-hobybuchanon- Native American Indian Girl Returns -

They rode east, toward the mountain, toward the spring, toward the water that remembered everything. And behind them, the sun rose full over Two Rivers Ranch, setting the dew on fire, as if the whole world was holding its breath for what came next.

"You should have," Tala agreed. "But I'm not here for apologies, Hoby Buchanon. I'm here because I need your help."

"They changed my name. Said 'Tala' was too hard to pronounce. Called me 'Margaret.'" She almost smiled. "I ran away seven times. The eighth time, I stayed gone."

"Been ten years," Hoby said, his voice rougher than he intended. -HobyBuchanon- Native American Indian Girl Returns

Tala laid her hand on the mare's neck. Rain blew out a soft breath and lowered her head, something she did for no one except Hoby.

"The chestnut's yours," he said. "Her name is Rain. She's stubborn, opinionated, and smarter than most people I know. You'll get along fine."

Tala looked toward the mountain, and for a moment Hoby saw the child she'd been—the one who could speak to horses and find water in a drought and read the weather in the flight of birds. They rode east, toward the mountain, toward the

"The reservation is dying," she said. "The water's poisoned. The elders are sick. And the company that owns the land upstream—they're owned by the same man who owns the bank that holds the deed to your ranch."

"He's been buying up everything for fifty miles. Land, water rights, even people." Tala's jaw tightened. "But he doesn't know about the old spring. The one where you found me. The one that doesn't show up on any map because my people never mapped it."

"What about it?"

Hoby tightened his gun belt and mounted his own horse. "Then let's give him something to be afraid of."

"A horse," she said. "And a man who still knows how to listen to the land instead of trying to own it."

He looked back at the young woman who had walked a thousand miles to find him. "But I'm not here for apologies, Hoby Buchanon