An Untold Story

The Hunt Begins

-"The hunt begins." Nick responded as he folded the letter and placed it in his pocket.

Zak sighed heavily as he walked to his tent, keeping the beautiful image of Elizabeth in his mind.

-"I promise, I'm going to find you." Zak whispered to himself as he lay on his back without changing into his undergarments, also his sleepwear.

 Zak had little sleep that night, about three hours total. Elizabeth's safety kept him awake and worried. At six a.m., Zak waited impatiently on the back of his horse for Nick, who seemed to take his time in dressing himself for the brief trip into town.

-"Took you long enough!" Zak scoffed as he held the reins of Nick's horse as he mounted.

 -"It was only five minutes!" Nick responded as he checked his coat pocket, double-checking that he had his handwritten letter to Matt and Keith. The ride into town was brief as Zak kept his horse in a full canter.

-"Hurry and mail it so I can find her!" Zak demanded nervously as his knuckles shook from anger and nervousness, turning white as snow.

-"Relax, Zak. They'll find her! We'll build up a posse and whenever they pick up on her trail, we'll ride from dusk to dawn to find your beloved." Nick comforted as his palm rested sturnly on Zak's shoulder.

 -"You're right," Zak sighed, "I just can't help but think, what if they're planning to hurt her?" Zak replied.

-"That's why Matt and Keith do their work fast enough before any of that ever happens! Just relax!" Nick replied, hoping his kind and caring words planted in his mind permanently.

 

-Three Weeks Later-

 

-"Zak! Matt and Keith wrote back! And it's some mighty good news!" Nick exclaimed as he slapped the new letter on the card table at the camp's rest station. Zak had looked ill from the constant worry about his beloved. His skin was pale, his voice was hoarse and his eyes carried deep and dark circles, but the 'old Zak' seemed to be revived as Nick told him about the arrived letter, hoping the news was as good as he thought. Zak looked at Nick with the rare light in his eyes before opening the folded yellow paper:

 

To my fellow brave men of war Zak and Nick,

 

Keith and I have read your letter. Elizabeth Reed, originally born in Tombstone, Arizona, has been traced to the newly formed town named Goldfield, Nevada. The names that you mentioned: George and Sullivan, have been identified as George Wingfield, the owner of the new Goldfield Hotel and Sullivan Jones, George's personal assistant and spy. We have also found that a man by the name Mason Shepherd was the man that has captured Zak's beloved as he too works for George and Sullivan. We have also traced from our spies that George has several recruits posing as Confederate soldiers to 'easedrop' on your conversations, picking up on where you're traveling to next. The names of those spies are not known. Keith and I hope that this information that has been delivered to you helps with easing your worries! We also ask that this letter gets burned or disposed of as we do not want any future enemies.

 

Your friends and close companions,

Matt and Keith James

 

 

-"Let's go." Zak said as he folded the note at its crease before putting it in his wool pocket.

-"Zak, we can't just get up and leave! We're fighting a war!" Nick argued in a whisper.

-"I'm fighting two wars!" Zak replied, "I'm fighting a war with my country and a war with myself!" Zak explained.

-"How are you at war with yourself?" Nick questioned.

 -"I'm at war with myself because I wasn't there to protect her when she needed it most. She may be with child, Nick." Zak sighed.

-"How is that possible?!" Nick asked outraged.

-"It takes two." Zak answered, leaving it stern but simple. Nick nodded as he walked with Zak to their horses, leaving the camp of soldiers in the fall of the sun.

 They rode until they reached they reached Nashville, a town that held a strong memory as he looked at the arriving train, making its nightly runs, the train station that he and Elizabeth departed from. Zak still felt her smooth lips on his as she gave him the most loving good-bye kiss a man going to war could have.

 -"All aboard!" The conductor yelled for the first time as he rang the small bell in his hands. A small crowd of people rushed to pay their five cents for their train ticket, leaving from Nashville to St. Lewis in just a matter of days. Nick purchased his and Zak's train ticket as Zak loaded his and Nick's horses in the cargo hold of the train.

 -"We got some work to do boys." Zak muttered to the horses as he overlapped the reins around a mounted post inside of the car. Zak's horse was a reflection of him - dark and masculine, but beautiful in every way, strong in anything it does and devoted to the one it loves, but also stubborn. His horse nodded into his palm with a snort as Zak released a smile, thanking himself that he had raised this horse in the best way possible.

 -"All aboard!" The conductor yelled for the last time as he motioned for the train to whistle. A total of twenty-eight passengers were on the train, four of them women. Nick had admired how beautiful a woman was - her curves in the painful corsets that they obsessed over to feel beautiful. Nick believed in natural beauty as only one woman showed.

-"You looking at that lady?" Zak poked as he nudged Nick's elbow.

-"Yes. I'm admiring her beauty."

-"She might be married."

-"Her husband would be with her at times like this." Nick explained. Zak rolled his eyes as Nick gathered the courage to stand to his feet and walk to the lovely lady to introduce himself.