Page 95 of Maple Mountain
“You wanna come with us?”Lenni asked me, shooting a glance at her father, who nodded.
Want ...yes.But should I?
“Come with us,” Archer urged.
I couldn’t ignore both sets of pleading eyes begging me to join them.
“All right,” I said.“But I get to ride Mirabelle.”
Twenty minutes later, the three of us were on our mounts.The air was crisp, but the snowflakes that had fallen a few hours earlier had stopped.The sky was hazy and white.
There wasn’t much to say.What could any of us say?We all knew this was a losing battle.
I wouldn’t stay.
Icouldn’tstay.
It would hurt us all too much if I tried to pretend my roots could grow with theirs.
My eyes misted as my horse followed Lenni’s.Archer brought up the rear.I looked over my shoulder at him, unable to stop myself.His gaze was somber, as if he already knew what I’d decided.
For real this time.
Lenni reined her horse to a stop when she came to the crest of a small hill.I guided my mount next to hers and then Archer brought his next to mine.
I stared out over the land.Once upon a time, men had gone west with nothing more than a direction and a dream.They’d settled wild land; land that had given them food and shelter.They’d suffered and endured to make it this far, and then they’d put down roots and stayed.
Would I ever find my place?Would I ever put down roots?Would I find deep, soul-wrenching love that I couldn’t live without?
I peered at Lenni.Her jaw was clamped shut, and in the angles of her profile I could see the adult she’d one day become.But for now, she was a child.A child who’d been dealt far too much heartache.
I couldn’t be another fracture in her young heart.Too many heartbreaks could change a person into something else.A new version of their old self, filled with bitterness where love should’ve been.
Swallowing, I backed up Mirabelle so that I could turn her.I gently kicked her sides, and she took off at a gallop.The frigid air stung and froze the tears on my cheeks.My ears burned, and blood drained from my fingers as they began to go numb.
I felt the coldness down to my marrow.
Mirabelle slowed and the other two caught up to me.
The three of us turned back toward the ranch.The ranch that wasn’t my home.
It only reminded me of what I didn’t have.
“Go eat,” Archer said to Lenni as he threw his leg over his stallion’s back and dismounted.
“You sure?”Lenni asked.“I can help brush the horses.”
“I’ve got it,” Archer said.
“I’ll help you,” I stated.To Lenni, I said, “Make sure they save me a turkey leg.”
“A turkey leg?”Lenni asked.“Why a turkey leg?”
“So I can eat it with my bare hands and pretend I really am a Viking warrior,” I quipped.“Really, Lenni.You’re missing out.”
She smiled.“I’ll try it.”
Nodding, I swung my leg over Mirabelle and dismounted.
