Chapter 8
Rock Creek, Nebraska
May 1872
She was still lost in a daydream when she opened the door to her small hotel room. Still thinking about his golden-brown eyes and enigmatic smile. Her hand still tingled from his touch.
As she entered the room, the sight of Joaquin seated in the darkened corner jolted her from her reverie. Her heart raced with a mixture of excitement and uneasiness as the abruptness of his arrival pricked her with concern. With a sense of urgency, she rushed to embrace him.
"Joaquin! What are you doing here? Are you crazy?" She exclaimed, her voice trembling with emotion.
Joaquin's gaze met hers, his expression grave with the weight of the news he bore. "I saw your father just outside Rock Creek a few days ago," he revealed, his tone tinged with apprehension.
"My father?" Her eyes widened with alarm. "Are you sure?"
"He looks older, but it was him," Joaquin confirmed, his voice steady despite the gravity of the situation.
Lara's thoughts raced, her fears colliding with the uncertainty of the unknown. "And my brother?" she inquired; her voice fraught with desperation.
"It doesn't seem as though he found him." Joaquin replied.
A flicker of hope danced in Lara's eyes as she pressed for answers. "Have you head anything?" she implored, her voice trembling with anticipation.
Joaquin shook his head, his expression solemn. "No," he admitted, his words heavy with regret. "But I met a man who lived with one of the local tribes for a while. He told me he may know your brother."
"What did he say?" she pressed, her voice barely above a whisper.
"He said a few years ago, there was a man from the village. He helped a boy. He said he thinks that boy is your brother. If he is, David is living with a tribe between here and Kansas," Joaquin revealed.
"On a reservation?" she questioned; her brow furrowed with concern.
"I don't believe so." Joaquin shook his head, his expression grave with determination.
"We have to find him before my father does," Lara declared.
"Let's go," Joaquin's gaze met hers, his determination mirroring her own.
"Joaquin, the Marshal is watching every move I make, it's not safe here," Lara hesitated, her gaze flickering to the window where the shadows of shadows that lingered just beyond her sight in the darkness.
"That is why we should go now," Joaquin insisted as he started tossing her clothes in her bag.
"They will follow me." She promised. Stopping his manic packing as she held his hands still. "I'll meet you in one week,"
"Be safe," he pledged.
"You too Joaquin,"
"One week," He affirmed, slipping out the window silently.
Alone once more, Lara sank into the chair, her thoughts consumed by the weight of their lives together. For over four years, she had searched for her brother, each lead just brought them to another clue.
Opening the locket around her neck, she traced the contours of the picture within, her fingers lingering over the image of her beloved brother. He was just an infant when the picture had been taken, his youthful innocence captured forever.
As she gazed upon his smiling face, Lara's heart swelled with a mixture of longing and determination. He would be a man now. As she watched the stars begin to appear in the sky, she knew that, no matter the challenges that lay ahead, she would never stop searching for the brother she had lost but never forgotten.