Two Broken Souls, Part I

As Cole rode across the Dakota prairie, sweating a bit under the suns harsh bite, he saw ahead of him a slight woman’s form, she walked bare-footed, naked, and pale white. Sunburns had reddened her shoulders and neck, and her feet bled with every single step, Cole had seen many thins out on this plain, but hadn’t come across naked girls yet. He spurred his horse, catching up to her quick, seeing every inch of her beautiful shape, not sure what to ask, he just tipped his hat, said,”Ma’am, could I help you on your way?” She looked up at him through a blackened eye, said,”Put that hat right back down on your head. I am nobody worth tipping it to, and I mean to walk on until I’m dead.” She just kept walking, and it seemed to Cole that her behavior was awfully weird, he didn’t know her, and could just ride on, but he felt troubled just leaving her here. He just rode along, easily keeping pace, said,”Should I ride off and go get the law?” She laughed,”The sheriff took his turn with me,” then pointed to a red welt on her jaw. Cole frowned at that, but still didn’t leave, he felt he should try to be a good man, said,”I’d like to help ‘ya. If’n I could. Maybe you could help me to understand?” The woman stopped, and gave a harsh laugh, said,”It will make no difference if you do. But if you want to waste your time I guess I can explain this god damned farce to you… “I was born in England, thirty-four years back, a countless in the grand house Flemington, but noble as we were, the money ran short, and all agreed something had to be done. “Then my oldest brother, called Christopher, bought a share in a Black Hills gold mine, said all the prospectors were flocking there, that we’d be flush with new money in no time. “He even convinced my father to send me, said mining millionaires lived a good life, told the family he’d even gone about finding a rich man who’d make me a wife. “But then when I finally made it out here, I learning quickly that it all was a lie, the gold mine had not turned out one mere ounce, and Chris just played the cards to pass his time. ‘Worse still he had run up quite a debt playing poker at the local saloon, when one day he called another a cheat a gun flashed and Chris met his doom. “They dragged me in and said that his debts were big and had to be settled that same day, the owner just looked at me like I was meat, and said,’I think I just might know a way…’ CONTINUES IN PART II.