forehead, catching my longing gaze. "What?"

Heat pulsed in my cheeks as I turned away. "Nothin'."

An I-caught-you type of grin rose on his face. "Mavis, were you--"

"No," I burbled. "Nothin' like that..." I bit my tongue to keep it from wagging on.

"Uh huh."

We picked our way down the steep, rocky slope. Because of the dry weather, the creek disappeared under rocky sands, but showed itself here and there in still, bedrock-bottomed pools. Cattle hoofprints led down to preferred drinking places. We chose a spot under a tall willow tree, spreading a blanket on a patch of smooth pebbles. I picked one up and chucked it into a pool, watching the small waves spread from the splash.

We sat down next to each other with our picnic lunch, rubbing elbows. In the distance, the snowcapped dormant volcano Olympus Mons towered high, watching over us like a sentinel.

"Have you talked to your parents?" I asked him.

"No," Walt answered, shaking his head. "Don't know what to say. We didn't part on the best of terms."

"Yeah, but they're probably worried about you. Be good to tell them you're doing okay."

Walt dipped his head. "I suppose you're right. What about your dad? Have you talked to him?"

"Earth is too far away for a conversation, but I've sent him a few emails." Pa had always been a man of few words, and usually emotionally clueless, so his replies were short and blunt. But still, he was my father, and for all our arguments and hurt feelings, he had taken care of me.

The way Walt firmed his lips and looked away, I could tell he didn't want to talk it any more. So instead, I opened up the lunch sack. "Let's see what Riya packed for us."

Inside were two oblong pieces of puffy naan, a chunk of white cheddar that she traded from our neighbor with the dairy herd, dried fruit from the general store via another trade, and two bottles of apple cider, curtesy of Kiran.

Walt licked his lips, accepting a naan. "Riya is spoiling us."

I bit into the naan, tearing off a piece with my teeth, followed by a cheese nibble. Chewing them together, I savored the flavor combination. Riya more than earned her room and board, such as it was. And she had become a good friend.

Walt noticed my contemplation and lifted an eyebrow. "Whatcha thinking about?"

"Riya," I answered after a breath. "Someday, she will leave to go her own way. That's a good thing, sure, but I would miss her."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," he answered, then bit into naan and continued between chews. "If anything, for her cooking skills. But who knows? The way things are going with Kiran, her way might be with him. Then she would still be a neighbor."

I grinned at the thought. Riya spent more and more time with Kiran, and he was a frequent dinner guest. At night when we were together in bed, she excitedly told me of their time together, just between us girls, while the brightest smiles bloomed on her face. "Might be more sooner, than later."

Then my mind drifted again into a waking dream, imagining myself with Riya's happiness. But with Walt. These kinds of thoughts were happening more and more often, and it was getting harder to keep my promise of no romantic complications. While still lost in the dream and without thinking, I leaned against Walt and laid my head against his shoulder.

It would have been easier, and less complicated, if he had pushed me away, but instead, his arm circled my waist and drew me closer. My breath hitched, and electric tingles pulsed through my body to my nether regions.

I turned my head and gazed into impossibly deep hazel eyes. Desire gazed back, but there was genuine caring, too. Walt was a good man, the best, and I could do no better. "Do we dare?" I whispered with an airy voice, barely above the wind that swirled my hair. "It might get... complicated."

"Sometimes," Walt whispered back, "complications are a good thing."

Urged on by a racing heart, my lips drew closer to his.

But then Walt pulled back, and blurted out, "What the hell?"

I nearly whimpered.

A distant buzzing reached my ears, apparently the cause of Walt's withdrawal, and I silently cursed it for interrupting our moment. A flyer flew along upwind and beyond our land, dipping and rising above the rolling hills. As it dipped, blobs of glowing yellow-orange dropped into the thick dry grass. And then swirling dark smoke rose.

"They're setting fires!" Walt yelled.

I gasped. With the dry grass and strong winds coming straight toward us and the house, this was real bad.

Putting on his sheriff role, Walt snatched out his com-viewer, zoomed in on the flier, and snapped a series of photos. "Call Riya," he ordered. "Tell her to evacuate."

She picked up the call. "Mavis?"

"Listen, Riya, there's a range fire coming your way. You need to get out. Go to Olympus."

By now, the fire had formed into a single menacing line, and surging orange flames leaped high while dark smoke churned overhead.

"What?" Riya gasped. "But you have the truck!"

"Call Kiran and have him pick you up. If he can't, go inside and close up the house."

"What about the chickens?"

"Don't worry about them. Just leave the gate open so they can hide in the coops." I knew chicken lungs were particularly sensitive to thick smoke, and we might lose some of them, but I would not put Riya at risk to save them. The house structure would not burn, so closed up inside, she should be okay.

"Will you be okay, Mavis?"

I glanced up to the fire line as the flame wall came closer, roared higher. In my mind, I gauged the wind's direction and predicted the fire's path. "The fire will cut us off from the house," I answered. "We'll find another way out."

While I talked to Riya, Walt contacted Jyn, asking her to spread the warning and activate the volunteer emergency squad. Ending the call, he spun around. "We need to get these cattle out of here."

After a few minutes, our com-viewers let out annoying honks, then displayed the emergency message Jyn broadcasted. I hoped it was enough warning.

After we jumped in the truck and took off, I called our neighbor, who owned the herd. Walt sped back and forth, charging through the tall grass while honking the horn. I leaned out the window, holding on with one arm, waving the other, and screaming, "Yaah, cow, Yaah!" over and over. At first, the cows just gawked at the crazy woman, and after a moment, meandered toward the open pasture gate to our neighbor's adjoining pasture. But they were moving much too slow for the advancing fire.

Within two minutes, our neighbor Enrique, an older man with dark skin and a black handlebar mustache, zoomed out in his beat-up truck like a dirt-track racer. Positioning himself in front of the cattle, his older son jumped on the flatbed and proceeded to beat a plas-steel bucket with a stick. That got the cows' attention, thinking the noise meant cow treats. Then, the first smoke whiffs reached us, stinging my eyes and scratching my throat. Between the bucket banging and the smoke, the cattle broke into a run. Enrique took the lead, while Walt and I weaved behind, hurrying up the stragglers.

Radiated heat warmed my cheeks as I looked back at the towering flames. I ducked back inside the cab as glowing, wind-borne embers rained down on the truck. "It's gainin' on us, Walt!"

"We're almost there."

Enrique drove through the open crowd pen, the cows behind him, while Mia, his short, plump wife, opened the milk barn door. Once the last cow entered, she and her husband shoved it closed. Fortunately, the barn was made of the same adobe-stuff as the house, so would not burn, and they had long-ago cleared tall grass near the farmstead.

"Come on inside the house!" Mia yelled with a big arm motion.

Didn't need to ask us twice. We sprinted to the back door, dodging embers, while Earnest held it open for us. Once inside, I bent over, coughing and hacking.

"Sophia," Mia said to a preteen, dark-haired girl. "Get Miss Mavis a glass of water."

A long swig of cool water did the trick, soothing my throat. "Thank ya kindly, Sophia," I said to the smiling girl.

Safely inside, we peered out the window as the fire roared past like a demon, casting devilish flickering yellow-orange light. And just as fast as it came, it moved on.

I stayed inside with Mia, Sophia, and another younger son, while Walt, Enrique, and the older son dashed outside to stomp out any residual flames and embers. They concentrated around the barn, and fortunately, the hay bedding it contained did not catch fire. I let out a sigh of relief. The cattle, this family's livelihood, were saved, but the round hay bale stacks further out back created a huge bonfire. The thing about bale fires was that once they got started, there was no putting them out until the hay was burned up.

What once was a beautiful prairie, now laid in blackened, smoldering ruin. But natural prairies were a resilient sort, and with some rain, it would eventually return to full glory.

When the men came back inside, Enrique came up and gripped Walt's hand in a firm shake, nodding his head. "Thank you, neighbor," he exclaimed with a big smile. "But how did this happen?"

Walt firmed his lips, glanced at me, then back at Enrique. "Somebody started it with a smudge pot from a flier. We saw it from the creek."

"God damn..." he muttered while lowering dark, bushy eyelashes.

"Language," Mia chastised, narrowing dark eyes.

"If there ever was a time to curse, dear, this is it."

I shook my head. "The fire is heading toward town. I hope they're ready."

Enrique's eyes widened. "What about your home?"

"Don't know. We told Riya to get out..." I gulped as my gut twisted. "But we don't know..."