She broke hearts everywhere and she didn’t intend to do that. She didn’t like making good people sad.

Maria found herself in a lively town that she’d not visited before. She found some Indian women there selling beautiful silver jewelry and decked herself out accordingly. She let them pierce her ears and she got some pretty earrings to go with the bangles on each arm. She looked stunning in her new finery and decided that she would begin collecting pretty ornaments and wear them wherever she went. This would be more confounding to men and would help her maintain the upper hand.

She looked into her mirror and was pleased and thought that she’d better not wear these around the lady fence as that might break her heart further. She felt a little wicked and proud at that thought. Not that she wanted to hurt the lady, but it was a nice feeling to know that someone loved her and desired her so much. She thought about the prospector, too. It was something Maria would have to be careful about from now on. She broke hearts everywhere and she didn’t intend to do that. She didn’t like making good people sad. Maria's Trail