April 29, 1870

Oregon. 

I was walking around town this morning when I saw Will over by the house. I went over and smiled, hugging him. “Hey there soldier! Thought I wasn’t gonna see you again.” 

“Hey there. You can’t get rid of me that easy,” he smiled. “Soldier life takes me away at times. How have you been?” 

“Want to come over for a bit?” 

“Sure,” he said and I led him into the house. 

Once we were inside I hugged him tightly. “It’s good to see you again.” 

“Good to see you,” he hugged me back. “Hope you didn’t run into them bandits while I was away. What have you been up to?” 

“Well there was some trouble with the natives last night... I went to Texas to find help and there was no one there.” I looked at him. 

“Not them Apache again?” 

“I was looking for some soldiers to help but couldn’t find any... Do you think you can tell me where all the soldiers hang out so I can get help when they come again?” 

“Best place is in Arizona. Them soldier are friendly to Apache. They can help if you have some troubles with them.” 

“Can you take me there so I can see where it is? I have the feeling we’ll need them again, though Adder would probably not accept help from any soldiers.” 

“He might if they become too many. It’s a long journey but I can show you,” he said and took my hand. 

“That would be a nice ride," I nodded and stood with him. 

Arizona. 

We took a ride out to the soldier outpost Will knew about, and he said that there wasn't many soldiers that went there. “It would be good to get to know some other soldiers too though. I heard they bought Kilyko from the natives and she jumped out of the boat... This was sometime last week. But it sounds kind of suspicious. Why would they have bought instead of just fought for her?” 

“Sounds strange. Do you need to rest or would like to go to Fort Lowell?” 

“I’ve been trying to find the outposts and talk to some friends about it, without mentioning Kilyko’s name.” 

“Soldiers are friendly to Apache so she would be safe with them.”

“Can we go to the main fort?” I asked, wanting to know where they all were. He continued holding my hand and led the way to the fort. 

Will opened the door to the main fort and introduced me to Colonel Winkler. She said that she lead the headquarters in town and that the Commander of the fort was Col. McLane and Captain Taylor. 

“Trin do you know which native tribe was causing trouble?” Will asked me after we’d finished the small talk. 

“Yes who has caused the anger?” Winkler asked. 

“That’s the thing... They just came and threatened to burn down the house last week. Don’t really know why. The man, I think his name was Jabuu, looked at me and threatened me to put my gun away." 

“Jabuu? Never heard.” 

“He is an Apache. There were two other women with him.” 

“Where this has happened?” 

“In the Oregon area," I said. “I was hoping to come and meet you in case we needed help again, we could come find you. There are also bandits in the area,” I said, looking at William. 

“Yes Col. not sure which bandits they where. Could be the same ones that shoot at us," William said. 

“It’s the Black Hills Bandits. I’ve figured out that it was Billy and Sky Talon who robbed me," I announced. 

“Col have you heard of these bandits?” Will asked.

“Never,” Winkler replied. 

“I look for them but couldn’t find them.” 

“You should go first to the local sheriff and marshall in this case.” 

“They have a fort in Nebraska but they’ve also been known to hang out in Colorado,” I said. “They have a fortress in Nebraska, but they have also been known to hang out in Colorado.” 

“We have not fully made in these areas. Sorry,” Winkler told me. 

“There is no local law in Oregon. I’m the only lawman around, really. And all I can do is investigate for the local law,” I stated. 

“I fear that the nearest Marshall is not very honest,” Will added. 

“I’m sorry, we can not intervene in such cases, if there are bandits, they must report display. in Nevada is a good sheriff,” the colonel said. “And the closest is Oregon.” 

We said goodbye after talking a bit more and eyed an Apache native looking at us and we kept moving towards home. 

Oregon. 

We waved to Adder and looked around, seeing Adder running towards the town. “That was weird…” I said to William. 

“What is happening?” he asked. 

“Adder’s running toward the town. That only means one thing…" 

“Trouble?” 

I nodded and said, “I don’t want to get in the way but we should watch from a distance in case he needs help.” 

“We should go look.” 

I reached for his hand before I saw the Native man. “That’s Jabuu,” I whispered to Will. 

“I have noticed. Notice Adder?” he asked and I shook my head as we walked a bit closer. “I don't know where he is," I whispered and saw a native girl that was a pain to me the other day when Jabuu threatened. I backed up but was still curious what was going on. 

We walked over with our guns drawn and pointed, ready to shoot if needed. We followed the group at a distance as we watched Adder run up the mountain. All of a sudden a bullet shot by me and I ran towards Adder on the hill. I asked him if he was okay and he told me to shoot them. I shot at the natives and then got knocked down as I got shot in the shoulder. I tried to be stoic and didn’t show how much pain I was really in. I saw the natives running back and sighed, thinking at least I’d gotten some hits on the girl. I heard them bantering and Teru dragged me over to Adder’s porch where I lay on the carpet, holding my shoulder in pain. I leaned on the rug, wondering what was going on, trying to contain the blood from my shoulder. I heard someone coming over and turned, but the movement was too painful.

“Will…” I breathed hard. “Will where’s Adder and Teru?” 

“I cut him loose but he couldn’t move and the Shoshone where coming back,” Will said and I shifted on the porch to look at him. “Had to leave him until I can get help to rescue him.” 

“Are you okay?” I looked up at him. 

“She snip me. Could barely see her.” 

“Adder... are you okay…?" I asked as I watched him walk into the house. I tried to stand up but fell slightly, reaching for the railing. 

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Adder said. 

“I was getting some shots on her but she had the higher ground,” I sighed. Will came over to try and stop me from falling but he almost fell out of the chair. “Figured I’d have more chance against the girl and leave the men to you two.” 

“I notice I need to get some training in before I try that again. Sitting behind a desk to long,” Will said. 

“I didn’t have a fucking hope once it was three on one. Started out as me against the chief. Two others started shooting at me. Then on my way back I see you two hanging around the border doing fuck all,” he said and slammed the door. 

I jumped at his slamming and yelled, “I was sniping with a girl and getting hit across the hill!” 

“Guess laying in my own blood doesn’t count for anything,” Will muttered. 

“Think you can walk?” I looked at Will, wanting to get home. 

“I can.” He slowly helped me up and carried me back to the house across the river. I showed him my shoulder where the bullet was still lodged in and winced at the pain as I fell on the couch. "The bullet’s still… in there…” 

Will looked around and then used a cloth to help stop the bleeding. He held me close and said, “We need to get these bullets out..” I sighed in his arms and was relieved he came back when he did, but I still felt the pain in my shoulder. “Looks like we are going have trouble with those three,” he closed his eyes. 

“They’re the ones I was telling the colonel about. The ones who threatened to burn down Adder’s house.” 

“I remember them. Pretending to be Apache.” 

“Hey…” I turned my head slightly. “Welcome home.” 

“Thank you hun. Feels good to be home. I hope I didn’t worry to much for being gone so long.” 

“Even with that welcoming committee?” I chuckled. 

“Even with that,” he chuckled. 

I reached out to rub my arm but it made the pain even worse. “It’s really starting to sting.” 

“We should really go find a doctor.” 

I nodded and stood shakily, leading the way outside. I smiled when I saw Naca and said, “There’s Naca. He can heal. Chief…” I approached him, knowing how he felt about soldiers. 

“Hello,” Naca greeted us. 

“Chief, we’ve both been hit... I’ve got a bullet in my shoulder and…” 

“I been hit in the thigh,” Will said. 

Kilyko ran over then and I watched as Naca walked back towards his camp. Kilyko worked on healing both our injuries without a word and we watched as she walked back to the clinic. 

“Let’s go home, Will," I said and we headed back to the house.