Treachery: Day 4

Word Count: 24,023

Summary of Events:

Adeline woke up to walk for another night, but was still rather tired, and so decided to go back to sleep and rest some more instead. Edward, having been pleasantly surprised to find the purportedly wild horse he was supposed to gentle appeared to have just been an abused horse acting out in fear, stopped for the night, having left the town that morning. Adeline woke up refreshed and started walking, she noticed a fire and found horses. Edward woke up at the sound of a nicker and found Adeline trying to take his mare. Adeline was interrogated as to her journey's destination by Edward before deciding to sleep by his fire if she couldn't take his horse. Edward shared breakfast with Adeline before offering her a ride to Dallas — the destination she'd pulled off the top of her head during the interrogation. Adeline, riding behind him on his mare, thought about the last time she'd ridden a horse when she was a little girl, among other things.

Excerpt of the Day:

"She looked over the man's shoulder at the rolling hills that rippled away into the horizon, then she glanced at the man's face. His chiselled jaw wasn't as set as it'd been last night, but it was shadowed with a dark stubble that added texture to his face, and matched the dark hair that curled out from underneath his hat.

After a few moments he turned and glanced at her with his dark eyes before turning back to look at the rolling hills again.

"Y'all ain't goin' to fall," he said.

"I feel like I am," she replied.

He sighed, his ribs expanding against her arms encircling his body.

Adeline said nothing for awhile, but she decided that it would be important for her to know his name, it would be better than just thinking of him as the man. She wasn't sure if she'd be willing to volunteer her name, though.

"What is your name?" she asked.

"Edward," he replied, not looking back.

She nodded to herself. She felt like Edward was a bit of an old name for him, though, if he wasn't thirty yet like he'd said. She felt like Edwards were at least over thirty, if not closer to forty.

"Do y'all have a name?" he asked, turning his head slightly in her direction.

"Yes," she replied. "Of course I do."

"You goin' to oblige me of it?" Edward asked.

Adeline opened her mouth, then exhaled. She didn't know that she wanted to tell him her real name, but she had to tell him something. The question was: did she use her middle name or Mama's name? Or maybe Anna's?

"Sarah," she said. She was certain her stepfather didn't know her middle name. He'd never used it when he'd yelled at her, after all.

Edward was silent. Adeline hoped that she'd be able to respond to her middle name as easily as her first name, and she wished Edward would say something.

He didn't say anything for a long time, which made Adeline feel quite unsettled.

"For the sake of keepin' your identity as a lady from the masses I'm callin' you Sam." he said. "Samuel when I'm mad."

Adeline nodded slowly. She wasn't really sure what she thought about that idea. She just hoped that he wouldn't go and tell her that she was going to have to cut her hair next; she had no intent of losing her hair only for his comfort."