Opening: Day 7

Word Count: 42,006

Summary of Events:
Chapter 13:
Keiller was awed by Sophia's culinary talent when she prepared venison, and his compliments ended up making her cry, then Keiller accidentally prompted her to run away, but they were both stopped by tripping over a log and Keiller brought her back to the house.
Chapter 14:
Sophia woke up feeling a little ill, but made breakfast anyways. Keiller did the dishes, being as Sophia looked exhausted, and then left, wondering why Sophia had been so tired. Sophia started to feel panicky and felt that she had to leave — not that she really wanted to.

Excerpt of the Day:
"Sophia finally convinced herself to put the corset on, and did it up as loosely as possible — which was still rather restrictive for her — and then removed Mr. Bartlett's clothes he'd loaned to her.
Carefully Sophia slid into all of her skirts and petticoats, and finally the dress over top of it all. Sophia looked down at it, felling quite cold already without her arms and her shoulders covered.
Sitting down on the bed, Sophia burst into tears again. She couldn't leave. She couldn't do it. But she had to leave now, before Mr. Bartlett saw or heard her. She needed to get out here, otherwise he would surely bring about grievous harm against her.
Standing up, Sophia looked at the clothes she'd borrowed from Mr. Bartlett. Being as she hadn't put on her dress since she'd arrived, the clothes she'd borrowed from Mr. Bartlett were filthy, and he'd built up a pile of laundry himself.
Sophia couldn't leave work undone, she'd have to clean the clothes before she left, and then make the bed properly, with both blankets on it. Then she could leave it all behind and go back to Nevada — where it didn't usually get this cold anyways.
Taking up the laundry, Sophia couldn't find any other washbasin other than the dishwashing basin, so she filled it up with water and then heated it by the fire before starting to scrub the clothes in it.
As she washed, Sophia thought about what she would do once she left. She would go back the way she came — except for the steep slope, of course — and then hopefully find someone other than the sheriff of Yerington who had his kind of authority and could go into Madame LeRoy's and get her sisters out of there.
Looking down at her clothes, though, Sophia sighed. She was dressed like whore, how would anyone believe her that she wanted to get out? Would anyone even help her? She would need to find different clothes if she waned to be believed and not attacked again.
But where would she find different clothes? And how could she possibly acquire them without stealing? She didn't want to steal anything from anyone. It was wrong to steal, Mama had enforced that in the minds of all of her children.
Sophia sighed as she pinned up the trousers she'd worn. She had no idea what to do, even though she was thoroughly convinced she knew what she was supposed to do. Was it what she should be doing? Was it right?
Was leaving here the right move now? Was leaving without her question answered the right thing to do? Had she dallied too long? There were so many questions that stirred uncertainty in Sophia.
And the worst part wasn't even the questions, it was the fact that she didn't have anyone to trust; there was no one she could go to and ask for advice on what she should do in this matter. She was completely alone."