Free Savage Impulses by Danielle Dubois

night cursing his luck, but now I
have a new horse, I suppose.”
    In Bristol, horses had been beasts of burden,
but expensive ones. A man's livelihood was wrapped up in his horse,
and the idea that someone would gamble it away stunned her. Then
she thought of her own position in that first poker game and
winced.
    “She's a fine horse,” Jake continued. “Sweet
and gentle. Not the money I needed, but I might keep her for a
while, see how she gets on with Tamu.”
    Jake went on to tell Marigold about the money
that he was trying to raise to help his niece in Boston. She
listened, but a part of her was far away, thinking of her own
sister in Bristol.
    Elspeth must be worried sick, she
thought, turning over to go to sleep. With Jake's warm weight
against her back, she couldn't stop her mind from turning over
thoughts of her sister, who had now gone more than two months
without word. The thought of her sister's fear sent a lance through
her heart, and Marigold knew that she had to do something to fix
this.
    The thought of the new horse in the stable
floated through her mind. Tamu was a brilliant animal, but she was
far from sweet and gentle. If this new horse proved to be more
tractable, she might make it into town and be back before Jake knew
she was gone.
    Her mind full of thoughts and plots, she
drifted off to sleep.
    When she awoke, Jake was gone, but he left
her a paper-wrapped package with her name on it.
    Opening it up, she found a well-made dress of
dark calico with sprigs of berries on it. It looked like the
clothing worn by the townswomen, and she stroked it gently, awed
that he had thought of her. It fit her well, and she gladly
consigned the taffeta skirt to the rag bin.
    After she had eaten a simple breakfast, she
dressed herself in the clothes that he had provided. They were
sturdy and clean, and though they were less showy than the garb she
had discarded, she marveled at how lovely they were. When she tied
up her hair and looked down at herself in the dark dress, she
looked like a respectable homesteader, a woman with a life and a
purpose, and she couldn't help but smile.
    The new mare turned out to be just as sweet
as Jake had promised, and Marigold even managed to saddle her
securely. The ride to town was accomplished swiftly and easily, and
by the time she got there, she was delighted with herself. She
could be back before Jake even realized she was gone, and with the
little bit of money she had filched from the jar where he kept some
cash, she could bring back something delicious for dinner as
well.
    She hitched the horse to the posts in front
of the general store, and it was only when a man stepped aside to
let her come up the steps and another opened the door for her that
she understood the difference.
    Marigold realized that her clothes and her
tidy hair made her a respectable woman in the eyes of the town, and
indeed, everyone seemed to smile when they saw her. A
nicely-dressed little girl dropped a doll, and when Marigold bent
to retrieve it for her, her mother smiled a thank-you.
    Marigold found her way to the store owner, a
kindly older man with a heavy mustache.
    “I... I have a telegraph to send,” she said
shyly. “To Bristol.”
    His eyebrows raised at that.
    “Now that's a fair ways,” he said. “You must
need to talk to someone powerful bad.”
    “My sister,” she explained. “I've been out of
touch, and she must be ill with worry.”
    The man clucked his understanding, and
offered her his chair while he went to send off her missive. It was
brief so it would not be so expensive, but it would set Elspeth's
mind at ease greatly.
    After it was done, she browsed the store. It
was primitive compared to the shops in Bristol, but there was a
simplicity to it that appealed to her soul. People smiled at her,
and one woman complimented her on her dress.
    Marigold realized that she might have found a
home in this country, with its wide open spaces and its easy-going
people. The thought swelled