"Leigh, if you leave right now, don't think you can just waltz on back here expecting a warm welcome when you inevitably fail at this stupid stunt you're trying to pull!" Daryl shouted after the stage coach taking his daughter away to a new life. A better life, Leigh hoped. Anything had to be better than this. "You've failed at everything you've ever tried to do in your life! What makes you think this will be any different?! Huh?! You're a useless, ungrateful brat!"

Leigh didn't stick her head out of the stage coach to yell back at her father. There was little point in it now. She leaned her head back against the seat, listening to the soothing clopping sound of horse hooves beating the dusty path in front of her. The steady rhythm acted as a comfort blanket of sorts, wrapping Leigh up in its predictable drumbeat.

I'm free, was the only thought that kept resounding like a mantra of liberation inside her head. The relief was so overwhelming, it made her feel light-headed where she sat.

So why was she still crying?


"Hey Uncle Frank," Leigh forced a weary smile onto her face as she hopped down from the stage coach, the orange dust of the desert landscape kicking up a cloud around her ankles. Her uncle helped her pull her bags out of the coach. "Thanks for letting me stay with you for a few days. I really appreciate it."

"O' course, Leigh! It ain't no problem at all! I'm always happy ta see my niece," the stocky middle-aged man with ginger hair and a fondness for plaid and denim grinned at her through the stalk of wheat sticking out between his teeth. Leigh never did figure out whether her uncle was born with his southern drawl or whether he picked it up after years of living here in Westown. Maybe her father used to have the same accent but eventually kicked it. The idea of her stone cold father talking with the same jovial lilt as her uncle was an amusing one, but not amusing enough to cheer her up with her father's last words to her ringing in her ears.

"You're a useless, ungrateful brat!"

"Musta been a long trip fer ya," Frank commented, tipping his straw hat to Leigh. She caught the sympathetic smile on his face. She knew her eyes had that telltale rim of puffy redness around them that gave away she'd been crying. To most people, Frank might seem like a simpleton but Leigh knew better; nothing escaped her Uncle Frank's sharp notice.

Leigh looked up at the streaks of orange and red painting the blazing sky and inhaled a deep lungful of the dry air in this unfamiliar, arid landscape. "Yeah, almost a whole day on the road," she let out in a heavy whoosh of air, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her dress.

They both knew that wasn't really what Frank meant but neither of them felt the need to elaborate.

"Ah well," Frank sighed, picking up one of Leigh's bags. "Ye're probably dead tired after all that travelin' an' it's gettin' dark. Why don't I help ya bring in yer bags an' rustle us up some supper? I got pizza in the oven. Ya still like pizza, don'cha?" he asked her.

"Who doesn't like pizza?" Leigh managed a small laugh. The sound felt strange to her, like it was coming from somewhere else far away. Pizza sounded good to her right about now. She hadn't eaten all day and she was starving. Come to think of it, she could feel a nasty headache from caffeine withdrawal settling into her temples, too. Maybe she could bother Frank for a cup of coffee with dinner or ask him where the nearest café was.

Frank walked around to the front of the stage coach with one of Leigh's bags in one big burly hand and fished around in the pockets of his overalls with the other hand. He pulled out a small handful of gold coins to pay the driver with.

"Oh, no that's okay, Uncle Frank!" Leigh tried to intervene, rushing forward with a fistful of her own pocket change in her palm. "I brought money, I can pay." She fumbled over the coins with frantic fingers, trying to count it all out before her uncle could pay, but she was too slow. Math had never been her strong suit.

Frank waved off the gesture as the driver nudged his horse into a quick trot and pulled away from the quaint little farmhouse. "S'no trouble, Leigh. Just helpin' ya out. Ye're gonna need ta save all the funds ya can ta get yer new life off the ground. Startin' out with nothin' like ya are, every little coin counts."

Leigh pursed her lips, but nodded and grudgingly stuffed the money back into her pocket. He was right, of course. She wasn't delusional. She knew this was crazy but when you have nothing left to lose, crazy starts to look more and more like your only hope.

She picked up two of her smaller bags only because her uncle had already hoisted up her other large one with his free hand and began lumbering on into the house. Leigh picked up her pace to keep up with him. Her petite 4'11" frame was no match for her uncle's towering stature.

"Lucky! Heel, boy!" Frank bellowed. Leigh froze on the front porch, unable to make herself walk inside no matter how rude it might come across. She forgot her uncle had a dog. She hated dogs. Big dogs mostly but she wasn't exactly about to go out of her way to go near any dog at all, ever. Why couldn't everyone just have a cat, instead? Cats were clean. Cats were calm and quiet. Cats lived lives of aloof superiority and they hated everyone. They were the perfect companions. Leigh understood cats. Dogs embodied everything Leigh despised. They were loud, obnoxious, hyperactive, overbearing, filthy, irritatingly needy and Leigh didn't care what anyone said; she refused to believe that any animal that mindlessly follows orders from humans could be intelligent. Dogs were just the absolute worst.

Frank poked his head back out the door. "Ya can come in, now, Leigh. Coast is clear. I know ya ain't too fond o' canines so I let Lucky out the back door. He'll stay 'round back until we can get ya settled in yer own place."

"Thanks, Uncle Frank," Leigh sighed with relief and set her bags on the floor just inside the front door. When she straightened, she came face-to-face with Frank, wearing his best concerned relative face. She felt her gut sink down to her kneecaps. She was hoping she wouldn't have to deal with the heart-to-heart discussion about what happened right away. She was hungry (which the smell of fresh pizza baking in the oven didn't help), exhausted, she needed a coffee and all she wanted to do was sleep for at least nine solid hours.

"I know ya were just puttin' on a brave face out there," he told her, his voice softer than his brash, brassy bellow from outside. "How're ya holdin' up, sweetheart?" he asked her.

How long had it been since someone had spoken to her with such genuine affection? Leigh couldn't even remember. Before she could close herself off behind her comforting wall of stoicism, the tears were streaking down Leigh's face and her shoulders were shaking despite her best efforts to stem the sudden outpouring of raw emotion.

She felt herself being pulled into her uncle's warm hug and Leigh clung to him for dear life, surprising even herself. She shied away from physical contact with people. She shied away from people in general, but she hadn't realised just how starved for affection she was until she was finally shown some. "He called me a useless, ungrateful brat," Leigh wept into Frank's faded overalls. "He said I've failed at everything I've ever tried to do with my life... and he's right."

"Yer pa forgets he didn't have life all figured out when he was yer age, Leigh," Frank said gently, patting Leigh's dark brunette ponytail. "He's too hard on ya. Always has been and it ain't fair, I know. He's downright cruel to ya, but ya can't change how anyone else decides to act. All ya can control is how ya react to it."

Leigh nodded but she wasn't sure if she understood what her uncle was getting at. She pulled her glasses off her nose and wiped at the lenses with her sleeve; they had fogged up with her tears. She allowed herself a feeble smile when she felt her uncle kiss the top of her head just like he used to do when she was little. "All I ever wanted was to be good enough for them... but I'm never good enough, Uncle Frank," her voice caught in her throat.

"Ya hafta be good enough fer yerself before ya can worry about bein' good enough fer somebody else," Frank pointed out to her. Leigh didn't know how to put into words that her opinion of herself was entirely dependant on her parents' opinion of her. Maybe that was the problem, but Leigh didn't know how to separate the two. She'd spent so long trying to achieve perfection with everything she did in order to win her parents' affections that she wasn't sure she knew how to do anything just for her.

When Leigh didn't give her uncle an answer to that, Frank just patted her shoulder with an understanding nod. "Ya must be real tired an' I can hear that empty belly o' yers howlin' like a coyote in springtime. I'll go get that pizza, then ya best get off ta bed. Ya got an early start tomorrow. I can't wait ta introduce ya to all the neighbours 'round these here parts. Been singin' yer praises ta the whole town since I found out ya were comin' ta live here," he grinned, but caught the apprehensive look on his niece's face. "Now don't give me that look, missy. I know ya don't get on real well with most people but the folks 'round here are good, honest folk who'd give ya the shirt off their backs if ya really needed it. Give 'em a chance."

"I... will try my best," Leigh agreed, but she had a hard time believing she'd be able to make any friends here. She didn't have the best track record with people. It was why she kept to herself and her books. Fictional characters were often better company than the real deal. They were even better company when she was the one who breathed life into them by writing them onto the pages. Like the cats she adored, Leigh disliked pretty much everyone and kept them at a comfortably detached distance.

"That's my girl," Frank smiled. "Now wash up fer supper afore the pizza burns an' we end up chompin' on charcoal."