Charles Smith x Reader

Seventeen

"No promises can be made.", Aponi said with a glance at you as she pulled herself onto her horses back. "He's weak."

"I know.", you cleared your throat to get rid of the feeling that crawled up to spread a bitter taste on your tongue. "But I'm grateful that you helped me. Please tell her that as well. And tell your chief I will be forever grateful. He can ask any favour of me. I will obey."

For a moment her dark eyes lingered on your face. She seemed unsure if your words could be trusted or if they were just one more lie she needed to suffer from.

Finally, her lips curled and a slight nod made her features turn soft. Now she was tired. So much so that she needed to bend over the neck of her horse to keep herself on top.

"Let's hope it has not been... for nothing.", she muttered and gave the old woman a sign that she should get ready to leave.

The horses started moving. But before they made it to the edge of the forest, back towards home, a thought crossed your mind.

A cold shiver crawled down your spine.

"Aponi!", you ran after her.

Frowning, she told her horse to stop. The old woman kept on riding. It seemed she knew that there was no need for her to listen for what you had to say. She wouldn't understand anyways.

"You worry.", Aponi said with a hint of understanding in her eyes. "That is normal."

"No.", you shook your head. "I mean, yes. I worry about him. But also about something else."

"What is it?"

Now it was you who needed to frown and think for a second.

"I... I'm not sure how to describe it. Yesterday, when I went to the barn...", your gaze traveled to the spot on the fence that was stained with a few dark markings. "I saw a shadow."

Her eyes twitched. A hint of annoyance appeared on her face.

"A shadow...", she muttered. "It was night."

"Yeah, shadows do appear at night more often.", you couldn't help but smile like an idiot. "But that's not what I mean. I saw a person. We fought."

Now her expression softened.

"I heard... guns.", she remembered. "It scared me. I cut thread too short because of it."

Understanding, you hummed.

"It was me. Well... and whoever else was these. I couldn't see a face. But I'm sure the stranger wanted to kill the bison."

"The bison... yes, maybe you are right."

She fell silent again. Maybe she thought about something, tried to put the pieces together to make everything make sense. But she seemed just as clueless as you.

A few moments passed and you couldn't help but feel how impatience got the better of you. Tapping one foot on the ground you threw a glance over to where the bison was.

Everything seemed peaceful, he held his head low, ears moving to scare away the flies that tried to get into his thick fur.

"You should take him with you.", you said after a while. "I'm... not sure how wise it is to keep him with me."

Aponi's eyes jumped over her shoulder.

"Are you afraid?", she asked.

Confided why she didn't speak facing you, you frowned.

"Afraid of what?", you asked.

"Of the consequences of your own... actions.", without one more word she tapped the side of her horse with her heel and made it turn to face the forest.

And then she just rode away.

You didn't call after her. Nor did you try and argue. Because in the end Aponi was right. She had warned you about the consequences of interfering with things that weren't your business.

Still, you hoped she'd take your word as a warning and inform her chief as well. If someone was willing to invade another settlers property they would have no issues with invading native land.

A sigh rolled off your lips as you wiped your face with both hands. All at once exhausting struck.

Shoulders slurped, you made your way back to the house but stopped along the way to check on the bison and cows. With your arms rested on the fence you let out a whistle.

The cows raised their heads. Their ears moved. Even though the expression on their puffy little faces was the same as usual you could tell that they were still irritated from the incident of the night.

A soft smile on your face, you reached into the pocket of your jeans and pulled out a convincing argument: a large carrot with the greenery still attached to it.

And of course it worked since both of your girls were fat little bastards which were absolute suckers for anything edible that wasn't hay.

Chuckling, you petted their heads while the two kept fighting over the vegetable even though there was plenty for both.

Taken by his curiosity, the bison approached as well. His steps were so heavy that you could feel the ground vibrate below your feet.

It was impressive just how powerful nature could be.

"How do you feel ma boah?", you asked, one hand stretched out so that he could get your scent before you tried to touch him.

A deep breath of hot air escaped his black nose. He didn't move away but instead turned to try and steal some of the carrots.

Carefully, you let your hand slide through the thick fur on top of his head. He shook, as if a fly bothered him and kept on chewing.

"How did you do that...?", a voice suddenly reached your ears from behind.

Startled, you flinched and dropped the carrots.

The cows and bison back away.

A man leaned against the pillar of the gate. Half straight but kind of wavy hair fell over broad shoulders and a strong chest that was revealed through a deep neckline of a blue shirt.

Bloody bandages wrapped around dark skin.

Charles' eyes were tried, deep wrinkles made him look a whole lot older than he actually could have been.

The beating of your heart calmed down. So much so that it felt like you forgot to breathe.

"You're walking...", you muttered.