A/N: mild warning- adult themes mentioned near the end, although not in very much detail.
Sam tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep. In just the past two days her life had been completely turned upside down. She tried to picture what the chief's sons would be like. From what she had heard her father say about the chief, he was a very stoic and pragmatic man. She imagined his sons would be similar.
Sam herself was always getting in trouble for losing track of time and daydreaming when she should be studying her lessons. She hoped her future husband wouldn't get too impatient with her.
As soon as the sun began to rise Sam jumped out of bed and rushed to get ready.
"You're up early," Gram said as she passed Sam's room on her way downstairs to start breakfast.
"Yeah, I guess I'm a little nervous about today," Sam said as she laid three dresses on her bed, trying to decide which one to wear.
Sam normally didn't care about her clothes or how she looked. But today, she wanted to at least give a good first impression. She would be meeting her future husband, after all.
Gram glanced at the three dresses and pointed to the one on the far left. "Wear the dark green one," she said. "It brings out your eyes."
Sam nodded and went to put the dress on. "I'll see you downstairs," she said as she began to fiddle with the buttons on the back of the dress.
After breakfast, Sam gave Cody a hug goodbye and waved to Gram and Brynna before she climbed into the wagon with her dad.
She'd be home for supper, she was only meeting the chief's sons today, but she couldn't help but think about how very soon she would be saying goodbye to her family for good. Of course, she would still be able to visit once she was married, but it wouldn't be the same as seeing them every day.
Dad was quiet on the way to the tribal lands, which was usual for him. Sam wished he would talk so that she would be distracted from all her worries, but she didn't know what to say to even attempt at beginning a conversation.
Shoshone land wasn't too far away from the Forster's ranch, maybe about forty-five minutes. But it seemed like no time passed at all before they came over a ridge and Sam could see where the Shoshone people had made their home.
Sam spotted a black horse galloping up in the distance, and as they got closer she could see that there was, in fact, a rider astride the horse. There was no saddle or bridle; the rider and horse were one being as they moved across the Nevada desert. The rider leaned low on the horse's neck, his long, dark hair mixing with the horse's mane as they ran.
That must be one of their warriors, Sam thought. She wished she could be comfortable enough to ride without a saddle, let alone without a bridle.
Dad pulled up in front of a house-like structure where several men were standing. One of the men raised his hand in greeting to Dad. That must be the chief, Sam thought.
The chief was tall, taller than Dad. He was handsome, with a strong jaw and defined features. He looked just how Sam had imagined, stoic and serious, almost frightening.
"Chief Soaring Eagle, this is my daughter. Samantha," Dad introduced her to the chief once they descended from the wagon.
The chief smiled at her, and his face transformed. He didn't appear frightening at all; instead, he looked kind and warm as he extended his hand to her. "You are a brave girl, Samantha," the chief said, and Sam felt her face flush with surprised gratitude. She hadn't expected anyone to sympathize with what she was going through, let alone the chief.
"Of course, you are here to meet my sons," the chief continued. "This here is Shadow Wolf," the chief gestured to the youngest of the men standing with him.
Shadow Wolf was tall and thin, and he smiled broadly at Sam. "You can call me Quinn if you want, everyone else does," he said with a laugh.
"And you can call me Sam," Sam said as she smiled back at him. He seemed like a nice man. Maybe this won't be so bad after all, Sam thought, relieved.
"Shadow Wolf, why don't you show Samantha around," the chief said to his son.
"Come on," Shadow Wolf, or Quinn, Sam corrected herself, said, as he strode off towards a corral full of horses.
"Why do you have two names?" Sam asked as they walked along.
"Since my mother is white, she gave me and my brothers all English names along with our native names. Some of us go by our native names or a nickname, but Quinn stuck for me," he said with a grin.
"I don't mean any offense, but I thought I was supposed to meet two of the chief's sons," Sam said questioningly as she struggled to keep up with Quinn's long strides.
"Yeah, dad wants to give you the option between me and Mustang Eyes. Jake. That's my younger brother," he explained as the walked along the horse corral fence line. "If you think my dad's quiet, wait till you meet Jake." Quinn rolled his eyes. "I love my brother of course, but he never has a single word to say. Unless it's about that monster mare of his. Then he has one or two," Quinn chuckled to himself.
"Oh?" Sam asked questioningly, "Is he good with horses?"
"The best," Quinn replied. He pointed at a dark bay gelding that was watching them from within the corral. "That's my horse," he said proudly. "Jake's mare is his full sister. He helped me train Chip though."
A group of girls walked by them, clearly headed to the river to do laundry. They looked curiously at Sam, before giggling and saying hi to Quinn. Quinn grinned back at them before turning at the sound of galloping hooves.
"Here's Jake now," he said, and Sam turned to see the same black horse she had seen from the wagon as her and her dad were arriving.
The rider, who she know knew was Mustang Eyes, or Jake, slowed his horse to a stop before them.
"Jakey, this is Samantha. Wyatt's daughter," Quinn said meaningfully. Sam blushed as she looked up at Mustang Eyes. She knew instantly how he had gotten his name. His eyes reminded her of the wild stallion she had seen the day before. Dark and watching, they didn't miss a single detail around him.
Mustang Eyes, Jake, Sam had to remind herself again, simply nodded at her before he dismounted and began to lead his horse away. He wasn't quite as tall as Quinn, although he still towered over Sam, plus he had broader shoulders and a more muscular build.
"Your horse is beautiful," Sam blurted out, and immediately regretted it. She felt her face turn even redder than before and she stared down at her shoes. J just glanced back at her with those dark, watchful eyes, at her before nodding once again and continued on.
"Like I said earlier, he's not much for words," Quinn said. "Dad said you should spend a little time with both me and Jake, so you can get to know us." His eyes followed the group of girls they had seen earlier, now hanging washed clothes to dry on rocks in the sun. "Is there anything you want to know about me, or would you rather go talk to Jake. Or at least try to," Quinn said with a smile.
"Oh it doesn't matter to me," Sam responded. "I can talk to Jake. Here he comes now, anyway."
Quinn grinned at her and said, "Good luck!" before making his way towards the girls doing laundry.
Sam turned towards Jake and was suddenly at a loss for words. She stood by the corral gate as Jake turned his mare loose in the corral before he turned towards her. He looked at her for several long seconds, before Sam began to feel self-conscious and had to say something.
"I'm Sam," she introduced herself, "but you already know that of course." Stupid, she thought.
"Look," he said suddenly. His voice was surprisingly nice. Deep, and calming somehow. "I don't know what you want in a marriage and I don't care if you pick me or Quinn." His looked away, squinting as he watched Quinn laughing with one of the girls doing laundry. "I'm probably not an ideal husband. But I'll do right by you." He swallowed audibly and rubbed the back of his neck. "You'll be my wife, and I'll respect that." Then he brushed past her and was gone.
A/N: I love Quinn and I didn't want to make him seem like a bad guy in any way, but I had to give Sam SOME reason to consider Jake. Especially since we all know Jake's effervescent personality might not be enough to win Sam over lol
Guest- (I'm not sure if both Guest reviews are from the same person, but I'll reply as if they are.) I met Terri Farley quite a while ago. It was before the Phantom Stallion: The Protector came out. I remember her saying she was going to write an online sequel of sorts, so it was probably around 2011. Her mind about Sam and Jake's relationship could have definitely changed since then. I know I was incredibly disappointed to hear that they didn't definitely end up together. In my mind they do:) She also told she wrote some other books under a different name, and that the main couple in one of those books was supposed to represent Sam and Jake as adults. I read the book a long time ago, so I don't remember exactly how the story goes.
Nika19- I'm so glad you like the story! I'm certainly not a writer, (my grades on essays I've written in English class will support that lol) but PS fanfiction has really slowed down in the past few years and I knew I wanted to write something. The idea for this story actually came from a fanfiction about the TV show The 100. The writing in that fanfic is far superior to mine, but as I was reading it the characters reminded me so much of Sam and Jake I knew I had to write it.