Plot

Hale is unable to take everybody on the next phase and has to turn down some of those applying. Among them is Ben Campbell, an ex-convict who is being hunted by his escaped former partner, who believes Ben turned him in to the law.

As the Hale wagon train reaches various frontier settlements they lose some members of the train but there are usually more wanting to join to go further west. At one such stop Chris runs into the common situation of more wagons wanting to join the train than he can accommodate resulting in disappointed applicants. At this stop the applicant Ben Campbell, ex-convict, and his wife Kate were the next ones on the list. They want to leave quickly to get away from his old criminal partner Jud Fisher who is in jail waiting to be hung. He believes Ben turned him into the law although it is not true. Ben and Kate want to go west for a new start. Their only hope is that overnight a wagon will drop out. When Jud escapes jail, the sheriff sends protection for Ben and Kate. At the same time the two young orphaned Blake brothers are roaming among the wagons. The older boy tom is apprenticed to a blacksmith who beats him and they want to steal away on the train. Mrs. Parkman, the last to join the train, has a secret as does Mr. Landis which may affect the train membership before it leaves.—Anonymous

Hale is unable to take every wagon on the next phase and has to delay some of the train members. One whom he must leave behind is Ben Campbell, an ex-convict who is being hunted by his escaped former partner, who believes Ben turned him in to the law. Others on the train include a woman claiming to be meeting her soldier husband at a fort, an old man hiding his heart condition from his wife, and two boys running away from their abusive guardian.—rbecker28