Perched on an overturned bucket Caleb watches Tala undo Ben's dressing for the umpteenth time. There's a charge in the air, an energy for which he feels mostly responsible. He hasn't been the best house guest as of late. Not on purpose, mind you. Patience has never been his strong suit. "He should have woken up by now," he tells Tala.

"He will wake when he is ready."

"It's been three days."

Tala shrugs and Caleb's knee bounces. He nibbles at his bottom lip, glancing around the teepee. The evening fire's smoke twists in lazy circles towards the narrow tip of Tala's home. A fresh pot of tea simmers over its glowing embers. Caleb gives it a brisk stir watching until the dark swirling contents grow still and his reflection stares back at him. Maybe it was a mistake bringing Ben here. He needs medicine, not a bunch of plants and tea.

"He's not getting better Tala.'

"He's not getting worse."

Tala twists open the lid of a canister. The teepee soon smells like a grove of pine trees. Tala's slender fingers dip into the small tin and retract covered in a clear salve. He spreads a thin layer of the ointment across Ben's battered ribs and Caleb turns away. He's watched this scene play out a dozen times. Truth be told, it was getting harder and harder to stomach. Deep bruises. Pale skin. Ben lying there limp and lifeless.

"I'm going to get some air."

Tala makes no reply. Caleb stands and exits the teepee, shaking his head. There's a chill in the air as he makes his way east, towards the outskirts of the village. The villagers, cooking their evening meals, watch him with interest as he passes by. Delicious smells swirl around him and for a moment he's back at camp, only the people aren't quite as friendly.

Most seem indifferent, but there were a few times he'd encountered some downright hostile stares. Like the ones he was collecting now from the group of men a few teepees over. He offers them a warm smile but one of the men spits before they all turn their backs and Caleb wonders for the second time if coming here was a mistake.

"Your smile won't work on them," comes a voice from behind.

Caleb turns. Tala's daughter, Kateri, stands a hand on her hip, the other clutches a woven basket filled with roots and vegetables.

"I'm just trying to be friendly."

"Your idea of friendship is different from my people's."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"We think differently, that's all," she says, stepping around Caleb.

The scent of lavender and cedar assaults Caleb's senses as she passes. His smile broadens. At least there was one good thing about this village. He watches Kateri pass several illuminated teepees before stopping outside the only dark one. She calls out and an old woman emerges from the cloth shelter, her face stained with tears.

She spies the basket of roots and vegetables and fresh tears trickle down her cheeks. She shakes her head. Kateri kneels and pushes the basket towards her. With a sad smile the woman takes Kateri's hands in her own. Kateri wipes the woman's tears away, plants a kiss on her forehead, and rejoins Caleb.

"Why is she crying?"

"She misses home," Kateri replies, folding her arms behind her back.

"This isn't her home?"

"No."

Caleb glances around the village with its glowing teepees and the well-worn paths leading to and from them. "Where's home?"

"A place your people call New York."

"What's she doing here?"

"Waiting."

Caleb waits for further explanation. One doesn't come, forcing him to ask. "For what?"

"To go home to our village, with our long huts and way of being."

"Long huts?"

Kateri rolls her eyes. "We don't all live in teepees. My people, we live in long huts, together, as one. At least we used to, until your war drove us from our homes and villages. Now we are divided."

The long stares and angry looks make sense now. Caleb shakes his head. He can only imagine what he and Ben must represent to these people. Not that he wasn't unaware of the Native's plight, he'd seen the displaced peoples but always from afar. Never up close and personal. He hangs his head, feeling guilty for a war he didn't start. "I've been thinking, it might be time for Ben and I head back to camp."

"You want to take your friend back to the place that made him sick? Where he was kidnapped?"

"I don't know what else to do. It feels like being here is causing more harm than good and I don't know if you've noticed, but Ben's doesn't seem to be getting any better."

"That's not true. When you brought him here, he was barely alive and consumed with fever. Now, his breathes strong and his fever, gone. He's healing."

"Don't get me wrong, Kateri, I'm grateful for all your help. But what if he needs real medicine now?"

"Our medicine isn't real?"

"That's not what I meant- but aside from the lack of fever and him breathing better, nothing's changed."

Kateri's face darkens. A deep frown tugs at her features. "The only thing you have done since arriving here is hover over your friend. And rather than try to learn you sit on your bucket, day in and day out berating my father. Maybe if you tried understanding our customs you wouldn't be so quick to judge what's real and what's not."

Heat rises in Caleb's cheeks. He opens his mouth to argue, but on second thought clamps it shut. He has no excuse. It's true, he has been hovering, because he didn't know what else to do. It never dawned on him to try to learn the purposes behind the treatments.

"This is bigger than you and your friend." Kateri continues, her voice lower. "Everything is connected. You came here because your friend needs help. Maybe he is meant to help my people in return one day. If you leave now you will take away any chance of that happening."

"So- you want us to stay because you think Ben can help you?"

Kateri's eyes widen. "Is that what you think?"

"I don't know, I'm asking you."

Kateri's eyebrows knit together. The corners of her lips tug into a rueful smile. Caleb can't decide if she's feeling sorry for him or the fact that her motives have been revealed. The way her hands fall limp at her sides and her exhale rushes out in a huff, he's guessing it's the first.

"Kit told me you're different but... I'm not convinced."

"Not convinced of what? That I care about my friend? Or that I'm terrified I'm making the wrong choice keeping him here? What exactly do you need convincing of, Kateri? Because the way I see it, Ben living is the only thing that matters. For me, that's as big as it gets."

Caleb's legs go gooey and his chest tightens at the thought of losing Ben. He collapses onto a nearby log and turns away, swiping at the moisture forming in his eyes. Kateri lingers a few feet away. He turns towards her. "Tell me, what would you do?"

"What do you think you should do?"

"Jeez-us. I don't know!"

"Yes, you do."

Caleb stares daggers at her. I doubt you'd be sitting there all calm and nonchalant if it were your best friend's life hanging in the balance. But her words play over in his mind. 'This is bigger than you and your friend.' What the bloody hell does that even mean?

"Why did you bring your friend here?"

I didn't think he was safe at camp."

"Will he be safe now?"

"No- not exactly. But I don't plan on leaving him this time around."

"So, you'll just be with him. The entire time?"

Caleb doesn't answer. The flaw in his plan is obvious. Any sensible person could see it. He examines the ground. Next to the log lies a small, reddish stone. He nudges at it with the tip of his boot. Kateri sits next him and leans in placing her hand on his chest. Her touch is both calming and electrifying.

"You know what to do. Trust yourself."

Brawn and instinct, that's what Sackett would say. A man of action through and through. Master of the short game, never thinking more than a few steps ahead. One who didn't ponder over minor details or pause to consider all possible outcomes. Action and reaction, his two biggest strong suits. And yet here he sat, paralyzed.

"Close your eyes."

He hesitates and Kateri smiles. "Go on, close them."

Caleb's eyelids lower.

"Good, now take a deep breath."

The cool spring air rushes in through Caleb's nostrils, trickles down the back of his throat, and inflates his lungs. He feels foolish sitting here, eyes closed, breathing with Kateri's hand on his chest, deciding his best friend's fate in this manner. Eyes still closed; he shakes his head.

"Listen, really listen," Kateri encourages.

Caleb breaths in and out. In and out, until something forms in the pit of his stomach. A feeling? One of those instincts Sackett was always going on about? He breathes in further, bringing it to life. Could this be the answer he's looking for trying to be heard? He breathes deep one more time. A thought blossoms.

He brought Ben here for a reason and that reason hasn't changed. He opens his eyes and looks into hers. "We'll stay. And... I'll try harder to understand your people. I promise."

"Good."

Caleb's last name and rank rings out from behind. Together, he and Kateri turn as Kitchi races toward them. He arrives, gasping as Caleb leaps to his feet. "It's Major Tallmadge..."

Caleb's breath leaves his body. He clasps Kitchi's shoulders and gives him a shake. "What Kit, tell me!"

"He...he's waking."