The Five Dollar Mail Book 3: The Road Home

80: Squaw Man

Sorry this is late, folks. I had set it all up before I left town (I was camping in a hayfield since last week), hoping to simply be able to hit "publish" at the appropriate time. However, the Wattpad app is pretty much unusable, at least on my phone. So I wasn't able to. I don't find that ap is good for much. :-(

Also, thanks for the follow, lululioness123!

Cover painting by Angela Taratuta. Chapter artwork of Jesse by Angela Taratuta. 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.

"Runs Laughing!" Jesse skidded to a halt in front of the doorway to Still Water Woman's lodge. Still Water Woman jostled into him from behind, calling out in Lakota for her little sister. They were both in a blind panic. Oh, God, where is she? Jesse's mind was racing, aswirl with a thousand nightmare images. He threw open the door flap, straining his eyes in the relative darkness. "Runs Laughing, you in here, honey?" Something happens to her, I'll never...

Wacanga!" Runs Laughing clambered from her hiding place beneath a pile of furs and blankets, running to him and throwing her arms around his waist. She was babbling in Lakota, her voice hitching with terror. Jesse couldn't understand her, so he just held her close, stroking her hair. His heart was pounding. He could hear shouting outside, hoofbeats, and sounds of gunfire getting closer. He pulled Still Water Woman against his side as Fiona appeared in the doorway, terror etched across her face.

"Fiona," he dragged Still Water Woman and Runs Laughing with him as he stumbled back towards the doorway. "You three have got to get out of here. We go outside, you three gotta run like hell."

Fiona's face was paler than he'd ever seen it, ghostlike in the dim light. "What about you? You can't stay here!"

"You got any weapons?" he said hopefully.

She shook her head. "Dev's got his pistol. That's all."

"Shitfire and damnation," he muttered, rubbing his lips with the back of his hand. "Eagle Bone, you stupid son of a..."

"What?"

"Nothin'. C'mon." He all but shoved her out the door, pulling everyone along as went. The metallic twang of gunpowder hung in the air. Dev had backed up against the outer wall of the lodge, his pistol ready and his eyes watching for anyone who might approach.

"Still Water Woman," Jesse said. Stopping, he placed his hands on either side of her face. "You and Runs Laughing and Fiona," he said in Lakota. "Go."

Her face crumpled, and she shook her head. "No."