The button buck had been an easy target and tonight’s meal would be a feast. Roasted back strap, wild greens, and juniper berries. She only took what she knew she could use and left the carcass for the scavengers. Nothing would be wasted.

As they picked their way back down through a stand of hardwoods, she noted some deadfall that she could return to for firewood. She was in her element and her confidence was soaring. She was aware of the squirrels as they chased through the litter on the forest floor and the woodpeckers in their quest for a meal.

Making the approach to the cabin, she was brought quickly to attention, brought her horse up and began a thorough assessment. Someone was there.

She left her horse, grabbed the rifle and started to a outcrop of rocks where she could get a better view of the cabin. An unfamiliar horse was tethered in the trees. She waited. Her patience paid off, when he walked through the door she was not even surprised.

Think…..her mind was blazing. She made a plan.