The next morning, I awoke early as usual, feeling the sun on my face as I sat up in bed and yawned. Birds were already chirping outside and I could hear the loud sounds of people and wagons already moving around outside on the streets. As I got up from bed, I heard the sound of footsteps of someone walking past my room door and walking down downstairs, the sound of them walking fading as they got further away. I then washed my face over at the bowl of water that sat on the table in the middle of the room before I got dressed. Once I got dressed for the day, I slowly opened the door and peeked out of the room. The hallway was empty and I could hear the faint sounds of people talking and walking around downstairs. I then stepped out of the room and closed the door before walking downstairs. I walked into where I assumed people ate breakfast at and could people eating or talking while at different tables. At the other end of the room, there was this long and wooden table with a white cloth on it and on that table, it had lots of different food in bowls or on plates. There was even some plates at one end of it along with some spoons and forks next to them. Mary sees me as she was checking to make sure everyone was doing okay and happily walks over to me.

"Morning little feather. Sleep okay?" She asks me.

"Morning. Yes I sleep well, thank you." I replied.

She then brings me to the table of food and says that I can have as much as I want and when I was done, to come find her husband in the storeroom later to ask about supplies for my journey ahead. From what I heard her husband learned some of my native language as well on his years of travel around the Great Plains and befriended some of the natives who had helped him when he got lost in the mountains and helped him find his way back to town. Since then, he's been interested in learning about the culture and customs and would come back and visit them whenever he could and live among them for a while until he met Mary and settled down.

Once I finished my breakfast, I went to find Mary's husband in the supply room near the back of the building. He was busy moving things around when he noticed me and smiles a little. He then put a box down onto another one and before saying "good morning. What can I do for you today?"

"Mary said you can help me with supplies for my journey, if you don't mind?" I replied.

"Of course. Let me finish moving stuff here and I'll be with you in a minute. You can wait on the steps out front if you don't mind waiting for a while."

"Oh that's fine. I can help you move things around in here. It's the least I can do since you and Mary were so kind to me." I said.

He smiled and then let me help move boxes and other stuff around in the storage. As we did so, we talked here and there and Mary after a while came to check on us once the breakfast rush was over and their kids were off to school. Arthur asked Mary to start gathering supplies while we finished up in the storage room. By the time we were done, it was already almost mid day and was starting to get a little hungry and tired out from all of the heavy lifting. Arthur then suggested we take a break and sit down for an early lunch before we went to see Mary and if she needed any help. Mary had some of the supplies ready when we found her in the front of the building and putting the supplies in a corner for me when I was ready to leave town. She then joined us for lunch after that and we had a nice meal together before I told them I needed to leave and thanked them for their kindness.

But before I could get up and leave, Mary quickly tells me to hang on and goes to grab something from upstairs. A bit later, I could hear her come back downstairs and some clothes that looked similar to the ones that people in my village used to wear.

"This was my mother's. She had it in her chest by her bed for years after she married my dad. It might be a little big on you but I figured you might get better use out of it than me so I am giving it to you now." She said to me.

"I couldn't take those. They're yours. It wouldn't feel right taking them." I said feeling a little bad.

"It's fine. I insisted. They're not getting used anyways and it'll be better if you used them since you need them more than I do. Better than them getting all dusty and old in that old worn out chest upstairs. Isn't that right, Arthur?" She said while giving a smile to Arthur.

"That's right. We don't mind. We would be glad if it got some use. Please do take it." Arthur agreed.

I couldn't say no since they were being so nice and i did feel comfortable in my people's clothes than the one i got from the woman all that time ago. I thanked them and took the clothes from Mary with a smile. She then told me to change into them and to take my time with packing up and that I could always head out in the morning at first light. I again thanked her before I went back upstairs to start packing my stuff and change into the clothes that she had given me. Once I was done packing and changed clothes, I went back downstairs for dinner where I found Mary and her family waiting for me at the dining table. During dinner, their kids would ask me what living on the plains was like and other things they were curious about. Mary at first told them not to ask so many questions and that it was rude but I didn't mind. For the first time in a long time, I was happy talking about my village, it made me feel better, knowing that I could talk about it without being sad or upset even though it still made me feel sad at times. Dinner was fun and I enjoyed talking to everyone, so much so that I went to bed happy that night unable to sleep for a while at first until I felt myself drifting off into darkness and then next thing I knew, a few hours had gone by and I was greeted by Mary waking me up with the light from the sun barely visible over the horizon peeking in from my room's window.

Mary wore her nightgown and a black shawl wrapped around her, her hair was down around her moving just a bit as she moved a little back to let me get up and out of bed. The candle she held in her hand, lit up the room, casting shadows from things like the chair by the window or the dresser by the door. I got up from bed and told her  I'll be down soon once I was ready. She nodded in agreement before opening the door and leaving, door closing behind her as she left. I walked to the window and looked outside for a moment before getting ready. Downstairs, I had set my supplies by the door as Arthur had gone to get me some bread to eat and while Mary made sure I had everything I needed one last time before I left. Arthur came back a bit later with the bread and handed it to me. I thanked him before also saying "Thank you for everything. I'll never forget it. Don't know how to even repay for everything."

"No trouble. We were happy to help you even just a little bit and if you ever find yourself back here again, please come visit. We'll be happy to have you stay with us again." Mary says.

"Yes we would very much be happy to have you again and I am sure our kids would too." Arthur agreed.

"Thank you. I would be very happy to visit when I do make it back to the area some day." I said.

Mary and I hugged and Arthur put a hand on my shoulder and smiled but I see in his eyes that he was sad to see me go deep down. I then picked up my supplies that were in a bag neatly packed away and put it on my back before I walked out the door with Mary and Arthur walking out right behind me, standing on the wooden porch, watching me walk down the street, waving me goodbye. As I walked through town, I could see a few lights on in some of the windows. Light from the windows shined brightly in the early morning as I could see a few people either just getting up for the day or just opening up. The birds chirped and I could see a few wagons leaving early for the day, going who knows where. My breath was warm against my hands as I warmed them as to not get cold from the cold morning air, dirt covered my shoes as I walked along the road towards the edge of town as quickly as possible and to not draw unwanted attention from the wrong people. Once I was out of town, I went towards the mountains and towards the forest that were on them. Walking up along the trail on the mountainside was difficult at first but I managed to find my footing. In the distance as I was walking, I spotted a group of men on horseback. At first they didn't seem to notice me until one of them shouted something and pointed right at me before they all looked and then began cantering towards me. I had stopped walking and the look of the men's faces weren't friendly and they had their guns drawn and pointed at me as they came closer and closer. I stood there in fear as I waited for them to shot at me. Time seemed to stop all round me as I didn't know what to do and in that moment, I made the last minute decision to quickly run and hide behind a big rock nearby and the next thing I knew, I heard the first gunshot and the faint ringing in my ears as I suddenly slipped and started falling further and further down the mountain, hoping it would all be over soon and that I was okay.