Hi!!!! Scarlett here. Welcome back, my loves. 

Somehow, by some Herculean effort, he managed to get to his feet, swaying and nearly knocking Josie over as the majority of his weight landed on her. With a grunt, she pulled his arms over her shoulders and began dragging him the short distance to the sledge. The five steps felt like five miles and Lennox struggled to help her, his head falling down to her shoulder, his face pushed against her neck. Josie's face burned at the position they were in, but chastised herself mentally knowing it couldn't be helped. She tried to be gentle, lowering him onto the bear hide, but he fell the last foot and landed with an agonized yelp of pain. Lennox wrapped his right arm around his chest as if by doing so, he could stop the agony. His left arm was sliced and diced, blood running down it in a red river. Moving had opened up his wounds and left them bleeding again. With a muffled moan, his eyes closed as he surrendered himself to the darkness.

Josie felt his blood soak into her dress and said urgently, "Home, Wind Dancing."

Obediently, the little pony started moving back down the trail, Josie making sure Mr. Byrd stayed put on the sledge. He was unconscious again, his long hair falling in his face. Josie reached out and tucked it behind his ear as she walked and then jerked her hand back as if she was burnt. What was she doing? Touching him to clean his wounds and help him was one thing. What she had just done was another. But he looked so helpless and vulnerable lying there, his face even in sleep lined with pain. He was handsome, his long blonde hair and deep blue eyes mesmerizing. She felt drawn to him in a way she couldn't explain.

As darkness fell, they arrived back at the cabin and Josie slid the bear hide off of the sapling frame and then used it to drag Lennox inside. Leaving him in front of the fireplace, she went back outside to put Wind Dancing back in the barn, leaving the sledge in the front yard. Quickly, she led him back to his stall, giving him a hurried pat before leaving, making sure to grab the pail of milk and bar the door on her way out. Back inside the house, Wolf lay curled up beside the unconscious man on the floor, his head resting on his paws.

"Outside now Wolf, git on," motioned Josie, setting the milk pail on the table and covering it with a clean cloth.

Wolf whined but slowly got up and did as she said. Josie closed the door behind him before turning back to Lennox. Taking a deep breath, she got to work, setting the kettle on to boil, and fetching clean clothes from the chest in the corner. It wasn't the stitching that had Josie worried. It was the infection that was bound to set in. Mr. Byrd was well-built, and strong, but it was going to be a rough next few weeks; possibly even a month.

Josie did her best; she wanted to make the scars he would have from the attack as unnoticeable as possible, but she knew that they would still be visible. The one on his face she knew she could do nothing about. She caught herself admiring his slack features while he was asleep and scolded herself again internally.

"Wolf," she called, opening the door.

Immediately, Wolf bounded to his feet and slipped past her legs inside. He lay down near the still unconscious man on the floor and watched him with bright green eyes. Josie shook her head in disbelief and glanced down at her blood-stained dress, deciding she needed a change.

Going into the bedroom, she slid the latch in place and quickly stripped down to her shift and pantaloons before donning another day dress; this one blue. Quickly, she buttoned the row of buttons down the front and washed her hands and face in the basin of water next to the bed before dumping it in the bucket and heading for the door.

A quick glance at the man let her know he showed signs of waking up. Josie knelt next to him, gently spreading a blanket over him and said, "Mr. Byrd. Wake up."

His blue eyes opened moments later, filled with confusion, before they were swamped with pain. Josie absently wondered if he knew how expressive his eyes were as she laid a gentle hand on his arm to keep him from rising. He groaned and Wolf whined shoving his nose in the man's neck. Josie shoved him away and let Mr. Byrd know the extent of his injuries.

"H-how long a-am I g-gonna be here?" he asked his eyes drifting shut.

Josie made him as comfortable as she possibly could as she said, "Until you are healed up, I reckon. It could take as long as six weeks meybe. It depends on if you git an infection. Only time will tell, I reckon."

"My horse," he whispered worriedly, "My traps.

Josie nodded and said, "I'll fetch your horse t'morrow. But there's nuthin I can do about yore traps, I'm afeared."

Lennox struggled to stay awake but it was a lost battle as his eyelids fell closed. He drifted off into darkness.

The next few days were exhausting for Josie. The first day, she had fetched Lennox's horse and brought him to her cabin, stabling the animal in her barn. The rest of her time was spent caring for Lennox. He was running a high fever by the third day and was delirious. She had to banish Wolf to the barn. He could feel her distress and sense Lennox's pain and it made him restless and snappy.

The third night, Josie checked Lennox's wounds while he was in a restless sleep and her heart sank. His leg was swollen and the area around her stitches was red and puffy looking. There was no discharge and no puss. Josie sent up a fervent prayer as she began mixing up a poultice of comfrey and several other herbs as well as preparing to cauterize the wound. She applied the thick paste to his leg and wrapped it with strips of a sheet she had repurposed after sticking the red hot poker to the wound. The rest of his wounds looked alright, but Josie layered them with the gray paste anyway.

She sat in her Ma's rocking chair and watched him all night, regularly changing out the cool cloths on his head and making one trip to the well outside for fresh water. She was woken up from a light sleep by him crying out.

She started to her feet as he muttered, a wild light in his feverish eyes. He stared at her, yet didn't see her. Josie was frightened but choked down her fear as she knelt down beside him. He started to rise, clawing at the blanket wrapped around him and shoving Josie back on her rear. He made it to his feet, swaying drunkenly, while Josie sat shocked. She scrambled to her feet and lunged for him, yanking his hand away from where he stood fumbling with the door latch. "Mr. Byrd," she called, "It's alright. Yore safe now. Lie back down, please."

She was surprised at how much strength he still had in his limbs. Weakened though he was from lack of food, pain, and loss of blood combined, his sheer strength startled Josie and it was all she could do to hold him back. She tugged on his arm, desperately finally calling out his name. "Lennox," she cried.

He turned to look at her. "Mama?" the name was a whisper past his lips.

His face crumpled and his knees gave way. He sank to the floor, Josie kneeling in front of him. The word he spoke shocked her. What thoughts were running through his mind that he would mistake her for his mother? "Shh," she said, "It's alright."

There was a glossy tint to his fever-bright eyes that Josie realized was tears. "Mama," he said again, "Don't leave me."

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Hello, hello, hello! How is everyone? Been a rough few years for everyone including myself. I hope everyone is staying strong, staying healthy, and staying safe. I've missed writing so much and am finally in a place where I can financially afford to get back to it. I can not wait to finish these books. I started this book when I was seventeen. For reference, I am now twenty-two. It has been a few years. A lot of tears. Different jobs. School. And now here I am. 

You guys please check me out on Instagram. I will be doing some lives. Possibly getting to meet a few of you! I would love to chat. Especially my fellow authors out there. Or if you are an aspiring author. I have learned so much about the industry in the past few years.

So ask me some questions!!!

Or if you would prefer to ask them here, go ahead and leave them in a comment. I will respond, I promise. 

I will also be spilling some secrets about other projects if the right questions are asked! So stay tuned. 

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My Instagram handle is scarlett__mcleod

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Love,

Scarlett McLeod