“Is that how you got separated from your tribe? Were you out exploring when you weren’t supposed to be?” she asked.

  He nodded as he continued eating the apple. She wanted to warn him to slow down, but once he was done with the apple, he sat down and checked what else was in the bag. It was clear that he wanted to eat more, but he had to ration his food.

  “How did you end up with those men?” Restless One asked, sneering as he referred to Sam and the others.

  Willow sighed. She didn’t want to get into her whole history with him. There was a good chance that he would only judge her for leaving the tribe. After all, he had suffered greatly after being separated from his own tribe.

  Besides, she was much too nervous to stay for too long. Every time she heard a branch snapping, she imagined that the posse had caught up to them. She imagined Sam’s horror when he saw how she was dressed and who she was helping. There was no way that she would be able to explain it to him in a way that he would understand.

  “It’s a long story,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “Why don’t you eat your food and get going? You need to outrun them if you’re going to survive. They headed east, so make sure that your paths don’t cross.”

  Restless One nodded quickly. It was clear that he didn’t want to run into the posse again. Hopefully, he would be able to evade them and get back to his tribe.

  “Those men will regret hurting me when I get back to my tribe,” Restless One said, narrowing his eyes determinedly.

  Willow’s heart stopped in her chest. She hadn’t imagined what would happen if Restless One and his tribe decided to exact revenge on the ranch.

  “No, you must promise me that you will tell no one of their anger,” Willow pleaded as she handed him the water bottle.

  He drank quickly, desperately. It was clear that he hadn’t had much to drink in the past few days. Willow felt worried about him. She was also worried about what he would do if he allowed his anger to get the better of him.

  The night was silent around them, but Willow strained her ears for any signs of the posse. She felt sick with fear, but she was also terribly tired. How long would she be caught between two warring worlds?

  “Why would I do that?” he asked angrily. “I did nothing to them, but they wanted to kill me. This isn’t their land; they can’t decide who passes through and who doesn’t.”

  Willow sighed. She understood his side of the situation, but she also understood Sam and the other men’s fear. When she had heard the shouting in the yard, she had also been terrified of what that could mean for her.

  “Years ago, my family lived on this land,” Willow told him seriously. “They believed that they had a right to the land. But so did my tribe. They both decided to attack each other before the other had a chance. The tribe got there first, and they slaughtered many people. My mother, my father, all my brothers… Everyone was gone. And then they took me.”

  Restless One’s eyes widened in surprise, and he leaned forward as she spoke.

  “I grew to love the tribe as my own,” Willow told him.

  “Why did you leave?”

  “Morning Dove and White Bear taught me a lot about life. They raised me well, but I could not keep running from what happened that day. I lost a lot, Restless One. I do not want to see the fighting continued. Those men are afraid of what might happen if you bring your tribe back here.”

  Restless One sighed. He hugged his knees, and Willow realized just how young he was. The bruises and dirt made him seem much older than his years. He was still just a child. Willow wished that Sam and the others could see him the way she did. The young man wasn’t a threat, he was juts frightened and angry.

  “I didn’t want to hurt them,” Restless One said, hanging his head low. “I was only hungry. Why are they always so angry all the time?”

  “Their rules are different,” Willow explained, “theft is a terrible crime in their eyes. I know we live off the land, but we must understand one another’s rules if we are to live together.”

  Restless One sighed, but he still looked angry. Willow knew that she had to find a way to reach his heart before she let him go. In her mind, she could still hear the desperate screams coming from the farmhouse. It was a sound that would never leave her, but that didn’t mean that she would kill anyone else to keep herself safe. No, there had to be a better way.

  “If you go back full of anger, you will only bring terrible bloodshed. You will sow fear in your own people, and you will cause them to do horrible things to other people. I don’t know you, Restless One, but that doesn’t seem like the type of person you are.”

  He looked at her warily.

  “What do I do with all this hurt and anger inside of me?” he asked earnestly. “I want to make them feel the way they made me feel.”

  “It won’t take away your anger, it will only give it new life,” Willow promised him. “If I had hated the tribe, I would never have seen them for who they were. I know there’s good among these people, but one side must let go of their fear first. Otherwise it will only get worse.”

  Restless One looked away sullenly. He rooted through the bag of food, his jaw clenched.

  “I know you can be the better person,” Willow said, reaching forward and touching his hand gently. “You are more than this anger. Do not let it consume you.”

  Behind them, an owl hooted, and Willow looked over her shoulder in fear.

  “You tell me to let go of my fear, but you startle at the sound of a bird,” Restless One said, snorting derisively.

  “It will take time for them to understand,” Willow said firmly. “I will do whatever is in my power to make them understand. In the meantime, why don’t you take their food and water? Return to your tribe in peace. All I ask is that you abandon your fear and anger before you leave.”

  Restless One hesitated. He looked at her intently.

  “Will you try to make them let go of their fear too?” he asked.

  “It’s one of the reasons why I came back,” she said with a shrug. “We cannot live with the fear of the past anymore. Don’t you want to be free too?”

  Restless One nodded. He got to his feet and looked down at her. She held her breath nervously.

  “I will do as you ask,” he said, inclining his head toward her in a show of respect. “But I do not have much hope that you can change these men. They are too stuck in their fear. Their leader teaches them to fear us.”

  With that, he walked off, his shoulders straight. Willow watched him for a while before she turned to return to the ranch. Restless One was right. The problem lay with the ranch’s leadership and Sam’s fear of the Indians.

  Chapter 11

  Sam returned home in a foul mood. They had searched all night, but they hadn’t found so much as a single footprint. His heart weighed heavily in his chest as he pondered over what the consequences of his failure might be. When the posse rode back to the ranch, all the men were silent. He felt as though they were all disappointed in him.

  “Well, that was a bust,” Richard said, dismounting his horse with a sigh.

  They had just gotten to the stables, and the layer of dirt and grime coating Sam felt like a second layer of skin. He found himself dreaming of a hot bath and fresh clothes.

  Sam shot Richard a dirty look and Richard looked away with a grimace. There was no need to remind him of his failure, he felt disappointed enough as it was.

  “There’s no need to shoot me that look, boss,” Richard said dully. “We did the best we could. I know we let you down…”

  Sam’s expression softened. “You think you let me down?”

  Richard looked surprised. “Yeah… I mean, we didn’t catch the vagrant, and you specifically chose us to do that. Maybe if we had more experience…”

  Sam clapped Richard’s shoulder, causing the other man to look bewildered.

  “I thought y’all were disappointed in me,” Sam admitted earnestly. “I chose the best possible men for the job, and I still couldn’t catch him. It was one man. How did we lose him?”

  “Naw, don’t work up a sweat tryin’ to figure it out, boss. Them Indians have some sort of magic connection with the land. Truth be told, I don’t think we had a fighting chance on account of his head start an’ all.”

  Sam didn’t quite agree, but he appreciated Richard’s sentiment.

  “If they come back around to fight us, we’ll be ready,” Richard promised. “You can count on that and take it all the way to the bank.”

  Sam allowed the corners of his mouth to twist up into a smile and he shook his head slowly. Richard’s optimism was refreshing, but ultimately futile. He felt a burning need in his heart to rectify the situation. Perhaps when everyone was settled, he would patrol the ranch. They may have missed a set of tracks. He would do anything to protect his ranch. It was all he had left of his family.

  As he surveyed the land, his eyes settled on the old farmhouse that used to house the Williams family. He had rebuilt it, but it was now being used as a bunkhouse for the cowboys. It didn’t make sense to keep a perfectly good house empty, even if he was keeping it for a long-lost friend.

  Over the years, Sam had come to accept that Eliza was gone too, and there was nothing he could do about it. To his immense shame, he had all but forgotten what she had looked like. There was no telling how she would look as an adult. He was sure she would have grown up to be beautiful.

  “Whattya lookin’ for?” Richard asked, standing next to Sam as if to try and see what Sam was seeing. “I’m guessing you might be on the lookout for a certain pretty girl?”

  “What are you talking about now?” Sam asked, looking at Richard in confusion.

  “Willow.”

  Sam felt his cheeks turn bright red, but not for the reasons that Richard was thinking. All night, Sam kept thinking about how strange it was that the Indian hadn’t left any tracks. It was as if he had simply vanished into thin air.

  “Aw, quit it,” Sam said, waving his hand dismissively and turning away from Richard.

  “Ol’ Sheriff William told me how y’all were chattin’ up a storm yesterday,” Richard said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

  “She’s one of my employees,” Sam said, “I make it a point of talking to all my workers. It makes them feel welcome like.”

  Richard snorted, but thankfully chose not to pursue the matter.

  “Right,” Richard drawled, drawing out the word. “I’m gonna head inside and tell my woman I’m back. It’s time to get outta these clothes.”

  Richard sauntered off, but Sam chose to stay behind and brush his horse, Ranger. The horse was powerful and a spirited stallion that Sam had gotten as a colt. Back then, Sam had been filled with a lot of anguish and grief. Taming Ranger had been a difficult task, but it was one that Same had relished.

  Now, Ranger and Sam both had a calming effect on each other. The horse could sense Sam’s emotions and had ridden all night with determination. It was clear that Ranger was beat, but Sam knew that he could have kept riding the horse for a while.

  “C’mon,” Sam said, leading the horse inside.

  The stables were one of Sam’s favorite places on the whole ranch. He had grown up around horses, and he felt comfortable in the saddle. In fact, whenever he felt as though life was becoming too overwhelming, he would get on Ranger and ride for hours.

  “You did such a great job, boy,” Sam said, gently rubbing Ranger’s neck.

  The stables smelled like hay and horse manure. The stable boy kept the place clean, but there was always the lingering scent of manure. Sam didn’t mind it, he had long since stopped smelling the stink and it was the sweet notes of hay and horse feed that always tickled his nose. It was like being home.

  Each horse had its own enclosure, so the stables were one of the biggest buildings on the ranch. It also had a hayloft which made the building two-stories high. Sam had the largest stable in the area, but he figured it was worth it. If the horses were happy, they worked longer and harder. He had the same approach with his employees and the ranch flourished as a result.

  He had learned that lesson from his father. Arthur Bennett was the wisest man Samuel had ever known.

  “Papa would’ve known what to do in this situation,” Sam muttered under his breath as he began brushing Ranger.

  The horse snorted and pushed his face into his feed bag.

  “I mean, it’s impossible that the Indian just vanished,” Sam continued, his thoughts were filled with turmoil.

  When he was a kid, he had all but worshipped his father. He spent half his time following his father around and the other half following Eliza around. Thanks to all the time that he spent with his father, he had known what to do when he re-opened the ranch. Those early days had been extremely difficult, but he had held on to his goal of opening the ranch again. It was the only thing he had left of his parents.

  “There were no tracks, no broken branches, nothing…” Sam said, shaking his head as he murmured to himself.

  Sometimes, the burden of running the ranch by himself became too much. During those times, he would retreat to the stables and talk things out with himself. It helped hearing his problems out loud.

  “I mean, he would’ve covered his tracks, but he was scared. It’s impossible that he didn’t make a mistake… unless… he did make a mistake, and someone covered for him.”

  The thought sounded ludicrous, but it had occurred to him when they were out on the plains the previous night. If the Indian had help, it would explain how he got loose and simply vanished.

  “Impossible,” Sam said, firmly. “None of my men would betray me.”

  Don’t get too cock-sure. Sam heard his father’s voice in the back of his head as if his old man was still in the room with him. Arthur had always warned Sam against being too sure of himself. Over-confidence was a fool’s vice.

  “Alright, let’s think about it… who don’t I know well?”

  Sam spent a considerable time familiarizing himself with everyone who worked for him. As he asked the question, he knew he was only going through the motions. There was one person who he didn’t know very well. The same person who had deeply tanned skin as if she spent every possible second out in the sun. She was vague about her past, and when they had brought the Indian to the yard, she was already in the kitchen.

  He remembered how she had snuck downstairs. If he hadn’t been paying attention, he would have completely missed her. And most damning of all, he had found her snooping around the barn shortly after the Indian had gone missing.

  “Don’t think I’m crazy, but I’m thinking that Willow might not be completely innocent,” Sam said, his shoulders slumping.

  The more he thought about it, the more suspicious he became. Only a few days after Willow arrived, an Indian was captured in town. She was spotted by the barn soon after the Indian escaped.

  “I don’t want to jump to any conclusions…” Sam reminded himself.

  However, he knew he couldn’t just let it go. He needed to find out if Willow was up to something or if he was oversensitive from stress and lack of sleep.

  When he was done brushing and feeding Ranger, he headed up to the farmhouse. The men were all talking easily among themselves, and he spotted Willow and Mary distributing food to everyone.

  As he walked into the yard, Willow looked up and gave him a friendly smile. The sight of it nearly turned his stomach. Traitor or friend? He noticed a small dimple on the left side of her smile, and he thought it looked endearing. She had a pretty smile.

 

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