He closed his hand and jerked in his sleep. He startled her and she felt suddenly ashamed. He was not the man she had imagined him to be, neither sure of himself nor at ease in the world. Jules Bart, a man without family, looked to be losing his ranch. She turned back toward the hall. She didn’t want him to catch her. She walked quickly away from the sight of him and then she was running. The door slammed shut behind her.

The storm was closing in, growing darker. She wanted to run from herself. She took off for the hills. She bounded over weeds and tall grass. She dropped the sack of fry bread but didn’t stop to retrieve it. She looked behind her, hoping Jules was not watching her from his window. She decided to head for the trees where she could not be easily spotted. For now she was only interested in putting distance between herself and Jules Bart. She kept her eyes on the far hills.

She was running so fast she caught her foot under a rock, maybe a fallen branch, and she was flying. She was falling. She saw wet grass come up at her face, heard the grinding thud of her bones. For a moment she lay still in the cold grass, listening to her hard breath. Her knees were hot. She could feel the little stinging rocks buried in her palms, the deep throbbing pulse of her heart, and she felt foolish. She had gotten what she deserved, seen something she was not supposed to see. She had also shirked her obligations. She felt her sides heaving. She looked at her aching hands. She had taken a hard fall.

There was a weakening sweetness in the air that made her want to inhale deeply. She saw a large rock and made her way to it. She needed to calm down. The wind shifted and the smell turned suddenly ripe. She sniffed the air but the breeze had already turned from her. Her back was stiff. She sat down on the rough rock and looked at her bleeding knees. The storm was whipping the bramble. It was still raining. She brushed the wet hair back from her face. The fall had made her feel like laughing or crying, and she thought if she started either she would never stop. She tried to gulp air, catch her breath. Her toes were rain soaked too. She busied herself with untying her shoes, but as she bent over she spotted something in the grass. Her heart shot to her throat. She looked again.