Alpine Lake i got all kinds of crazy in me

She stayed rather slender.

There was nothing to tell of her growing pregnancy besides the yacking she did in the morning.

The space she got away from the mountains settled her, in some way. She began to look less loony, settling into her skin, this new skin that felt like it didn’t belong to her.

She would never know what killed Lonesome Dove in that cave, nor what had taken her place for those weeks, but she was alive, blessedly alive, melding and shaping with every touch of her feet to the outside. Though, she knew, she would be back.

The small gods demanded it. Demanded that she bring forth her children there, in those caves where someone died and someone lived.

She watched as Colt made to move away from them, then she marched off herself, towards the water. Then, veering perpendicular to it, she made for the falls, hoping there was something there to find before she would go herb hunting for the rest of spring.

And, she hoped, come back with the small gods vessel by summer.