“How can you do that?”“I have to see her. She’ll find me, and I can tell her. I can promise her again. I can explain about you and Saul. Maybe she be won’t be happy, like we were, but then…

Mary had been back for three days. Matthew let her stay away for a week. It was a rough week to be away from the peace of the farm. Every day had been sunny and just warm enough to work…

I hope everyone can join Matthew on this ride…  Matthew, returning to his pacing, considered the news Mary shared. He knew he’d seen Sarah in the puddle that day. It wasn’t the heat or his mind playing tricks on him.…

Back in the cabin, Mary was pacing the floor, crossing from the doorway over to the bedrooms and back again. Sometimes she sat at the table and began to shell peas all over again. Sometimes she would find herself staring…

Feeling the tall grasses pulling at her skirts, Mary holds out her hand palm downward to skim over the tops of the blades, high now and up to her waist. They are more smooth than rough, her hand gliding easily…

Matthew sits by the fire Mary had built when the afternoon had begun to see a sprinkle from the clouds which were now storming, meaning this chair is just about the only place he could be right now. He had…

Part Four: Mary keeps Duke at a walk on her way to the cabin, noticing the gray cloud cover and keeping an eye on how the wind blows. It’s still mostly calm, barely blowing the strands of her horse’s mane…

Matthew found the morning bright, with only a few wisps of clouds left from yesterday’s cranky storms. The cow-trodden pathways through the pasture still held water in intermittent puddles, all of which Matthew was careful to steer Buck around. Solid…

Part Two: Booted feet stomped impatiently on the porch, letting the caked and dried mud scatter in generous footprint-shaped piles. Matthew found himself one of the rocking chairs and began to unlace the boots, removing each with a weary grunt,…

Based on former comments, here’s a revision to part one: Somewhere in the western regions of North America, there lies a small cabin of four small rooms, surrounded by grassy fields more the color of toasted bread than green. Two…