Chace Yellow Cloud sat alone underneath a tree at the edge of the forest.  His dappled horse grazed nearby.  When he saw the wagon, he rose to his feet.  He’d put on a loose soft shirt over the buckskin pants.

“They’re gone already?” Ellis said.

“Not long ago and they’re moving slow.  They’ll stay on the main road till you catch up.”

Ellis swung down from the wagon and headed back to untie his horse.  “I’m not looking forward to this.”

“No one is,” Chace said.  “But he’ll go even if it means going alone.”

“I’m worn out.  Why isn’t he?”

“He thinks his time’s coming and this is what he has to do first.”

“So be it, then.  I’m worried about the wagon train.  It’s got some mule-heads in it and I don’t want Miller finding himself in more trouble than he can handle.  None of them are worth it, that’s for certain.”

“Some of them are,” Charlotte said.  Both of them turned to look at her as if they’d forgotten she was there.  Though I am involved somewhat, she thought.

“Yes,” Ellis said, “but you took care of your own and fed the whole damn company and headed off your uncle for at least a while.  Not bad for a night’s work.”

“I’ll miss you,” she said, “even though you were never there.”

“Don’t get me started again.  Just say goodbye nicely.”

She lifted her chin.  “Goodbye, Ellis.”

Ellis swung up into the saddle and Chace Yellow Cloud did the same.

“Go well, my brother,” Chace said.

“Go well to you, my brother,” Ellis said, and he was gone.

<>

Charlotte sat in silence, waiting for what came next.  Ellis’s sudden absence affected her more than she’d thought it would.  With all his faults, he’d still been the constant, the one person she believed she could trust.  He didn’t have to treat her well, but he had.  He didn’t have to care, but he did.  She wondered if and when he’d handed over the money so that now she would be someone else’s problem instead of that burden belonging solely to him.  She was sure that in her father’s eyes, beyond being horrified at the turn of events, he would expect each of them to accept responsibility for the decisions they made and the outcome of those decisions.  For Ellis, that meant leaving her.  For Chace Yellow Cloud, she had no idea what it meant.  And what kind of name was that anyway?

It all seemed so preposterous, sitting on the seat of a wagon containing all the possessions she had left in the world, having to figure out the rest of her life with a perfect stranger, not to mention this perfect stranger who sat on his horse apparently waiting for her to say something.

“Why are you called Chace?” she said.