Rated T for language, sexual themes and domestic violence.

Samantha couldn't help it. The Mustang was gorgeous, despite its short temper towards everyone. She may have never been big when it came to horses, despite working as a stable girl for her father's boss but there was something about this one. It was so…wild.

The Colonel was a cruel man, no doubt. She couldn't see how someone could tie a beautiful Mustang to a post for three days with no food or water. Did he wish for the thing to starve? She shook her head. Of course he did, it would be easier for him to break the horse that way.

Samantha looked away from the Mustang and returned to brushing the pelt of one of the horses in the stables. This was her job for the time being while her father was here to work with his friend, the Colonel.

Sergeant Jones wasn't a very kind man, which would explain why his daughter was such a rebel towards authority.

She was your classic shrew. She was nothing like her mother from what she heard. She never knew her mother, so she would have to depend on what other people have said about her.

Jones blamed Samantha time and time again for the death of his wife, saying she died giving birth to Samantha. That she was a demon-child.

Samantha had to admit herself; she was a little bit of a riot growing up. Many doctors said it was from lack of affection. When her father tried showing love to her, she would spit in his face yelling crude comments. This was at the young age of eight.

Samantha recalled on one event where someone claimed her to be possessed by a demon. It should have offended Samantha, but she couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the claim.

She sighed, shoving those thoughts out of her mind. She had a job to do. She restocked the hay, brushed every single horse in the stable and made sure their water was clean. Tending to the horses…leftovers was for someone else to deal with.

"Samantha, your dad said he needs to speak with you." She turned her head to glance at one of the soldiers in training. John was a scrawny looking man who still needed much training, and after his unsuccessful try of taming the Mustang, needed that bruise on his shoulder looked after. She giggled at the memory of the poor man being thrown off the Mustang earlier.

"I'll be there in a second." She looked once more at his shoulder. "Shouldn't you get someone to look at that bruise?"

John blinked at her, shaking his head. "It's just a bruise."

"That horse threw you to the other side of the stables and you're going to say it's just a bruise? Go get it looked at, before I force you to, John."

John smirked softly. "You know, I wonder why they call you the shrew. You don't seem too bad." Samantha glared at him, arms crossed. "Alright, alright. I'll go see if they can take a look at this. You go deal with your father."

Both walked to their different destinations. John was new around here, but he already seemed to hit off with everyone, even Samantha which surprised most considering she seemed to hate every man she came in contact with.

That wasn't the case of course; she just didn't get along with many people. It wasn't her fault that the majority of people around her as of now were male.

Samantha sighed, seeing her father not too far off now, standing proudly by the Colonel. Samantha was no idiot; she could see why her father and the Colonel hit it off well as friends. It was because they were both cold-hearted.

"Samantha. There you are, come here. We have things to discuss." Samantha raised an eyebrow at her father. Since when was he so civil towards her? Even in public back home, they would always cause a scene wherever they went, no matter how many people watched them.

Samantha followed her father and the Colonel into the shack where colonel stayed for the majority of his time. "What do you want?" She asked, crossing her arms across her chest. To many, this would be a very unladylike way to act. To Samantha and her father, this was the normal way for them to communicate. There was nothing more barbaric than a hate relationship between a father and his daughter.

"Sit." Jones commanded his daughter, pushing a chair outwards for her in the center of the shack. "We need to discuss something." He sat down in another chair across from where he had told Samantha to sit.

"I can stand." She hissed at him, ignoring his command for her to sit. She walked over to the table where he sat, standing across from him. He glared towards his daughter before taking a deep breath. He was no doubt trying to hold back from striking the young woman in front of the Colonel.

"The Colonel and I have discussed things and we've come to an agreement. You are to marry him in three months."

"Excuse me?" Samantha looked at her father, mouth open in shock. "I will not marry him." She argued, looking back and forth between her father and the Colonel who stood idly by, not seeming to say anything to her or her father.

"The Colonel is a very well-respected man. He could care for you, and-"

"You just want your 'demon-child' out of your life, don't you?!" Samantha shouted, glaring at her father. "I will not marry him, no matter what you say to me!" Words couldn't describe the amount of hate she had towards her father at this moment.

Her father was enraged now, slamming his hands down onto the table across from her. He stood up, his chair falling behind him. "You will do as I say as your father!" The Colonel glanced out the window of the shack to take watch of the rest of the workers. This wasn't going to end well.

"Like hell I will! When have you ever been a father to me? I am not going to marry some man I don't know just so you can get rid of me!"

"I'm doing what is best for you!"

Samantha shook her head. "No, you just don't want me to be around anymore, you bastard!"

The Colonel grabbed a hold of Samantha's arm and pulled her away from her father's grasp as he reached out to slap the young woman across the face. That was a close-call. The Colonel thought, looking down to the young woman who looked as though she wanted to punch him.

Samantha pulled away from the Colonel's grasp suddenly. "Don't touch me." She hissed at him, venom dripping with every word. She stormed out of the shack.

The Colonel glanced to his friend. Jones stood over the table, looking down with that same look of regret in his eyes he always got after an argument with his daughter. "That could have been handled better." The Colonel had to admit to himself, the young woman had a lot of nerve to respond to a man in that way.

"She's so stubborn. Just like her mother. That's about the only trait they seem to share though." Jones looked up to his friend, wiping the sweat away from his face. "She will be engaged to you soon. She needs it."

The Colonel smirked. "You think the shrew needs to be tamed?" He asked, walking out of the shack with his friend following close behind. "I will tell you right now, having her engaged to me will definitely not fix anything, Jones."

Jones glanced to his friend, surprised. Colonel ignored his friend's stare as he took a swig from his canteen. "This is coming from the man that says any wild animal can be broken?"

Colonel took a quick glance to Jones, shaking his head. "Your daughter isn't an animal to be tamed, Jones. She's a lonely girl who needs love." He shook his head. "You know I can't give that to her." He took his canteen and poured some water into his palm, wetting the back of his neck.

Jones noticed the Colonel glancing towards the Mustang with that look on his face. He knew that face, he saw his daughter wear it every-time she had tricked someone or gotten someone hurt. It was the look of satisfaction from inflicting pain on others.

The Colonel would definitely not help tame Samantha. Just make her worse, but as long as he had Samantha off his hands, he could care less if she got worse or not because by then, she would be the Colonel's problem.

"We got a hostile!"

Samantha glanced up from the hay-covered floor of the stables at the shout. The horse next to her that nipped at her hair for remaining time she sat on the stable floor quickly shot its head up. Samantha got up from the floor and looked with the horse to the so-called hostile. She could hardly see the scrawny kid!

She patted the horse on the neck before leaving the stables to get a closer look at the hostile. Samantha walked over to the shack of the Colonel, ignoring her father's glares as she stood next to the Colonel who seemed to ignore her completely as he looked down to the Indian.

The hostile was looking down to the ground, so she couldn't completely look at his face.

"We caught him by the supply wagon, sir." 'Never-mind' she thought as the man pulled back the Indian's head to show off his face. She smirked. 'He's handsome.' She had to keep her blush under control around her father. It wouldn't look good if she was blushing for someone other than The Colonel. She already had one close call of being slapped today.

"Ah, a Lakota." The Colonel stood proudly. Samantha could guess why, many around here thought of the Lakota as the bottom of the food-chain. Something she couldn't understand. "Not as tall as the Cheyenne; not as fine-featured as the Crow."

The men grabbed the Lakota by the arms as the Colonel smirked to himself. "Take him away, gentlemen. Show him our best."

Jones looked to the men. "Corporal, take him to the stockades." He ordered, still resisting the urge to take a glance at his daughter.

"Not the stockades." Jones and Samantha glanced up to the Colonel with raised eyebrows. "The post…" He looked over to the Mustang who seemed to watch this scene intensely. "No food or water."

Samantha was bewildered by that request. She could understand the horse. Men didn't seem to care if they lost one of the horses, which was already a terrible thing to start with but another human being? Wouldn't that be taking it too far?

She watched as the two men dragged the Lakota to the post, literally. He had stopped in his tracks to glance at the Mustang who looked right back at him. Samantha crossed her arms. She couldn't blame him. The Mustang was gorgeous.

Samantha glanced to the man next to her. "Colonel, in what world is it acceptable to starve another human being?" She asked.

The Colonel smirked slightly as he watched the Mustang and the Lakota. "In a world where it's punishment for raiding the supply wagon." He answered, before walking away into the shack with her father close behind.

Samantha crossed her arms and looked out to the Lakota, head tilted. She couldn't let another person starve or deprive them of water, especially in this heat, and she sure as hell couldn't feed him out in the open with everyone watching…

Samantha decided she would just have to see him later tonight. She walked back to the stables; ready to sit by the horse that would nip at her hair for hours on end until the dark hours of night.

I have not written a chapter this long in a very long time. I think that's a good sign.

Reviews would be so welcomed. Criticize me all you want. I need the boost in order to improve my writing. It's probably what I'll be doing all summer. Also, tell me what you think of Samantha so far, I need to improve a lot more on her character development and her personality so advice on that would be greatly appreciated as well.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!