george ernest 's buddy gil married to maebry , works on ranch gus owns the mercantile , gemma 's pa hartwell town doc , also plays fiddle hailie beckett 's daughter helen elise 's mother iris oldest mcphee sister jane horse jo ellen annie 's friend john cowboy at the rocking m josslyn cook at the rocking m kellan cowboy at the rocking m lance tyler 's father , town landowner laura the sisters 's deceased mother lawrence a desperate bachelor liliana tyler 's sister louisa kitchen maid maebry wife to gil magnolia 2nd youngest mcphee sister marlowe horse marvin horse maureen deceased grandmother , mother to aumaleigh milo sheriff nora tyler 's mother o'laughlin owner of chicago boardinghouse orla maid at the rocking m pax cowboy at the rocking m penelope new schoolteacher in town priscilla silk dress girl reginald josslyn 's deceased first husband rose middle mcphee sister sadie milo 's oldest daughter sally milo 's youngest daughter sarah former schoolteacher scout zane 's horse seth josslyn 's son , owns the livery shep young cowboy at rocking m stanley beckett and hailie 's dog tiernan cowboy at the rocking m , tyler 's brother travis brother to tyler and tiernan tyler engaged to magnolia verbena youngest mcphee sister vivian gemma 's grandmother wade deputy wilhelmina hailie 's elderly nanny wilson deceased grandfather winchester zane 's horse zane bounty hunter table of contents chapter one chapter two chapter three chapter four chapter five chapter six chapter seven chapter eight chapter nine chapter ten epilogue about the author chapter one bluebell , montana territory spring 1876 oh , no , there he is .