"Is he still following us?" Ladybird asked

Wysteria looked over her shoulder to see the young wolf a few paces back. As they reined their horses he stopped and sat. "I don't think he wants to leave," she said. She climbed down from her horse and thrust her arms forward. "Shoo, shoo, Sacha, go on."

"Sacha?" Ladybird questioned as Wysteria climbed back onto the dapple mare. "You've named him?"

"Well's he's been following us all this time so I figured we might as well have a name for him and he doesn't look like a Spot or a Shadow," Wysteria said.

Ladybird laughed. "Well so long as he knows we won't be sharing our food with him. Who knows how long we have until we reach another settlement."

Wysteria looked around the opened land. It was cold and bleak but had an air of cleanliness to it. They remained in their coats and mittens all day now and even slept in them. They stayed sore from the saddle and from sleeping in the ground. If their father had meant for this journey to toughen them up then it was working.

By twilight they found tracks and followed them into a little town. It had a small store a saloon and an inn. Asking around they found that they had reached Wyoming. After watering and bedding down Delilah and Mist the sisters found themselves a place to stay for the night.

Wysteria sighed as she sipped the hot beverage. It needed sugar but it did a good job of warming her. She looked up when Ladybird came into the room with a package from the store.

"I figured we could spend tomorrow here and rest up before we head toward the park," she said. "We need it and Lord knows the horses need it." She sat down on the bed and opened the package. "I got us some wool mittens and scarves. It's only going to get colder."

Wysteria took her items and put them with the rest of her things for tomorrow. "Did you ask if anyone had seen her?"

Ladybird nodded. "They say we are the first colored women to come through her in over a year," she said. "But perhaps Beatrice took a different route."

Wysteria yawned. "Perhaps. I'm going to bed now, Ladybird are you in for the night?"

"Yes. Goodnight." Ladybird said. She dimmed the lamp and found a seat beneath the window. She could fell the chill of the night sweeping over her head from the stool. Taking a pencil and paper she watched Wysteria get comfortable. They had come so far; she prayed it wasn't for nothing.

Dear Silas

I'm sorry I have not written sooner. You are probably wondering what has happened to us. How long have we been gone now? A week, two? I wish you could see the beauty we have seen on this journey. I don't plan on returning until I have found Beatrice. It does not seem as though we will make it back in time for the recital. Whenever I think of it I think of Beatrice's solo I'm bereft. The thought of not seeing her again burns into my heart. We will not linger in this town so it will d no good to write me back. I suppose that also means that if Beatrice has returned you will have no way to let me know. I also suppose that means I shall forever search for her. I hate to think she is lost to the wild elements and rather it were me instead. If we don't find her soon I will send Wysteria back but I shall keep looking.

Your friend, Ladybird

Ladybird looked up from the letter. Wysteria was sound asleep and the night had grown colder. She folded the letter and tucked it into an envelope. She wasn't sure if she wanted to make Silas worry. "Goodnight Beatrice, wherever you are," she whispered into the cold.

/

The following morning, after sending off her letter, Ladybird and Beatrice walked three miles from the town where they were told they could find a day's wages for work. The dim sun felt good but served a greater purpose to light the day than to warm them.

At just about three miles a little cottage came into view and they stood outside the gate. The fence that surrounded it had been made with random stones and packed in the empty spaces with mud.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Wysteria asked.

"It has to be," Ladybird said. "And if not then we will ask them for work regardless. I can't walk another mile and we can't go much further without money for food." She cupped her mitted hands around her mouth. "Mrs. Greenwood!" she shouted. "Um, I was told you may need some help around your home! Hello!"

Wysteria watched the door then looked away when it didn't open. "Oh look, a green house." She pointed to a small insulated structure near the cottage. "I wonder what sort of plants she has in there."

"Mrs. Greenwood!" Ladybird shouted.

Presently the door opened and a weathered skinned old woman with a braid of long gray hair stepped out. Ladybird and Wysteria were both taken aback at first.

"You must learn to give an old woman a chance to rise," she said as she walked down the path to the gate. "I hope you two aren't here to bring snow."

"Snow?" Ladybird questioned.

"Winters, aren't you?"

Ladybird was taken at how smooth the woman spoke. Her voice was unlike any she had ever heard before. "Excuse me?"

"Did someone from the town tell you we were coming?" Wysteria asked.

"No one from town," the woman said. "But I was told." She opened the gate and let them inside.

The sisters looked around the yard that was decorated with all sorts of wood carvings of animals. Bears, raccoons, wolves and wildcats all pranced around the wilting grassy yard.

Ladybird looked at the back of the woman's shawl which had the design of a black eagle with its massive wings spread over her shoulders.

She led them inside and they were surrounded by the scent of pine.

"Excuse me, ma'am," Ladybird said. "But do you mind me asking, who it was that told you we were coming? And how did they know our name?"

The woman poured two cups of tea and gave them to the girls. "A father knows the name of his daughters," she said. "He was the one who told me." She nodded to the wall behind them and they turned around.

Ladybird's hands went to her heart, splashing a bit of tea on her coat. On the wall was a photograph of two men and a little woman. "That's my pa!"

The little woman nodded. "He said you would come through here," she said. "I have been waiting for you." She pointed at the two of them. "Only...there was supposed to be three. Ah, where is Beatrice?"

Wysteria felt a chill run down her spine. "Did we meet before?"

"You could say we have met," the woman said. "I have met your father and you and he have the same spirit. On a great journey for something you believe must be found."

"So he told you about us," Ladybird said. "I never knew he had friends so far away."

"Amos was an EAK, an End After Knight," the woman said. "They have friends in many places. This is what happens when one does good. Now about the youngest one, Beatrice. Where is she? Not on the ghost path?"

Wysteria and Ladybird exchanged confused glances.

"She is not dead?"

"Oh," Ladybird said. "We don't know." She cleared her throat. "To be honest we came on this journey to find her. Our father left us a map to—"

"The Mercy Treasure," the woman said.

"Yes, how did you—never mind— we think Beatrice has gone after it. It was all an accident we came here."

The woman smiled. "Beatrice has the fire of the sun in her," she said and Ladybird smiled at the familiar words. "Now, what can I do for you this day?"

Ladybird laughed. "I and my sister were hoping we could find work with you," she said. "We have a long journey ahead of us."

The woman nodded. "I have salted meet you can take and food for your horses," she said and held her weathered hand up when Ladybird tried to object. "We End After Knights do not charge the daughters of friends for our help. You have no debt with me. Seeing you two here looking for your sister is worth more than all the money in the world."

Ladybird thanked the woman then smiled at Wysteria. "If Beatrice happens by here will you tell her you have seen us?"

The woman nodded. "I will certainly," she said. "But if she is like the sun then she is already well on her way."

/

While Ladybird gathered the food items Wysteria took a walk into the green house. Her heart sighed at the sight of all the plants thriving brightly as cold took hold of the land. She hadn't seen so many beautiful plants since she was last at the Smarts' home.

"Wysteria, I need your help," Ladybird called from outside.

"I'll be along in a minute," Wysteria said. She passed over the rhododendrons and the lily and the rose bush and stopped at the carnation, still bright pink on their steams. The flower had always reminded her of her little sister. With a sigh she looked over the heads of all the flowers. "Have any of you seen Beatrice?" The only answer was a shed petal from the rose bush.

/

The sisters set out again sooner than expected and were once more pitching their tent against the cold night.

Wysteria bundled up tighter as Ladybird turned down the gas lamp. "How much farther to the park?"

"I hope not too much," Ladybird said. "Mrs. Greenwood said we were on the right trail, so that's a relief."

Wysteria reclined and stared at the top of the tent. There were many times on the journey that she longed to be in her bed where it was warm but then she made herself think of Beatrice and their father and his reason for sending them on this trip. She heard a horse snort nervously and looked toward the tent entrance. Soon a snout poked through the flaps and let out a yelp and a whimper.

"I thought we had lost him!" Ladybird sighed.

Wysteria laughed. "I don't think we could if we tried," she said. "We're his pack now. Aren't we, Sacha?"

Sacha poked his head in and looked around. His body was shaking from the wagging of his tail. He whined and licked his lips.

"Don't even think about it," Ladybird said but Sacha took her warning as an invitation and he jimmied through the flap. His damp paws left prints on their blankets as they tried to force him back out unable to suppress their laughter.

Sacha flopped down between them, dampening their arms with his moist fur. He panted as he stared at the dim gas lamp then gave a big wolf yawn.

"Well at least we will be warmer," Wysteria said and Sacha quickly stole a lick onto her face. "And we'll have a guard dog," she added wiping off the saliva.

Ladybird sighed and lied back down. "I just hope he doesn't get hungry," she said, eyeing Sacha as he rested his head on his paws.

Wysteria shook her head as her sister turned her back to her on the wolf. "What about you, Sacha?" she whispered to him. She petted his ears and he let her caress around his mouth. "Hm? Have you seen Beatrice?"

Sacha tilted his head back playfully bumping it with hers. He rolled over and buried his nose in the scents of her blanket.

With a sigh Wysteria snuggled deep into the covers and watched the swelling of the tent until she fell to sleep.