Page 45 of Coyote

"Where were you going?"

"Nowhere."

Coyote frowned. "You walked away from your house with nowhere to go?"

"I wasn't walking away. Not when I started."

"What happened when it got dark?"

"I slept."

"Outside?"

"Under a cottonwood."

"You didn't have supplies."

"I had a bottle of water. I bought a pack in the next town. Then boots when my shoes wore out."

"How long?"

"About six months."

His fingers stilled against my chest. "You could've gone home."

"Every morning, I thought I would."

"Why didn't you?"

I looked beyond the bones turning on their wires. The ridge ran south until the heat blurred it. "There was always another mile in front of me."

Coyote's face changed. His shoulders lowered. The hand against my chest flattened, no longer holding me in place. "You walked until everybody shut up," he said.

"Something like that."

"What were you looking for?"

"I wanted to know who I was when nobody needed me."

"You find him?"

I looked at the man kneeling between my legs. "Maybe."

"You done walking?"

My jaw set before I answered. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"That isn't what I asked."

"No." I looked out at the sun beyond the cave. "I don't know if I'm done."

Coyote's hand fell away. I caught it before he could take it back.

"I can give you today," I said.

"Today isn't enough."

"It's what I know."