Hello, all! I'm back with the fifth chapter! It took me a little longer than I would have liked to get this out, since I'm a lot busier with work right now, but better late than never, right? Just a quick heads up that this chapter contains some pretty nasty displays of racism, because this was the 19th century and people were racist af (not that people aren't still racist af today, but still), so if that's something you really don't want t read then feel free to skip those parts. Anyway, on with the chapter!


As Penny carried out her usual duties, she did her best to not make it obvious that she was staring at the captive Lakota. It had been several hours since he'd been apprehended, tied to a wooden post under the scorching midday sun. He sat bound right in front of the corral, which stood in direct view of the stables, making him basically impossible to ignore. Not that she hadn't tried, in her defense, but whenever her curiosity became too much to bear, she found she couldn't help but spare a quick glance over to him.

For his part, the young man seemed to be spending most of his time observing his surroundings, his dark eyes carefully scanning every inch of the fort as if to commit it to memory. Perhaps planning his own escape, she wondered? 'Good luck with that,' she thought, impressed by his initiative but doubtful of his chances, 'Let's hope it doesn't take you eleven tries, too.'

Deciding to take another peek at him, a smile crept onto her face as she saw that the young native man had taken an interest in the stallion tied only a few feet away from him. She completely understood; that mustang had a wild, fiery presence that never failed to capture the attention of everyone around him.

He clicked his tongue at the animal in order to gets his attention. He succeeded, only for the horse to burr at him derisively. The young man, undeterred, proceeded to burr right back at him, mimicking the sound of a horse surprisingly well. Still, the mustang was not swayed, turning his whole body in the opposite direction to that his backside was practically in the young man's face. Instead of being put off, he laughed good-naturedly at the horse's attempt to snub him.

Penny couldn't hold it in, letting out a giggle of her own at the humourous exchange. The sound of her voice was loud enough him to refocus his attention onto her, turning head away from the mustang to face her. Her face flushed slightly, embarrassed to have been caught watching him, but the corners of his mouth turned upward, sending her a small but friendly grin.

This gave her pause, as she tried to remember the last time anyone had smiled at her like that. She found that she couldn't; at least not in that moment.

She began to wonder if she should try to say anything to him, having no idea if he spoke even a word of english, until she noticed two uniform clad figures casually stroll over to corral. Her face fell as she recognized the two men as corporals Buchanan and Fletcher, both of them wearing nasty sneers and eyeing the young man like a couple of cruel children about to torture an insect. The Lakota man noticed the sudden change in her demeanour and looked over his shoulder, his own expression souring the second he saw the two soldiers coming his way.

"Well now, looky here!" Buchanan jeered as he and Fletcher stopped directly in front of the young man, who scowled up at the two of them, defiantly meeting their gaze. "Seems like our guest's noticed our little Penelope."

Penny's face curled in disgust at his words, having heard it far too many times. For god's sake, she wasn't their little anything, openly talking about her like she was their property. Then again, she knew for a fact that there were those, even men at this very fort, that still considered people like her to be little more than chattel, despite what the 13th Amendment said. Laws changed overnight, but people's attitudes sure as hell didn't.

"Hey, you'd best watch yourself, now," Fletcher said, "Don't you go looking at that girl. She's off limits, so says the Colonel." He sounded almost disappointed as he finished his sentence with a small frown, making Penny tighten her grip on the broom she was holding to stop her hands from shaking. With every interaction from these men came another reason why she so badly needed to leave this place.

Buchanan crouched down to look the young man in the eye, his malicious sneer putting his brown, horribly stained teeth on full display. "Ah, go easy on him, Fletch. Boy doesn't understand a word you're saying, do ya?" The young Lakota man just continued to glare at the soldiers, letting them know that even if he didn't speak english, based on their body language and mocking tone of voice, he could definitely tell that he was being insulted.

"You sure he's a boy?" Fletcher continued, taking hold of one of the young man's ponytails, "Only ever seen hair this long on a woman." The Lakota tried to wrangle his hair free of the soldier's grasp by wrenching it in the opposite direction, which unfortunately only served to make the two men angry.

"Hey, you listen to us when we talk to you, you worthless fucking redskin!" Buchanan growled, punctuated by Fletcher yanking hard on the young man's hair, drawing out a loud groan of pain, to which the soldiers proceeded to laugh themselves silly.

That is, until they were both pelted in the side of the head by something soft, brown, and absolutely foul-smelling. The two men sputtered and gagged in disgust as they tried to wipe what they realized to be horse dung out of their hair, all the while the captive Lakota looked on at the sudden turn of events in front of him in bewilderment. After taking a moment to orient themselves, Buchanan and Fletcher turned in the direction the flying horse shit had come from, angrily narrowing their eyes upon seeing Penny sweeping the stables and whistling an innocent tune, an innocuous, brown-stained glove laying on the ground by her feet.

Forgetting all about the young native man in their rage, the soldiers stomped over to the stables, armed with deep scowls and fire in their eyes. Penny, for her part, didn't look the slightest bit worried or frightened as the men approached looking like they wanted to tear her apart.

"Corporals, what can I do for you?" she greeted them with an unusually friendly tone, grinning from ear to ear.

"You think you're funny?" Buchanan growled, "Assaulting two military officers? You want to be swinging from the gallows by tomorrow?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she answered with a shrug, "I've just been here sweeping. Who knows, maybe it was one of the horses?" At least three of the stallions in their pens whinnied, as if laughing at the men.

"You little-"

"And besides," she interrupted, placing her hand on her hip, "If anyone's going to be swinging from some gallows, it would be you two. Aren't you both supposed to be on patrol right now? Tsk, tsk, tsk." Buchanan's enraged snarl remained, but behind him, Fletcher paled slightly. "Shirking your duties, just to waste your time bothering a captive Indian? Pretty shoddy behaviour from two esteemed officers of the United States Army, I'd say. Oh look, there's Sergeant Adams right now!" Fletcher nervously looked over his shoulder to where she was looking, and indeed saw Sergeant Adams talking to another officer. Buchanan, however, didn't seem to care.

"You dirty damn mulatto, learn your fucking place!" He raised his fist above his head, ready to bring it down on the young woman. Thankfully it never reached her, as Fletcher was quick to grab his fellow officer's arm midair.

"Jesus Christ, John! The Sergeant's right there! The Colonel's gonna have your ass!"

While still fuming, Buchanan seemed to calm down ever so slightly at his friend's warning, lowering his fist to his side. He still glared daggers at Penny, though, looking at her like a bug to be squashed under his boot.

"Fine," he spat, wrestling his arm from Fletcher's grasp, "She's not worth it. Suppose I shouldn't be too upset, anyway. Monkeys love flinging shit, after all." He turned his heel and stomped away, Fletcher giving one last nasty look to Penny before joining him.

With the soldiers gone, Penny let out a ragged breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding in. Well, that had definitely been the stupidest thing she'd done while at the fort. She'd been lucky that no one else had been watching the exchange, or else she probably would have ended up in the stockades for at least the rest of the day. Not in the gallows like Buchanan said, of course, that goddamn lunatic, but still punished nonetheless.

But… she couldn't just stand by and let them torment that poor young man, so what choice did she have, really? Speaking of…

She looked over to the Lakota to see if he was alright, only to see him chuckling heartily at the retreating soldiers. Once they were out of sight, he looked back at her, giving her a wide, beaming smile. Penny, eyes wide and cheeks becoming warm, was unsure of how to respond. Eventually, she settled for a curt nod before quickly turning and walking away, unsure of why she was feeling so flustered all of a sudden.

Maybe she was coming down with something…?


Penny estimated it to be around four in the morning -only one hour from sunrise- as she sat on top of her bedroll, arms clasped around her knees with her satchel full of hay, water, and beef jerky. It was all she could afford to sacrifice from both the stables and her own rations, and she still knew that it wouldn't be enough. It hadn't really been enough last time, and now? With yet another mouth to feed?

She messaged her temple. How long did she expect to be able to do this before she got caught? She knew she'd be punished severely, and she didn't even want to think about what Jonah would do to the mustang and the Lakota. She was putting all three of them at risk doing this.

But then what was the alternative? Letting them die of thirst or starvation? What kind of person would she be if she allowed that to happen, when there was something she could have done about it?

"Always try to do the right thing, Honeybee," she heard her mother's voice in the back of her mind, "Even when it's not easy. Often times, that's when it's the most important." She knew that better than anyone. Eliza Gray had sacrificed everything in order to do the right thing. Those had been words she'd lived by until the day she died.

Throwing her satchel over her shoulder and standing up, she silently crept out of her shack, making her way over to the corral just as she had the night before. Thankfully there weren't any damn whiskey bottles to trip over like an idiot, so she was able to reach her destination undetected. She ignored what sounded like the howl of a coyote, and didn't stop to wonder what one would be doing out here in the desert. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw the mustang, the poor thing looking so tired she would have sworn he was asleep, if not for him weakly tugging at the rope that bound him to the post. Cringing at the pitiful sight, she lowered her gaze down at the Lakota to find that he actually was asleep, his head hanging low as he quietly snored.

She sighed, feeling guilty for having to wake him up, but also knowing that he couldn't exactly eat or drink anything in his sleep.

"Hey," she whispered as lowly as possible, hoping to God that he wasn't a heavy sleeper. He wasn't, thankfully, as the sound of her voice roused him from his slumber, opening his eyes and blinking blearily in her direction. His eyes lit up in recognition as the sleep dissipated and he realized who was standing before him.

"Um… hi there," she gave him an awkward little wave before crouching down to his level, "Not sure if you remember me from earlier, but I've, um… here." Since time was very much a factor, she decided to cut right to the chase, pulling out a flask of water and a handful of beef jerky and presenting them to the young man. He hungrily eyed at the food and water being offered to him and practically lunged forward to take it, only to be reminded that he was currently bound in place by rope and, as such, was barely able to move. Which meant that Penny would have to…

Oh.

Okay, then. This was going to be painfully awkward and embarrassing, but it was either this or the Lakota starved, so Penny would just have to suck it up.

She took a seat on the ground next to him and unscrewed the cap off the bottle of water. "Here, you should drink first. Never a good idea to eat jerky with a dry mouth." She held the canteen close to his lips, and he wasted no time, eagerly taking several long, deep gulps of wonderful, lifesaving water, only stopping when he needed to breathe. In a flash, most of the water was gone, and she put the bottle away in order to break off a piece of jerky for him. He accepted the dried meat gratefully.

"Sorry about waking you up. I would have gotten here sooner, but I kind of fell asleep sooner than I planned. I swear, it's a miracle I get any sleep around here." She said, breaking off another piece of meat for him after he swallowed the first. "This is all I can really give you right now. It's from my rations, and I have to eat too, you know? Again, sorry."

After he devoured the jerky in his mouth with gusto, moaning in satisfaction at filling his stomach, Penny heard a smooth, deep voice say,

"Thank you."

"Oh, you're welcome." She replied absentmindedly, a few moments passing before she actually registered what she'd heard. She stared at him wide eyed and shocked to her core.

"Hold on," she sputtered, "Can you speak english?"

"I can," the Lakota responded with a raised eyebrow, "Do you think that's strange?"

"N-No, of course not!" she was quick to refute, "It's just – why didn't you say anything earlier? When Buchanan and Fletcher were giving you trouble?"

"I didn't see any reason to." He shrugged, "Would they have listened if I did?" This gave Penny pause, and after pondering his words for a second, she conceded that no, they definitely wouldn't have.

"Okay, point taken." She broke off another piece of jerky for him to take, which he did, thanking her again. After he swallowed, he look back at her with a curious glint in his dark eyes.

"Can I ask what your name is?"

"Oh, sure. I'm Penelope Gray, but I'd rather you just call me Penny." She introduced herself with a small nod of her head. He smiled, and nodded back.

"I'm called Little Creek – that's my name in your language, at least."

"Little Creek…" She let the name roll off her tongue. She'd heard that the native people's naming traditions were considered… unconventional, but she found herself intrigued rather than put off. So far, that seemed to be how she felt about Little Creek in general.

"Well then, it's good to meet you, Little Creek." She smiled.

"You too, and thank you again."

Penny chuckled. "You don't have to keep thanking me, you know. All I'm giving you is some dried meat and water."

"It's not just that," he said, "Before, with those soldiers. Not many people would do what you did. Not for someone like me. Thank you for that."

"Listen, that was just as much for me as it was for you." She snorted, "I don't really like anyone here, but those two are by far the worst. Trust me, they had it coming."

She gave him another piece of jerky, along with another swig of water from the canteen to wash it down. After he chewed and swallowed, he spoked again. "Listen, I hope you don't mind me asking…"

"Asking me what?"

Little Creek pursed his lips and looked away, as if debating with himself whether he really wanted to broach the subject. Evidently, his curiosity won out.

"It's just that… I've noticed that there isn't anybody else like you here. So… I was just wondering…?"

"What a coloured girl is doing at a military fort with a bunch of white men?" she finished his question. The Lakota stammered a little, taken aback by how nonchalant she was at being asked something so potentially invasive. "It's okay," she tried reassuring him, "It's pretty obvious I'm the odd one out here. To answer your question, I've been here for a little over six months. Granted, I've tried to escape a bunch of times, and that hasn't really worked out so far… but hey, setbacks." She gave a dry laugh, trying to play off her situation as humourously as possible. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't fooling Little Creek.

"So then… you're here against your will. Does that mean you were taken captive too?" he asked tentatively. Penny opened her mouth to answer, but the words died in her throat. Christ, wasn't that a loaded question? At present, she had no idea how to respond to that. Yes, but also no? She was taken captive, but not by the military? She was here against her will, but she wasn't bound by rope?

She gave a ragged sight. "… It's complicated…" was what she settled on, hoping that the tone of her voice would get across the fact that she didn't wish to discuss it further. He did, thankfully, still looking curious but not pressing the issue. The sudden sound of a horse's burr startled the pair, both of them turning to look over their shoulders to see the rope-bound stallion glaring at them from behind.

"Okay, then. So what's his story?" Little Creek chuckled.

"This spitfire?" Penny began preparing the mustang's food and water as she explained, "Some wranglers caught him two nights ago out in the wild and sold him to the fort. He's been giving everyone here one hell of a headache, though. The stablemaster almost died trying to groom him, and he's thrown off literally every man that's tried to ride him. You should have seen it, it was glorious." Penny smiled at the memory of the fort's collective failure to tame the mustang. She would honestly pay good money to see Jonah himself be flung the stallion's back, if he ever deigned it necessary to attempt to break the horse himself. Another part of her hoped it wouldn't come to that.

The Lakota looked at the animal in awe. "A real fighting spirit." He breathed.

"Amen to that." She took the bowl of water away once the mustang finished, careful not to agitate the creature into making any noise. She turned back to Little Creek, her face both somber and sympathetic. "And look, for what it's worth… I'm really sorry you're here. This place is a den of fucking vipers, at least that's how it feels to me. You don't deserve any of this."

The look he gave her in return was simultaneously sad, happy, grateful, and positively bursting with a sincerity that made her heart break a little. "Thank you, Penny. I know I keep saying that, but really, thank you. For that, and everything else you've done for me. I wish you didn't have to be here either, but I'm glad I've at least been able to meet you." Their gazes lingered on each other for small while, what must have only been mere moments but felt like an eternity to Penny, before Little Creek's smile suddenly faltered. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Penny then felt something wet fall down her face. She brought her hand to her cheek, wiping away what she now realized was a lone tear. She quickly rubbed at her eyes in order to banish the unshed tears watering her eyes. God, she had only just met this guy, and here she was crying right in front of him like a child.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me." She insisted, looking back at face him once her eyes were dry. His expression told her that he didn't think she was fine at all, but once again chose not to voice his concern. She looked towards the night sky to avoid his gaze, trying to admire of the faint light of the rising sun bleeding onto the edges of the horizon. Yes, the sun would rise soon…

Wait…

"Shit!" she hissed as realization dawned on her. Damn it, how long had they been talking? She had been sure she'd had at least another hour before the men woke up, and yet here she was, possibly only mere moments before Sergeant Adams sounded the bugle call.

Her sudden cursing startled Little Creek. "What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"It's almost morning; everyone's gonna wake up soon!" She hastily gathered up all her belongings. He nodded.

"You should go, then. I don't want you to get in trouble for my sake." He grinned understandingly. Yet again, his unabashed kindness stopped her right in her tracks. For God's sake, when was the last time someone had smiled, truly smiled at her, without it being a sneer or a mask to hide darker intentions? And all she could do for him in return was give him scraps of food and water?

"Always try to do the right thing, Honeybee, even when it's not easy. Often times, that's when it's the most important."

"I will, Momma…" She muttered, the memory of her mother helping her find her resolve. Knowing she didn't have much time, she reached into her boot and pulled out a small knife, one that she carried on her person at all times. Turning back to Little Creek who looked at her in surprise, she firmly placed the blade in his palm.

"If I had more time, I'd cut the ropes myself, but the horn could call at any second, so I'm afraid you'll have to make do." She whispered close to his ear. The Lakota turned his head over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of his key to escape, grasping the handle so tightly his knuckles began to whiten. Sighing in relief, her conscience clear, she got to her feet and moved to return to her shack before anyone noticed her, but found herself stopped by Little Creek's voice calling out to her.

"Wait!"

She turned back in surprise, the two of them once again locking eyes. The Lakota's expression looked frantic and almost desperate, clearly still having something he needed to tell her.

"What?" she whispered, her voiced laced with anxiety. She needed to leave right now, but he knew that as well, so whatever he needed to say must clearly be important, she reasoned, allowing him the chance to speak.

"What about you?" he asked.

Penny raised an eyebrow. "What about me?"

"How will you get away?"

She gave a hollow chuckle. Wasn't that the question of the century? One she had been trying to figure out for the last six months. No, actually, it was even longer than that.

"I'll figure something out." She dismissed his concerns, but he wasn't done.

"Wait, please," he pleaded, "You've helped me so much already, let me help you. When I leave, come with me."

"Come with you?" she balked, "To where?"

"My village," he offered, his eyes shining with hope, "It's safe, and you'll be away from these soldiers. I'm sure my people would help you, if only to repay your kindness towards me."

For a split second, Penny actually considered taking Little Creek up on his offer, imagining the two of them somehow escaping from the fort and running off to God knows where, his village if what he said was true. It was a tempting idea, one that had kept her fighting spirit alive during her time under Jonah's thumb. But then an old, familiar pain struck down her tentative hope like a bolt of lightning, and was reminded of why she couldn't afford to trust his word, no matter how kind or sincere he was. After all, she had trusted him with her life once, and look what that got her.

"Listen," she began, her voice heavy, "I appreciate the offer, but let me offer you some advice," it pained her to see his face fall, but she needed to say her piece, "… It's never a good idea to trust someone by their word alone, even if you think you know them. You'll only be setting yourself up for pain and heartbreak." She turned her back to him, not wanting to witness the profound disappointment he no doubt showed. She was just doing what needed to be done, she thought, for both him and herself.

"I hope you get home safe, Little Creek." She ended the conversation, briskly walking away. It was only when she was safe back in her shack, hugging her knees to her chest, did she hear the morning bugle call, signaling the beginning of yet another day of backbreaking work, disgusting jeers, and the desperate struggle to hold on to her hope.


And that's chapter 5! Again, I'm sorry it took so long, but I hope it was worth the wait! Thank you for reading, and I'll see you all in chapter 6!