Reflections
And so we lay here to rest.
And so we lay here with the ground beneath our heads.
Not a word among has been said.
My little child~*~
Now the dogs are barking tonight.
Now the men will bargain as they sell beneath the light
Everything is colder here at night.
My little child~*~
I've never been so worn and weary
I've never missed my love so dearly
My little child~*~
And I cannot forget the things I saw
And I cannot forget the way they gathered in the hall
And standing all alone before them all
My little child~*~
Somewhere there is laughter tonight
Somewhere there is singing in a choir in the night.
But it's quiet in Jerusalem tonight.
It's quiet in Jerusalem tonight.
It's quiet in Jerusalem tonight.- My Little Child - Peter Breinholt
The camp fire began to die out much to the relief of the tracker as he gazed toward the stars. Lying on his back he felt as if he could easily be swallowed up by the darkness above him. Wishing he would be.
Never had he wanted a job to end as quickly, yet take forever. He shifted to lay his hands behind his head, listening as wolves howled somewhere in the distance.
Wolves mate for life.
Somewhere, out where they left the wagon train, there would be celebrating. Dancing and singing. Men standing by the campfires telling the tale of the trek from Four Corners to their new home. Men with their wives staking out ground for their new homes.
What the hell would I know, he scoffed as he glanced over at the five other sleeping bodies around him before turning his attention back to the stars. Try as he might, he couldn't see the point in settling down. Not here, not in any damn foreign country either.
The tracker shifted his body, watching a shooting star, forgoing the traditional wish.
It was one thing to run from your troubles, another to bring someone with you. Chris had tried to warn him, but Vin's stubbornness fought back just as hard and for no more reason than to prove him wrong. In the end he was left standing alone. He could see that now as he lay beneath the blanket heaven provided him. The only satisfaction he had was in knowing he put an end to the relationship before he allowed himself to be taken down a path he knew would have trouble tracking.
She wasn't a wolf. She was cougar.
He remembered not long ago, watching the movements of a female cougar. The cat took her own sweet time, like it was the only one in the world. Her and that deer she had sought out for her target. Each footstep was well thought out as the mountain cat came down from the rocks. She knew what she wanted and went after it with a surety Vin had never seen in such an animal. He soon learned cougars had little shame in taking on the easiest prey. If it was within reach, they went after it.
And I was there, he scolded himself as he recounted the scene he witnessed back at the camp. Never before had his emotions been ridden so hard, so unevenly. Now, as he lay upon the ground, worn, weary, a strange sense of peace came up from the earth beneath him.
He could always depend on the soil of mother earth to be there. She was there to soften his blow when he fell. There to kick at when angry. She caught his tears and his blood when spilt for no reason other than hatred or fear. He could lay his head in her lap at night. In the end, she would cradle his body when he closed his eyes for the last time.
Removing a hand from the back of his head, Vin positioned his hat to cover his eyes. Off in the distance the sound of wolves howling melded with Buck's snoring. Hell, I couldn't be alone even if I wanted to. The contented grin was still there hours later when Chris went to wake him for his watch.
"Now and then in a peaceful grove, apart from the gaze of men, heaven and earth share a moment of intimacy, and neither are ever thereafter the same."
The End