Solitude

The Shield

She was so much better at being alone; being alone came more naturally to her. She led a life of deliberate solitude, and if occasional loneliness crept in, she knew how to work her way out… Or even better, how to sink in and absorb its particular comforts.

Looking out over the range country in her part of Wyoming, she had no idea how much her life was going to change.

She knew her small part of this country well. Even so she thought she saw a dark shape far in the distance. Then it disappeared either from her imagination or by way of the folds in the landscape. For a moment it had looked like a person but, maybe living in her near solitude, she was prone to a little imagining. She couldn't have been more wrong.

Becky, that was her name, had lived in this part of Wyoming pretty much most of her life apart from travelling to Laramie for college. That was some years back now. She had few friends by choice. Being alone was part of her being. In fact, her one friend above all others was a full-blooded Cheyenne who went by the American name of Joe. His real name was Hohanonivah, but few people could pronounce it. That is apart from Becky who had been taught the language by Joe.

His name in the Cheyenne language meant 'Shield' and that is what he had been to Becky, ever since she lost both her parents and found herself alone at her small ranch on the Plains. Joe understood solitude and made sure Becky's was respected. Not that there had been much for Joe to do in that respect in recent years. The ranch was remote and you wouldn't visit or pass the homestead, unless you knew it was there ... or had a purpose in visiting.

Maybe it was Joe, Becky thought, and then banished further speculation from her mind. She didn't feel lonely that day just at peace.

Walking down to the stables over the hard beaten ground, she lifted her head one last time and looked out over the limitless golden grass waving in the breeze, like waves on a never ending sea. Becky saw nothing.

As she reached the stable block and her horse. Joe appeared from nowhere. He had a habit of doing that.

"Did you see him?" he asked.