She had explained it all in a letter she had left on the mantelpiece. Sure her parents would understand. And her sister, and her brother. She would be back, she just needed to think. Her parents knew she could take care of herself, she had just never ridden off like this before; all alone.

The rain was merciless on her, and she knew she had to find shelter before she was all drenched. She knew of a smaller cave not far from town, and she was almost there already. She urged her mount on through the mud, wiping at the tears that fell from her eyes with the back of her left hand. The shock had let go of her now, and it was only the grieving left. It hurt all over; like a fire burning in her soul, eating her alive piece by piece. She never did think about what would happen the day she saw him leave. Or marry someone else. Or die. She cried even more when she let those forbidden thoughts into her head, and wiping at the tears became futile. She rode on and ignored the rain, trying to focus on finding the cave. But all kinds of strange images popped up in her head; both good and bad. Some where Buck was smiling brightly at her, and some where he lay dead and cold in her arms. At this point she was ready to die too.

~*~*~*~

It was dark when she reached the cave. It wasn't more than eight miles from Rock Creek, but the muddy trail made it hard to ride very fast. But she was happy to be there; finally.

She dumped her bedroll and saddlebag right inside the opening and went to take her horse inside as well. She started to unpack her gear when she heard something deeper into the inky blackness.

"Who's there?" she whispered, but even if there was someone there he couldn't hear her. She was so dead scared the words got caught in her throat.

She heard no reply and decided she would go in and have a look. She had never seen anyone else there and her only guess was that some bats were shifting in their sleep. She had never been real close to a bat before, but she knew she wasn't gonna scream. So she took a few steady steps into the cave.

Her heart stopped. She gasped for air and one hand landed on her chest. That certainly wasn't a bat. It's huge! She thought and tried to make out its contours in the dark. It was hard, but as her eyes got used to the dim light the moon provided from outside, she saw it was an animal. A horse. The animal moved and turned to look at her.

"Now, who do you belong to?" she asked carefully and reached out to stroke the animal's neck. Suddenly she heard the cocking of a gun.