Forty-five minutes later, when Nick heard bells, he ventured out of the wagon. He was surprised to see the sheriff riding toward the wagon, this time leading four draft horses. Squinting, Nick leaned forward and stared. The horses were harnessed, two of them sporting sleigh bells.
“Sorry about the bells,” the sheriff called when he was close enough to be heard. “My kids love them, and I didn’t want to waste the time taking them off.”
“Uh, that’s okay.” Nick looked from the sheriff to the horses.
“Those two horses you have are fine for decent roads, but it’ll take more than two to pull that wagon of yours through this snow and over these crappy roads. If you two plan to settle here, you might want to think about adding to your team.” He stopped a few feet from Nick and swung off his hors
