“Maybe an hour.”
Her face lost color.
The Mountain Man walked toward her.
“We can move.”
She looked at her wrapped feet.
“Not fast.”
“No.”
“Then what?”
He looked toward the cabin.
Then the ridge.
“We stop running.”
The Young Woman stared.
Fear rose.
Then anger.
Stronger.
She walked inside.
Returned carrying the rifle he had taught her to use.
The Mountain Man looked at it.
Then her.
“You don’t have to fight.”
The Young Woman answered:
“I know.”
She checked the chamber.
“But I’m done hiding.”
The Mountain Man nodded once.
“Then stand beside me.”
Not behind.
Beside.
She remembered that word forever.
Three riders appeared between the pines.
The Former Husband led.
Black coat.
Dark hat.
Two hired men behind him.
The Young Woman’s hands became cold.
The Mountain Man noticed.
“Breathe.”
She did.
The Former Husband rode into the clearing.
Stopped.
His face changed when he saw her.
Not relief.
Ownership.
“There you are.”
The Young Woman did not answer.
His eyes moved toward the Mountain Man.
“You stole my wife.”
The Mountain Man’s voice remained calm.
“She came here almost frozen to death.”
“She belongs to me.”
The Young Woman stepped forward.
“No.”
The Former Husband looked at her.
“What?”
“I said no.”
His mouth tightened.
“You embarrassed me.”
“Good.”
One hired man shifted uncomfortably.
The Former Husband stared.
“You broke my window.”
“Yes.”
“You ran like a thief.”
“I ran like a prisoner.”
The words landed.
The Former Husband’s face darkened.
He looked toward the Mountain Man.
“You’ve been filling her head.”
The Mountain Man shook his head.
“She seems to have her own.”
The Young Woman nearly smiled.
The Former Husband did not.
He dismounted.
The Mountain Man raised one hand.
“Stay there.”
The Former Husband laughed.
“You ordering me?”
“Yes.”
His hired men reached near their weapons.
The Mountain Man’s rifle came slightly higher.
Not aimed.
Ready.
The Young Woman lifted hers.
The Former Husband stared.
“You would point a gun at your husband?”
She aimed at the snow near his horse.
Pulled the trigger.
The shot cracked across the clearing.
Snow exploded.
The horse jumped backward.
The Former Husband cursed.
The Young Woman’s hands shook after the recoil.
Her voice did not.
“I will not go back.”
The Former Husband stared.
Then looked toward the Mountain Man.
“This is what you wanted?”
The Mountain Man answered:
“No.”