Rika Bennet was tired. After days of travel and adventure, she needed a rest.
Luckily for her, Nightingale had no issues with long rides across the prairie.
Luckier still, she was close enough to the only place besides Shinbone that she'd want to hang her hat.
Wildflower.
Wildflower was her hometown. It wasn't the most impressive place in the world.
It was comparatively small, lacking the hustle and bustle of Spokes and its crossroad traffic and the business it brought.
It was mostly farming and some livestock, folks just trying to make a living homesteading.
They had some essentials, a general store, saloon, blacksmith, things like that.
Young Rika spent most of her days wandering the surrounding area, spending time helping her mother or small adventures with her grandpa Clayton.
And after she met Rondo the two were pretty much inseparable. The people living there were friendly enough, she supposed.
All in all it was fairly unremarkable. But that suited everyone just fine.
It was maybe an hour or so before sundown when she rode into town.
Folks who recognized her greeted her as she passed them by, exchanging bits of small talk before she continued on.
She made her way to the edge of town, eventually coming to the humble sod home where she was born and raised.
Not too far behind it was her grandpa's old shack, and next to that, his lonely grave marker.
She'd have to stop by before she headed out again.
In front of the home was a parked wagon. There, crouching next to one of its wheels, was who she came to see.
Her mother, River Belle. River moved supplies and the like between Wildflower and other towns, but mainly Spokes.
She liked it, thought it good ol’ honest work. Rika climbed down from Nightingale as River stood up with a slight grunt.
She turned and, noticing Rika, a wide grin spread across her face.
“Is that my little girl?” River said, walking over and throwing her arms around her daughter in a big hug.
Rika, her arms pinned by the hug, rested her head on her mother's shoulder.
“Hey ma.” She replied with a small smile
Rika resembled her mother a great deal, and when they were together like this it was all the more apparent.
Though River insisted that her daughter had her father's eyes and, whether Rika would admit it or not, a good chunk of his disposition.
Rika’s shadow darkened and Rondo quickly crawled out, his tail wagging happily. River looked down, still smiling, and released her daughter.
“Ah! And my favorite boy too!” River said as she knelt down to pet him on his head and sides
“It is good to see you, Miss River.” He said
“Oh now I told ya that you don't have to call me “Miss”, didn't I? You're family after all.”
“Family. Yes, of course. I will remember.”
River stood back up and put her hands on her hips.
“Well you picked a heck of a time to come by, though. Just got done gettin’ the wagon ready for a run to Spokes tomorrow.”
“Oh.” Rika said, rubbing the back of her back “Sorry ma…”
“Oh don't you be sorry. I'd invite ya but something tells me you've had a bit of a ride yourself lately.”
“Yeah, somethin’ like that…”
“Well, let's get inside and you can let me know all about it.”
The three made their way to their little home and headed inside. It was simple, certainly not luxurious but home just the same.
Rika plopped down into a cushioned seat near the wood stove, with Rondo spreading out on the floor near her feet.
She looked around for a moment before her eyes stopped at the white Marshal's hat hanging by the door.
“He isn't here, if that's what you're wondering.” River said, sitting in a seat next to her daughter with a bottle in her hand,
“And even if he was, you know your pa hasn't worn it in years anyway so it's always there.” She continued before taking a sip
“Yeah, not since…” Rika started before trailing off
“Hey now, none of the sad stuff, ya hear? I haven't seen ya in weeks or months.”
“Whats in the bottle?”
“Beer! They got in bottles now out east I guess. Someone brought some to Spokes from Stonegate.”
“What's wrong with going to the saloon?”
“Nothin’, but sometimes I want a drink at home instead of beatin’ some rowdy fellas in arm wrestlin’ or knockin’ out a drunk.” River said, taking another sip,
“And when they're empty I can bring ‘em back and they'll give me a little money. It's neat.”
“Maybe, I guess.”
“It is impressive what humans can come up with.” Rondo chimed in
“You think that's something? I heard back east, you can buy a whole house from a catalog.” said River
“How do you buy a house from a catalog?” asked Rika
“They send ya all the pieces and ya put it together, I guess.”
“How would you even get it out here?”
“Dunno, but I could! Just cause I don't need it don't mean it ain't neat to think about.”
“I suppose that's true” Rika said with a slight shrug
“Kinda like travellin’. I don't have to, but I don't think I'd mind a little bit of it.”
“Where would you go?” Rondo asked, tilting his head slightly
“Not sure,” River said, thinking to herself “I think I'd like to go up north. See some of those mountains and trees and the like. Or maybe one of them big lakes they have.”
“You could still do that.” Rika said
“I could but…” she started before sighing and staring at the Marshal’s hat hanging by the door
“I'd want yer pa with me. But he's got his responsibilities, and I got my own here. I'd be gone for a while, I don't think either of us would feel right.”
“Bein’ gone never seemed like a big problem to him before…” Rika muttered
“Now you know that ain't true and it ain't so cut and dry. Your pa…” she trailed off for a moment,
“he's got some things he's still gotta work out. But he's stubborn. Just like his pa, and me, and you.”
“Things seemed alright until Grandpa…”
“I know. Believe me I know.”
They were silent for a few moments.
“Ma?” Rika asked
“Yeah?” River replied
“Where'd pa go the night grandpa died?”
River looked down, gently swirling the beer in her hand.
“I'm sorry, but it ain't my place to say. I know it ain't what you wanna hear but…it's gotta come from him. And I know it'll happen, someday.”
Rika looked away and slumped down in the chair. Rondo’s ears lowered as he looked from one to the other.
They were silent again, for a brief time, before River spoke up again.
“Well, shoot. Why don't you tell me how you've been? Tell me some stories like yer grandpa used to tell us."
Rika looked back over at her before giving a small smile.
“Yeah, alright”
She told her mother about what she’d been up to out west. She told her about things like the red gold and the phantom train.
To keep the mood, she omitted tales where she came close to death. No mad swordsmen or plant beasts. Those could be for another time.
River sighed
“Yeah, you sound like ol’ Clayton alright. He always had a yarn to spin. You said Hawk’s callin’ the Marshal’s for that, what, flower cult?”
“That's what he said,” Rika replied “he ran off to the field office right after we reached Spokes. We split up not long after.”
“Well then,” River said before taking another sip of her drink, “maybe your pa will come by sooner rather than later”
“Maybe…” Rika mumbled as her eyes slid closed.
She hadn't realized how tired she was until then.
River just smiled before fetching a blanket and placing it over her daughter.
She knelt down next to Rondo and gently stroked his head.
“Thanks for keeping an eye on my little girl, brave boy.”
“Always.” Rondo said softly
As she stood back up, she heard a faint rumble of thunder in the distance.
She looked out the window and saw dark clouds rolling in from the distance, with occasional flashes of lightning within.
“Well,” she thought, “the Spokes run could wait one more day.”
Another day passed. The storm rolled through without trouble, and gave the two more time together.
They didn't revisit any touchy subjects. They reminisced, chatted, and sometimes just enjoyed the sounds of the storm.
And the day after was bright and clear.
Rika stood in front of the grave marker of Clayton Bennet. A small group of wildflowers had begun to grow around it.
She took off her hat, the hat that he himself once wore, wringing it lightly. She wasn't good with this kind of thing.
She missed him, but saying it out loud didn't really change that, at least that's what she figured.
She reached to her side and pet Rondo, who sat next to her attentively. He leaned to the side, resting lightly on her leg.
She sniffed a little before wiping her eye with her other arm. She felt River wrap her arm around her shoulder and give her a squeeze.
“He'd be proud of ya, but then he always was.” River told her, *I'm pretty sure you had a big impact on him.”
Rika sniffed again and nodded
“You gonna be okay on the road alone?” River asked
“I'll be okay.” Rika answered, before looking down at Rondo, “I won't be alone, anyway.”
“Didn't know if it'd be easier to ride back with that friend of yours. What's his name? The handsome one.”
Rika couldn't help but release a scoff.
“Remmy? Ew, ma!”
“Well he is, ain't he? I’d ride with him.” River laughed as she started to walk to her wagon with the pair following behind
“Y’all are married!”
“I don't remember a ceremony or signin’ no papers.”
Rika buried her face in her hands with a groan before looking up to see her mother smiling warmly from the seat of her wagon.
“You stay safe out there. And don't wait so long before you visit again, ya hear? Cause I love ya both too much to go on without ya for so long.” River said
“I won't. I love ya too, ma.” Rika replied with Rondo nodding
“Alright boys, let's ride.”
River flicked the reins and the horses started off on their journey to Spokes.
Rika watched them go for a few minutes before putting her hat back on and looked at Rondo.
“Let's go, partner.”
Rondo slipped back into her shadow and she began to walk out of town.
A few moments later, she heard Nightingale’s familiar whinny behind her and smiled.
She turned, mounted up, and began her ride back west.