The Five Dollar Mail Book 3: The Road Home

53: Because It Was Grassy

Cover painting by Angela Taratuta. Chapter artwork of Jesse by Diego Candia. All graphics by me.

Book 1: The Green, Book 2: Lynch's Boys, Book 3: The Road Home, and the Riders & Kickers Anthology are available on Amazon under the name Regina Shelley. So if you hate waiting for chapter posts and/or want a more polished read, the finished product is available now.

The sun was going down in the village, and the long shadows of the lodges were stretching across the green earth in long spills of dusky purples and blues. Fires glowed orange against the dim, dreamy light, echoing the blaze of the sunset in the sky like burning embers fallen to earth.

Jesse's thoughts had long outdistanced the flaming horizon, and he stood on the far edge of the camp, contemplating the turns his life had taken. He was barely aware of the warm wind tugging his hair and the leather fringes on his borrowed clothing. The light was pearly and beautiful and smelled of smoke and earth. He breathed in slowly, savoring the sweet air.

What now, Farm Boy? He realized he couldn't imagine what tomorrow might be like. He didn't have the first idea about what his life might be like in a week, a month. He closed his eyes. I survived this. Surely they ain't gonna kill me now. Surely, they'll let me go anytime I'm ready. I'll be home soon.

His eyes opened with a jolt. Home soon. Unease crept through the pit of his belly, filling him with a guilty anxiety and the ghosts of fears he couldn't name. Poor Lily. She ain't gonna be happy Bender's gone back without me...but at least he can tell her I ain't dead and I ain't a captive. That I'm alright.

He walked aimlessly along the edge of the village, strangely aware of the soft coolness of the grass beneath his moccasined feet. I might be ruined for regular shoes after this. Them broke down work boots Eagle Bone took from me are their own revenge. He wiggled his toes, the softness beneath the worn leather sensuous and soothing against his soles. Reckon I have a good excuse to finally spend the money for a new pair when I get back. He flexed his feet, and imagined slipping his feet back into a pair of proper boots with respectable soles.

The ominous kernel of anxiety in his guts flared again, worrisome and faceless. He shook his head, shaking it off and turning his attention to the issue at hand. Bender's bought me some time. I can make sure the village is safe before I leave, and Lily will know where I am. I couldn't live with myself if I thought...if I left Runs Laughing and Still Water Woman.. in danger. And even weird old Two Elk... He smiled, shaking his head. I owe too many people here my life. Still Water Woman... He sighed heavily, feeling the weight of everything that had happened. He stopped, distracted. I could find myself in a fix if I ain't careful. 'Cause if I let myself feel the way I feel... He desperately wished he could talk to someone. Saint, Wash...hell, Fiona, even. He didn't care who. He just wanted to talk to someone who knew more about women than he did. I don't want to make a jackass of myself. This thing with Still Water Woman...I just don't know what to think or do. She's... He thought about how she had lain beside him, cuddled up next to him with her cheek against his bare chest and her hand splayed dangerously on his belly, and his face flooded with heat. I coulda laid there forever. I wanted to. She's making me forget who I am. That I gotta go home.

A soft, childish cry startled him, pulled him back into the moment, "Wacanga!" Behind him was a soft rustling of leather against grass, and he turned, worry draining from him in a rush. Runs Laughing was bounding along after him, and babbling in a magpie's chatter a mix of Lakota sprinkled with snatches of broken English. "Come!"

He held out his hands and she grabbed them in hers, tugging him towards her. "Come with me!" she insisted.

"Where are we going?" he said, chuckling and letting her pull him along. "Where?" he repeated in her language.

She smiled enigmatically and answered with another hard tug that nearly pulled him over. "Come, Wacanga!"

"I don't know that word, honey," he said, more to himself than to her. "I reckon it's either someone to meet or something to eat?"

"Come!"

"Alright, alright. Lead on." He had to walk in long, hard strides to keep up with her. Her little hand was warm and sweet in his, and he felt a surge of affection for her. It's going to kill me to leave this child. To leave all of them. Before I go, I'm going to have to talk to Two Elk about coming back to visit...

Runs Laughing was pulling him back into the village, into the comfortable embrace of the camp where he could hear laughter and voices and the sounds of flutes played at distant lodges. She was leading him back to Still Water's lodge. He stopped abruptly and Runs Laughing let go of his hands.

Jesse's heart squeezed hard inside him, tripping and faltering on the uneven jumble of his emotions. Still Water Woman stood beside her lodge, a large blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She met his gaze with bright, wet eyes, her lashes sparkling in the deepening blue twilight.   A tentative smile played shyly about her lips as she opened the wrap out to him with one arm, inviting him to stand beside her inside her blanket.

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