Normal for people who weren’t me. There was no time for such farfetched fantasies. I needed to keep on track.

Yesterday’s shirt served to dry my damp skin. One last set of clean clothes had been saved for the day we headed to town. I was no hobo. My parents taught me to take pride in my appearance.

I combed out my hair then slipped into tan corduroys, a white long sleeved button down and saddle brown vest. My boots had seen better days. New ones topped my list of things to get at the next stop. Boots were a cowgirl’s best friend, well, besides her horse. I tucked my pant legs into my boots to protect them from the brush. The final touch was my favorite; my perfectly worn brown Stetson. The old hat kept me safe, providing shelter from the elements and from the eyes of strangers.

Dressed and ready to ride, I proceeded on to the daily ritual of checking my side arms. Each bullet of my Colt single action would be painstakingly removed and replaced, spinning the chamber to make sure everything operated like clockwork. Like every morning since the day I’d gotten the revolver, I wiped down the steel and polished the pearl handle before placing them back in the holster. The key to precision wasn’t just practice, but maintaining the perfect working order of one’s tool. That’s what Henry had taught me.

I packed up my gear, grabbed my Winchester rifle and saddled Clover. Today we would continue to the north-west to meet an old friend. Last we parted, Jessie and I made a pact to get together in a little town in Montana called Red Lodge around the third day of August. If things went well, we’d arrive tonight. Our stop couldn’t come at a better time. Clover and I both needed a break and I was pretty sure she wanted to get rid of me for a day or so anyway.

”Ain’t that right girl? You need your own space once in a while, huh?”

She threw her head up and whinnied, making me smile. I imagined her mumbling something about owing her a decent meal and a straw bed, maybe even a gelding to flirt with for all her sleepless nights. She could be such a prima donna sometimes.