Hagi looked out of the window and saw the clouds passing by over the dark blue ocean below. It was his first time flying in a commercial aircraft and he wondered at the amazing things that modern science had come up with. He looked past Claudia to see Marva sleeping in the aisle seat as Claudia leaned against his shoulder.

"Hagi," Claudia's small voice asked, "are you scared?"

He turned to the young girl and saw the trepidation in her brown eyes. He understood her fear. All her life had been spent in the same home and the same people surrounded her. She had to learn a new language and make new friends. This wasn't going to be easy for the young girl. He answered, "No, Claudia. I have been many places in my life. At first it can be a bit frightening, but when you have your friends and family with you, you know it will all be okay."

"What was it like for you?" she asked. "Where did you go when you left us the day of the storm? Weren't you scared?"

He took a deep breath as he tried to answer, "I had to go to a very important place to visit a friend. I have to visit her often."

"Why? Is she sick?" Her questions kept coming. The man rarely spoke about his life outside the family home and Claudia always wondered where the man she called Big Brother went when he was away from them.

"It is hard to explain, Claudia," he answered her. "I will be able to tell you more when you are older." He dreaded that day. He could not imagine what it would be like to share his unbelievable story with the girl that he played games with and shared stories as well as memories with.

"Ooo, a secret!" she whispered excitedly. "Is it a looove secret? Is she your secret sweetheart?" Her eyes shined with excitement. She remembered how all her teachers looked at him with dreamy, far away looks in their eyes. She wondered if their was a beautiful princess he'd fallen in love with like Cinderella. She hoped that he'd let her meet her.

He smiled, "No, she is just a friend." Then he thought, but I wish she was. He turned his face to the window.

"Hagi?" Claudia asked again as she fumbled with one of her braids. He looked away so quickly she wondered if she had said something to upset him. She wanted to make him smile. She seemed to be the only one in the family that knew how to bring a small curl to his lips.

"Yes?" he turned to her, distracted from his thoughts.

"Are you glad that Mother adopted you so you can be my big brother?" her eyes pleaded as she asked. She always reminded him of Joel's favorite hound when she did this. The dog would get into mischief and when he was caught and scolded, he'd look up at Joel with those big, liquid brown eyes and whine. You couldn't help but forgive the dog- or Claudia. Claudia's puppy face.

He put his bandaged arm around her, "Of course, Claudia."

When they landed in Dallas, the sun was rising. Claudia clung to Marva's hand and Hagi followed close behind. There were a lot of different people wondering around the airport as the intercom announced the flights that were boarding. It was noisy and crowded. People would pass by from all walks of life and all nationalities.

Hagi had expected them all to be rugged people dressed in cowboy hats, jeans, and boots. These people wore suits and ties as they drank steaming cups of coffee and held cell phones to their ears. There were a few that seemed to be dressed like they were from Texas, but they were few and far between. He saw Marva move and raised his head.

Marva waved to a rather gruff looking figure. He looked to be in his 40s or so. He wore a dirty, worn out cowboy hat, a faded red plaid shirt, and some worn out jeans. Hagi had seen pictures of the American cowboy and was rather surprised to see that this man wore a pair of steel toed boots, instead of cowboy boots and he wasn't covered in dust. He had a toothpick dangling from his mouth and was leaning against the wall. He touched the brim of his hat and nodded his head as Marva approached. "Marva," he stated. That was a gesture Hagi recognized as he detected the southern drawl in the man's voice.

"Jim," she responded almost shyly. "It's been a while."

He nodded again as he looked Hagi over. He scanned the boy up and down and shook his head. He pushed off the wall and walked around the boy scoffing at the ridiculous outfit and the instrument case that was slung over his shoulder. He thought, I'll give him that, the case looks heavy, but what the hell was Marva thinking when she let him wear this thing?

She saw where his eyes were and the dominating way Jim was looking at her boy. She cleared her throat. "This is Claudia, my daughter," she said gesturing to her daughter, "and my son, Hagi."

Hagi noticed the man was shorter than himself by about 6 inches but Hagi could sense the man was stronger than he looked. Hagi did not care for the way the man was circling him and trying to intimidate him. His eyes narrowed as the man spoke.

"Marva," he commented, "this city boy can't walk around the ranch dressed like this. He'll get that suit dirty and a rattler would bite right through those shoes."

"Jim," she scolded, "leave Hagi alone, he's been through a lot and so have Claudia and I."

Hagi didn't respond. This man was no threat to him and it would only cause trouble if he gave in to this game of who can beat who. Besides, the man's anger was misplaced, Hagi was not his enemy. Hagi sensed the man was resentful for Marva's choice to leave her parents.

"Alright, alright, Marva," Jim said as he began walking toward the baggage claim.

Marva whispered to Hagi, "Go easy on him. He has a tough job, being the boss at the ranch. He wants to put you in line so he can keep the other hands in line as well."

Hagi nodded.

They carried their baggage to an old, beat up, minivan. "I borrowed this from the new hand we hired," Jim explained as he kicked the driver's side tire. "He has a new wife and I'm sure they will start a family soon. He's a tough kid with a lot of experience with horses and cows, as well as hunting and fishing. Problem is that he's a bit too sure of himself and cocky as the damn devil."

"Which place does he stay in?" Marva asked.

Jim spit on the ground and then answered, "We got him in the first cabin. We figured he'd need the room, being the only married hand."

"What's his name?"

"Clay Simms," Jim answered as he watched Hagi close the back of the van and lead Claudia to the back seat. After Hagi settled in and shut the door, Jim turned to Marva so he couldn't see what was said- like that would stop him from hearing the conversation. Hagi smiled inwardly as he waited for the conversation to commence. "Marva, I know you came back here to start over. To tell you the truth, I'm still pissed off that you never tried to contact your momma and daddy."

Marva looked down in shame. She knew she had left so many loose ends, but she had told them she was in love with Jeffrey and nothing was going to stop her from marrying him. Her mom and dad were furious and refused to allow her to marry him, even when he came over to convince them. It was a volatile ending, but she could have at least contacted them over the years a bit more than just the occasional letter and family photo. They had been informed of Hagi helping them out, but they passed before she formally adopted him. Even though he'd been a part of the past few family photos.

"Yeah you went off with that…" Jim began. He knew it was wrong of him, but he was still angry at Marva for running off instead of staying.

"Jim," Marva interrupted her eyes ablaze, "you know I've already explained- I don't wanna hear a word. Especially not THAT word!" Her gaze met his, anger evident in her eyes. Her submissive stance was gone and replaced by a overpowering strength that only an alpha female could pull off.

Hagi saw Marva's stance go from a submissive, defeated woman to a sudden fiery, strong alpha female. He watched as she backed the boss down with a single gaze. Hagi began to understand that Marva wasn't exaggerating when she said that ranch living wasn't easy. He wondered how he would fare with the rest of the hands.

After they had driven north out of Dallas, Marva and Jim finally decided to talk again, although it was strictly business. They talked about numbers of cattle and prices cattle was bringing. Hagi's gaze went to the window as landscapes whizzed by. The twisting concrete of the city was being replaced by rugged cliffs and wide open fields. Sprinkler systems lined the fields and sprayed water on the thirsty crops. Soon the landscape became more rugged and the grasses were taller. He followed the conversation in silence as Claudia leaned against him.

"So, are Ray and Bubba still around?" she asked. "When I left, they had just been hired."

"Yeah," Jim chuckled, "Bubba has gotten really good with the horses and likes to help with the beef sale. Ray still leads the hunting expeditions for the guests." He chuckled before he added, "He's got the new guy scratchin' his head with all those old sayings he spouts."

"I remember how he used to do that to me," Marva smiled. It was so long ago that she would go to the man for advice and leave with a saying in her head that left her confused for days, but when she actually understood the saying, it had been so long that she no longer needed to know what meant. She shook off the memory. "Any problems I should know about?"

Jim sighed as he took a bit of tobacco from a round tin and stuck it in his cheek. "We got a hand, about ten years ago, goes by the name Dan. He didn't give a last name, but your daddy hired him anyhow. He helps Grady with the food most times, but he's really more of a farmer than a ranch hand. Grady's getting old- he was already old 20 years ago, but he loves to cook for the ranch. He'll probably be die before he'll leave."

Marva chuckled at the memory of the plump old man that had a grin a mile wide. He loved company and he loved the ranch. It was hard to imagine life on the ranch without Grady.

He turned down a two lane highway that wound up and down through rolling hills and beautiful, lonely scenery. There were few houses but lots of land. There were some trees, but what fascinated Hagi was the very tall grasses. Marva was right- they were as tall as a full grown man!

"We lost 20 head last year to the drought. Not as bad as we thought it would be. Also, Bubba talked your daddy into buying some new horses."

Marva's brows furrowed as she looked at Jim, "How is that news? It's a ranch- you buy horses."

"Yeah, but you know Bubba," he explained. "He's so proud of himself that he got those horses so submissive."

Marva nodded to him.

Jim slowed the minivan and turned onto a narrow dirt road. They headed down this road for nearly a mile when the road forked. Marva explained where the roads went. They went up the right fork. Hagi noticed how more roads forked off to the left or right. There were signs pointing out where the roads would take you. After a time, the road finally double backed on itself in front of a large, sprawling log cabin.

"We're here!" Marva shouted as Claudia and Hagi looked at the house that was to become their new home.

It had been a month and the family had settled into the routine of ranch life. Hagi spent the days walking the ranch. Marva had talked him into wearing something less formal. She was so worried that she actually got him some jeans, steel- toed boots and a cowboy hat- all black. When Jim saw Hagi in his new clothes, he roared with laughter, "Marva, I don't care how you dress your pretty boy, he'll never fit in here."

Teasing was nothing new to Hagi, besides, he knew that these men could easily be put in their place- if he had to go that far. His patience was wearing thin. The hired hands all chuckled whenever they saw him. He looked like a city boy dressed in a costume, but Grady would fuss while shaking a wooden spoon in their faces, "Alright, you bunch of gossiping nanny goats, get back to work. If you bunch of bums give the boy a chance, you might find he's useful."

Grady was a sweet man that was appreciative of any company that came to the kitchens. He was quite plump and very little hair, but what hair he had was white as snow. Oh, but he had the biggest smile you'd ever seen. When he was happy, everyone around him couldn't help but be happy, but when he was angry (which was rare), you better run for cover.

His comment gave Jim an idea. He was standing by the door to the kitchen when he overheard the comment. It gave him an idea.

Hagi began to leave on one of his walks, there was a slightly cooler breeze in the air today. Fall was coming and it was a welcome change. He found Texas was mercilessly hot. There were some days that he would stay inside rather than walk, just to stay away from the heat. He was having trouble adjusting to the new life. The horses were spooked by him, he didn't like dealing with the cattle, so he opted to just stay out of the way. Some help he was, just hanging around and doing nothing.

He'd seen the huge cattle that the ranch raised to sell to the beef market. They were over the other side of the hill just north of the house. They were always there in the morning because of the small creek that ran through that valley.

Marva told him that the ranch wasn't really big compared with many of the neighboring ranches, but Hagi was impressed. It seemed that the land went on forever. He'd walked it from end to end and found that he'd never known anyone to own this much land.

Claudia went with him occasionally, but today he decided to go alone.

"Hey," a voice called from the drive, "wait up!"

Hagi turned to see Clay running to catch up. He was a tall slender man with brown hair and pale blue eyes. He had a friendly smile for friends, but he didn't smile at Hagi, Claudia, or even Marva.

Clay caught up to Hagi and caught his breath, "Boss says I gotta teach you to hunt today."

"Why?" Hagi asked. He scrutinized the young man and wondered, What could this human possibly teach him about hunting?

Clay scowled at him, "To find out if you really are useful." With that he began walking toward the jeep that was parked by the ranch house. "You got a gun?"

"No," Hagi answered.

"That's okay, you won't need one for your first lesson."

They carefully and quietly pushed through the thick brush to a trail that ran near to the road that went to the house where Clay and his wife stayed. Clay was whispering instructions on how to track animals when Hagi noticed some tracks of a rather large bird going off to the left of where they were headed. Hagi silently followed the tracks of the bird until he came upon a large tom turkey. He silently reached to side of his left boot and moved in one fluid motion.

Clay turned back to see if the pretty boy was listening when he noticed the boy was gone. "Awe, damn!" he cursed, "the damn pretty boy is lost." He spit as he pressed his way back through the brush to find "the pretty boy" leaning against the jeep, wiping something Clay couldn't see with a cloth. There were a couple of big turkeys laying across the hood of the jeep. He couldn't believe his eyes.

"What took you so long?" Hagi asked without looking up. He held back the urge to allow a smirk to cross his lips as he saw the man's reaction out of the corner of his eyes.

"Well, I'll be damned," he muttered as he removed his hat to scratch his head. "How did you kill 'em, you don't have a gun?"

Hagi barely moved, but Clay heard something whiz by his right ear and land with a thunk in the tree behind him. He turned to see a very fancy jeweled dagger with embedded in the tree. Hagi calmly walked past him to retrieve the dagger. As he returned he gave Clay a steely gaze and asked, "Is there anything more you would like to teach me?" He left Clay stunned.

It took a moment for Clay to gather his thoughts and he finally moved to the van to check out the two large turkeys that were killed with one strategically aimed dagger each. An amazing marksman, but not too many hunters would be able to learn such a skill in one week. The man wondered at the thought of where the quiet man had learned the skill.

"What the hell are they teaching y'all in Paris?" he asked as he jumped into the jeep next to Hagi.