EPTWe drove our cattle drawn carriages at the break of dawn and established camping sites when it got too dark to see where we were going. The dark was also when the coyotes became hungry, so our greatest advantage was our numbers, sticking together as a group, and the fires we all gathered around in the night as the wind whipped through our hearts and souls, taking us to far away places in the blink of an eye.
One rainy morning, we were ambushed by hostile Indians. They cornered us against a hill and slaughtered our men, women, and children indiscriminately. Only a few of us escaped with our lives. I was lucky to climb behind a rock to spare myself. Nearby I saw a young girl crying as she crouched behind a small bush. I approached her and she was happy to see a familiar face. When the attack settled down, I grabbed a horse for the two of us and we rode off for a few miles, a deafening silence surrounding us.
She was quiet and continued to cry. Later she told me that her whole family - father, mother, and two brothers - had all died that day. I held her close in my arms and tried to comfort her. I had been alone most of my life and was an independent man, but this girl had never been on her own before. She was too young to know what it really mean to be lonely. But out here we had each other, and I knew that we were going to be okay.
That evening we settled down to camp. She kept looking at me, but I could not understand exactly why. We were running short on food and water, so I gave her most of my share, determined to find more tomorrow. She smiled and thanked me for being so kind to her. That night, we stared up at the stars in wonder, it was a clear sky, and she asked me how I was feeling. That was the first time anyone had asked me that in a long time. I said nothing, just gently brushed away some of her hair falling in front of her right eye, lightly caressed her cheek, and kissed her tender forehead. She held my hands and squeezed them as I started kissing her neck.
She was very tired. Before I knew it, she was fast asleep with her delicate body tucked into mine, and her head resting comfortably on my chest. I could feel her heart beating, the vitality of life pulsating through her veins, and I could imagine the scenes she was experiencing in her dreams. Maybe a nice warm bed, a hot and relaxing bath, more than enough food to fill the belly - all remote fantasies in these conditions. I had dozed off myself when she woke me to say that she had to use the bathroom. Here nature's call was literally that. I picked myself up, grabbed my rifle, and started to walk with her in order to keep watch and protect her if any wild animal approached. But she stopped me, saying it was hard for her to go when I was behind her, and that she knew how to handle a gun herself. A few moments later she emerged from the shadows, handed my rifle back to me, and sweetly kissed me on the cheek.
She looked at me again with her big magical eyes, her expression a curious mix of childlike innocence and mysterious maturity. It was almost morning, as the faintest glimmer of sunlight began to trickle over the high mountain peaks in the distance.
