Along the trail to the foothills toward the cabin, Luke found a half dozen discarded whiskey bottles. Aiyana, riding on the mule, craned her neck and watched Luke stuff used bottles into his saddlebag.

As Luke mounted, he nodded. "I'm going to teach you how to shoot my Spencer. I expect you to sleep with it over the next few days while I'm gone."

Aiyana said nothing, as Luke passed by her where the pair rallied over the next ridge.

Luke dismounted from his horse where a thin clear creek ran over gravel. With a few empty bottles dangling between his fingers, he tripped over the shallow water and arranged them for target practice on a boulder.

Aiyana dismounted and stood near Luke where he pulled his rifle from the sheath of his horse. Luke handed the rifle to her, and she held it to her breast with both hands. "Our people were given the powder gun by the army once when I was a child. We sided with the blue coats against Cheyenne and Blackfoot who took our land where the buffalo grazed. One soldier gazed at me and whispered to another blue coat, as if he understood I was not like the others."

"This is a repeater rifle." Luke took the rifle back and carefully demonstrated the actions taken. "You pull this lever back and a charge fills the hole, then cock the trigger on top, close one eye and squeeze with it tight against your shoulder." Luke playfully flipped the brim of her hat after his demonstration.

The pair walked over near the edge of the creek from where a row of empty bottles was arranged. He took aim, pulled back the lever and cocked the gun, shattering a whiskey bottle to bits.

"Okay," he said. "Your turn, Little Bird."

She took a deep breath of air, as she took the rifle with both hands. Luke leaned against her and adjusted it toward her shoulder. Then he held his arms around her with his chin coming to rest against her neck. His stomach churned, as he exhaled into her ear. He placed her right hand over the lever where her finger flirted with the trigger. "Now, close one eye like that, and then get the mark here in site, and now take your right thumb and pull back. That's it. Line it up on that point."

The rifle fired on a hair trigger as she raised it, missing the target and sending the plug into the empty echo of the canyon. She flopped backward into Cole's arms from the kick. He laughed with his arms wrapped around her. She fought to untangle herself, as she turned red faced. Stepping on her hat, she stood to her feet, clutching the rifle.

Aiyana placed the butt of the rifle firmly to her shoulder, pulled back the lever, and cocked the gun.

This time the sound reverberated from the rock and the bullet chipped a piece, causing an empty bottle to lift slightly. The next shot shattered one of the bottles. Aiyana turned to Luke with a smile on her face. "I'm no frail little bird."

Aiyana fired another round, shattering another glass bottle. Luke finished chewing on a piece of grass and smiled from ear to ear. "I'd say you can hold your own, and then some."

The pair rode further into the cedars along the marked trail toward the cabin. Stopping beneath the shadow of one such tree, Luke took to Aiyana's side and leaned in. "I'll do my best to get back in a few days. What's mine is yours."

Aiyana gazed into Luke's brown, gravy eyes with her vivid blues. "I will tend to your garden and keep your place till you return."

The pair parted ways. As Luke rode on down, he turned his horse and watched Aiyana disappear on the trail over the next ridge. His stomach roiled and turned inside. He hoped it wasn't a mistake leaving her there. All the way down and back toward town to fetch a wagon, he knew she was getting lodged in his heart and wasn't sure if he could get her out.

Luke needed to get to Julesburg to fetch a bride, come hell, high water, or an Indian maiden, he couldn't stand her up.

To be continued...