Home- A Short Story

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A short Story

Summary: She was trying so hard to be accepted: she was the first cowboy in a bodice after all. Jacelyn, only Jace for her friends, knew how to handle a gun and she wanted to prove it- she was going to duel her father´s murderer. But something went wrong…during her travel, while she was passing the desert, her horse died, she drank all the water and the sun burned her skin. Thinking she would never have a chance for justice, Jace didn´t fight death. And death was coming for her, rapidly, until a man found her: a native. “Teach me the ways of your people and I´ll show you how to be truly free”.

Prologue

I don´t remember much, only his face.

     Me and my father lived in a small cottage: when my mother passed away, my father wasn´t strong enough to live in the small house we had on the city. He started remembering instead of forgetting. I can´t count the times I found him crying or hugging my mother’s dresses. I was twelve when we rode through the desert to this small village I called home. It was a dangerous place but we couldn´t smell her death anymore. Days after days we grew accustomed to the fire shots and tavern fights. My father had to find a job- I worked for a rich family: I treated the horses and cleaned their home but the money wasn´t enough. He found what he wanted: money. All he had to do was kill. Every single week his boss would give him a list with the name of the man he had to kill and how to do it. Father was doing fine at being a criminal until he came.

     His new enemy was unlike any other…he knew how to kill a man with his glare. My father tried to give up his criminal life but he was obligated to kill that man, only then he was able to live a normal life again. I was sixteen when I saw my father dead. I came from work, tired and hungry, and didn´t found him anywhere. Back then I didn´t know what my father did for a living. I searched him around the village, asked random people where he was and no one answered me. They knew where he was. I found him, bloody and white as paper, behind the stables of the tavern. His killer was right in front of me- he ran to his horse and escaped before I could do anything.

     I don´t remember much, only his face: black eyes, skin covered in scars and a black moustache. He was tall and lean- dressed in black from head to toe. I wasn´t a killer but I wanted revenge. My father wasn´t better than him, I knew that, but I would eliminate every single monster out there who threatened innocent people. He was going to be the first. I learned how to shoot: it took months until I knew how to shoot a metal can from a certain distance. I gave up on my job: I hated what I did so I dedicated my life to the desert. I became a hunter- the birds were afraid of me especially the eagles. People would pay me a fortune for their feathers- they said it looked good on a wall.

     My true journey began when I decided to work for the Sheriff: he wanted someone who was able to stop crime and find evidences against Garret. He had a common name. Of course I couldn´t say he killed my father and arrest him: I needed something that belonged to him. A pistol or knife near a body would be enough to close the case. He was good at cleaning his footsteps, he rarely left tracks behind him. All I needed to do, to make the Sheriff happy, was patrol around the village. People didn´t like me, no, better yet, people didn´t trust me. Every time I looked to someone they would avoid my eyes or glare. Both were annoying. I didn´t act like a lady should and men found that offensive: how did I dare to act like one of them? They think…

     Today was just another boring day: I couldn´t kill Garret with the Sheriff breathing down my neck. Besides, I didn´t know where he was. Just like any other day, I was at the saloon eating bread and drinking beer. “Ain´t you got some work?” Billy, the drunk, asked me patting my shoulder. The man was never sober but he was the only one who respected me so I considered him my friend. I shook my head-nothing worth my time happened the last seven years.