“Can or should?”
“Can.”
She understood what he was doing.
Refusing to make choice.
She looked outside.
Then at cabin.
Then letter.
“Where would I go?”
Silas waited.
“Harlan would let me stay one night.”
“Maybe two.”
“He has family.”
Silas said nothing.
“My father…”
Her voice tightened.
“He sold me.”
Silas’s jaw hardened.
“But he is still my father.”
“Yes.”
“Do you hate him?”
Silas considered.
“No.”
Clara blinked.
“Why not?”
“Would be easy.”
“And?”
“Easy feelings usually cost too much.”
Clara stared.
“Who taught you that?”
“My mother.”
“Was she kind?”
“No.”
Clara laughed unexpectedly.
Silas almost smiled.
She looked out again.
“If I stay until road improves more…”
“Yes.”
“That does not mean I belong here.”
“No.”
“Or to you.”
“No.”
“I work for food.”
Silas frowned.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“I will not be kept.”
His expression changed.
“Then don’t call work payment.”
“What?”
“Work because you live here.”
“I work too.”
“We both eat.”
“You do not owe hours per bowl.”
Clara stared.
“You make everything difficult.”
“So do you.”
She stayed.
One week became two.
Silas trapped, hunted, repaired fence, split wood.
Clara cooked sometimes.
Silas cooked badly other times.
She reorganized shelves.
He hated it.
“Where’s coffee?”
“Top shelf.”
“It was lower.”
“Because flour belongs together.”
“Coffee isn’t flour.”
“Exactly.”
He glared.
She smiled.
“You’ll survive.”
He muttered something about tyrants.
Clara heard.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Coward.”
“Probably.”
On the fifteenth day, Silas did not return by dusk.
Clara told herself she did not care.
At full dark, she cared too much.
Wind rose.
The horse was gone.
His trap route usually took six hours.
Eight had passed.
Clara put on his spare coat.
It swallowed her.
She took lantern.
Then stopped.
She had no idea where his line ran.
Going into mountains alone could turn one missing person into two.
She hated staying.
At midnight, she heard the horse.
Clara opened door.
Silas was slumped slightly in saddle.
She ran.
“Silas?”
“I’m fine.”
“You look dead.”
“Not.”
He tried to dismount.
His right leg buckled.
Clara caught his arm.
He was too heavy.