December 2, 1869

Nebraska. 

I sat down at the dock tonight and went to work starting to fish. I heard someone coming over and smiled wide, seeing Lonely Eagle. “Hey there!” 

“Hello Trin,” he waved. 

“I haven’t seen you in a few days... Was almost gonna send out a search party,” I winked. 

“I haven’t been gone that long,” he laughed. 

“It’s good to see you, nonetheless,” I chuckled. 

“Same here. Care to do some fishing while we talk?”

“Would love to,” I said and we sat down on the log beside each other as we began to fish. “Gorgeous evening for fishing.”

“Lovely day with lovely friends.” 

“So what would you like to talk about?” I asked and looked over at him. He was quiet for a few minutes and I was curious about what he was so focused on. “Something on your mind, Eagle?” I finally asked. 

“Yes actually. I’ve had this repeating dream lately.” 

“You have?” 

“I’ve been out hunting and Brother Eagle lands on your house.” 

“What else happens in the dream?” I smiled. 

“That’s as far as it goes. I do not know what he is leading me to do for sure. I can’t help but wonder if I’m being led to you.” 

I smiled, thinking I had the same thoughts lately and really didn’t want to be alone any longer. “We seem to be put into situations together a lot lately, don’t we? The hunting, the mining, that girl who didn’t know who she was... Now fishing...”

“Yes, so it would seem.” 

“Even at that cave... You didn’t press for why I didn’t want to go in.. You just stood beside me and accepted that it was too hard for me. Most men would push and ask what’s wrong. When you understood that in that moment I didn’t want to talk about it.”

“We all have our inner battles. Sometimes we just need to support people in theirs and not push them into the front lines when they are not yet ready to face it.”

“The thing is... It’s been months since that happened. And yet I still cannot walk into a cave.”

“Then maybe it is time for you to face that battle.” 

“Maybe I am meant to face that battle with you...” I thought of the time in the cave with Chief Standing Bear. “I spoke with Chief Standing Bear in Wyoming about everything that had happened to me when I first met him. I wanted to tell him everything so that he understood why I needed protection from them... But even then I still was unsure about being in the cave.”

“I cannot fight your battle for you, but I will help you.” 

“I kept looking at the entrance, unsure if I would get out even though I knew I could trust him.”

“If you want, you can tell me what has you so frightened.” 

I looked over at him, knowing I needed to tell him the story. I told him all about what happened in Twin Falls in the cave where Bill had told me to blame the fire on my friend Bravo and he would let me out of the cave. I told how when I asked about my friends in the cell he said that if the marshals would burn all the warrants against his gang, he’d let them go. Then he cut my forearm to show that he was serious. I told him about Kitty being tied to a pole in Georgetown and about Bill showing me and James the picture, insisting that I had to do something about it but I wasn’t going to go. Then I finally told him about Bill’s gang surrounding the church and the judge wanting to buy me off to the gang. I told him how I’d moved to Colorado but they’d still found me there so I’d moved to Nebraska. 

“Would you like to get your friend back?” Eagle asked when I was finished. 

“Kitty? No. I doubt she even remembers when we were friends,” I looked over at him. “She is too... far gone. Whenever I hear about a crime happening... She is usually involved. She kidnapped my friend the other night... The circuit judge for the areas... I went to Amiville to talk to the sheriff about it and he was 99% sure it was her behind it.”

“Then turnabout is fair play.” 

“I want to put the whole thing behind me, but so many things still haunt me. I don’t wish to be violent, Eagle. That’s not who I am. I just want to forget it even happened but I can’t. It’s too much apart of me now.”

“I do not wish violence, just to help reveal the truth.” 

“The truth is that they stole my life from me. Now I am trying to have a fresh start and move on.” 

“Your life they cannot steal unless you give it away.” 

“I didn’t even mention the part where they killed my best friend... Right in front of me. I want nothing to do with them ever again. I just want.... peace. Being alone... It provides too much time for me to think. Maybe if I wasn’t alone... I would be more distracted and these things wouldn’t haunt me as much.”

He took a deep breath and looked at me. “You wish to ignore your past and be distracted from it. The bad things and troubles you have had define you as much as the good things and victories,” he said and I looked at him, confused. “My journey has brought me across many lands and I have come across many obstacles. You can either take these obstacles and learn to use them as things to climb and build yourself from, or let them forever be a stumbling block. This ‘gang’, these ‘horsemen’ will forever haunt you until you face them and no longer let them chase you. Stop turning your back to them and running. Turn and face them head on. There are more people who want them gone than they have. Violence is not the only way to break them up.” 

“What are you suggesting?” I asked him nervously. 

“Let me help you and together we can make it so no one ever has to run from them again.”

“I thought that by going through Amiville again it would be a step in the right direction... But when I see the buildings and some of the people... It all comes back. I do long for your help... Clearly I can’t do this on my own.”

“Then let us work together. We do make a good team.” 

“I came to Nebraska to run from it, but in doing this paper I am forced to be where they are, to interact with the people they interact with... I’m going to have to face it again. What exactly did you have in mind?”

“Well, we can get a large group of people together who wants them gone.”

“The natives...” I started to understand. 

“That is one large group...”

“The Cherokee... The Cheyenne...” I nodded. 

“I know no tribe who likes them.” 

“It’s why I’m here... Throughout the months being in Amiville I ran to Hawk’s tribe in Kansas for relief, for peace.” 

“The white man corrupts far to easy.” 

“When I moved here, I made sure I had allies on the other side of me as well; the Cherokee in Wyoming. I knew that if I had any trouble with anyone I could run to either side for protection. And then I found out that they are being attacked by the same people I was running from...” I wanted to be a liaison between them and the marshals... And give them more protection.”

“We shall contact all the tribes.” 

“This was how I was going to fight back and stand up against the outlaws who had tormented me for months. I have talked to both Chiefs about my mission... But sadly the marshals have been of no help... Maybe if you came with me we could convince them that this is a serious problem and we need better protection in these parts...” 

“That would be a good plan,” he nodded. 

Lonely Eagle went off to do some hunting then and I went to do some hunting of my own, looking for lawmen.