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"Outlaws burnt our place down, Ma and Pa in it." He winced as though the memory bothered him. "Least, that's what I called them. Land-jumpers."
Katherine understood that.
"We had a little spread, with the best little creek running through it. But land grabbers wanted that water. Pa wouldn't sell it. My brother, Dillon, and I went into town for some supplies. We came home, it was nothin' but cinders. They lit out fast, left little trail. But I reckon one of these days I'll go back."
"Did you contact the Sheriff?" she asked, amazed at how brutal some people could be.
"Naw, the law sided with the Jeffries, it was only a matter of time before they run us out of there. Pa was a might stubborn about sharin' the water. I tried to talk some sense into him, but he had none of that. So Dill and me lit out, both in different directions. Haven't seen Dill since." Lee shook his head sadly.
"But it was your land…."
"Still is, legally. But we didn't have enough guns to fight 'em. We knew that much. And since the law wasn't on our side, we figured we'd just let them fight over it, and took off. At least we'd be alive that way. A wayward bullet killed my sister. That's when Dill and me decided that no piece of dirt was worth dyin' for."
"Do you regret it, the leaving?"
"Some, yeah. Figure maybe one day I'll go back, see what happened; straighten it all out, if I can," Lee said. "The deed to the land was recorded proper, Pa seen to that. But no tellin' what those Renegades did. With the law on their side"
"I am sorry for that." Chase came to stand beside them. "You've been cheated out of your land, like my people were forced to move from the north. We are not a wandering tribe of people, but we cannot live in peace anywhere, it seems. The land is good, everyone wants it. Same ole story, huh? Color don't matter."
Katherine ran her fingers through the dust letting it sift. She marveled... "Why is land so important? Why do we fight so hard for it? Why is it worth, a killing?"
Chase eyed her and smiled. "It is what you call…home."
"I couldn't leave the station," She protested. "Before…"
"You should have," he corrected. "Life is more important than dirt, Katherine. Someday you will understand that. Forced from their homes, the Shawnee moved many times. They did not like leaving, but each time they did. Further and further west, then south."
"I buried my folks there, it isn't just a piece of dirt, it was home," she explained. "It wasn't the dirt, it was…them. I couldn't leave them."
"It was a piece of dirt and your folks have gone to the maker of all things. They are happy now, as you should be for them." Chase instructed with an indulgent scowl.
"Have you ever lost anyone close to you?" she frowned her voice shrilling.
"Yes." His voice went lower.
"Then you should know it isn't easy to say goodbye to them. Missing them all the time…" her voice lowered too. "I wonder why I was left."
"Yes, you are right. We the living are the ones that suffer. But we also have to be strong, and go on. For Moneto left us here to finish…"
"Moneto?" Katherine frowned.
"He is the supreme God over the Shawnee, the same as you call your God."
"Finish what?" she wanted to know, as she stood and stared into his unrelenting face.
"Living." He answered simply.
Their eyes met and locked for a long moment.
When he was silent a long time she looked at him, "Who did you lose?"
"White Dove, my promised. She died by the hands of the bluecoats. Killed for nothing. They slaughtered women and children of the camp, as though they were the enemy. She had no chance to escape; they came in the midd
le of the night to the camp and killed them, while the warriors were on a hunting trip."
"I am sorry…for your loss." Katherine said, her voice softening. "So why did you become a scout for the bluecoats if they killed her?"
Chase studied the ground for a minute as though thinking about White Dove. "I was already a scout. These men, they were Jayhawkers, no longer with the regular Army. Renegades. Men who lost some of their own and wanted vengeance."
