It wasn’t until later when she was alone in her room that Casey began to feel guilty for all the food she had consumed, and the small amount of alcohol she’d drank swirled uncomfortably in her stomach. She tiptoed down the stairs, and headed out toward the privy, intent on rectifying things. She bypassed the bathroom this time, a small room near the kitchen with buckets of water for washing and a chamber pot for other needs. It was far too late and far too close to the rest of the sleeping house. She had learnt her lesson from last time. The outhouse was out the kitchen door and off to the left, set a little away from the saloon due to the smell.

The moon was full tonight and the air relatively chill. Casey shivered as she wrapped her arms around herself and crossed the moonlit earth toward the small building. Her gaze danced warily around at the dark shapes of the trees and fence posts. Behind her, the remains of the barn loomed large as a reminder of what lay out there in the night. It hadn’t been completely destroyed, far from it in fact. Most of it still stood, only the front had been blown out and now lay collapsed and broken amidst ash and bodies that had yet to be cleared. Casey was thankful that right now, that even under the light of the moon, in the darkness of night, they merely looked like unusual mounds of earth.

She tried to keep her breath steady as she reached for the handle of the privy.

It opened before she could grab it.

Casey gave a quick intake of breath.

Dodge stepped out. “Oh, hello,” she remarked as she looked Casey up and down in mild surprise. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“No, it’s alright. I was already jumpy anyway. I’m just glad it’s you and not...” She trailed off with a nervous glance toward the bushes they’d been attacked from earlier.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. I heard footsteps, and well, imagine being in there when those things attacked.” Dodge indicated toward the privy.

Casey giggled. The lighthearted tone which Dodge used as well as the comfort of having another person nearby, eased her nervousness greatly. Even her stomach felt more settled now. The cool air of outside probably helped too.

Dodge glanced up toward the sky, the moon highlighting the gentle curve of her throat. “It’s a nice night isn’t it?”

Casey nodded, but she didn’t look up. She couldn’t draw her gaze away from Dodge.

Dodge dropped her chin back down, met Casey’s eyes, and she smiled. Then her expression changed and she stepped aside. “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m in you way.”

Casey shook her head swiftly, and swallowed hard. Fear, regret, and confusion seeped back into her thoughts. “N-no, I was just taking a short walk and I heard a sound. I’m fine actually.”

“Oh, well in that case, walk you back to the saloon?”

Casey nodded and breathed a soft sigh. Dodge didn’t question her or challenge her. There was nothing to fear, not from Dodge at least.

They walked back slowly and silently at first. Then Dodge asked, “Can you ride?”

“Ride? A horse?” She glanced at Dodge, still a little nervous but for an entirely different reason.

Dodge’s smile widened, but her eyes were gentle, and her lips were parted slightly in an expression of easiness. “Yeah, I’ve gotta go get the horses tomorrow. I was wondering if you’d like to accompany me?”

Casey hadn’t been on a horse since the undead had risen but the thought of it sent her heart a flutter. She liked riding. “But those things?”

“I can keep you safe.” Dodge said it with such confidence that Casey didn’t doubt it one bit.

She so thoroughly believed it in fact that she didn’t even let the thought of what her mother might say prevent her from eagerly replying, “Yes, I’d like that.”

“Good.” Dodge gave a singular nod and her smile didn’t leave her face until well after she’d said good night to Casey.

The pair of them set out the next morning right after breakfast. Casey told her father, “Dodge and I are going for a ride.”

But he’d been focused on other things, looking at a map of the area and mumbling with some of the other men. He’d barely acknowledged her. “Uh huh, okay,” he’d replied without looking up.

Casey wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly but she considered it permission enough. She’d told Billy too and asked if he’d help with her more urgent chores, like feeding the animals, promising she’d mend some of his torn clothes in return later. Billy had agreed, although he’d looked a little worried at the prospect of them leaving town.

Casey and Dodge took borrowed horses. Some of the horses had come back on their own, while about six or seven were still loose somewhere. Those were the ones that Dodge and Casey needed to find and bring back. Dodge rode James The Bear’s horse, the dapple grey stallion named Dash. Casey rode a palomino belonging to Pete, a pretty but lazy mare, named Honey.

Casey sat side saddle in a long burgundy skirt and white blouse and bodice. Dodge had offered her a pair of her own trousers to ride in but they’d been far too loose and long for Casey so she’d settled for a skirt.

They rode for about two hours, well past where, James had said he’d seen the horses, but Dodge had spotted some tracks and it was these they now followed along the river and further up a winding valley. The valley was slowly getting tighter and steeper but finally Dodge spied them. The entire group was there, Dodge’s horse included, all gathered in a lush grassy clearing nestled between the steeper walls of the slowly forming canyon.

“Looks like they found some nice grass,” Dodge observed.

Casey nodded. She was enjoying the sun and the fresh air. The slowly moving water in the nearby river combined with the warmth, made her wish they could stop for a swim. The trees were thicker along the other bank and some of them dipped their branches into the water creating small ripples that twisted and sparkled invitingly as they floated downriver. It would be a nice place to stop and sit awhile. Casey almost wished she’d brought a book.

Perhaps Dodge was thinking the same thing, for she turned her horse down toward the river and remarked, “Let’s stop here for lunch. I doubt they’ll wander off from that nice patch of grass anytime soon. We can round them up after we’ve eaten and then head back.”

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They let their own horses loose to graze and then settled down near the stream.

Casey took off her boots and risked dipping a toe in the water. It was colder than it looked but still she longed to get in. “I wish we could go swimming.”

“That’s a grand idea!” Dodge remarked.

The next thing Casey knew, Dodge was stripping down to nothing and wading out into the river.

Casey hid her eyes in her hands to try and give Dodge some privacy, but Dodge seemed as unflustered as ever, and when she called back “Are you coming in?” Casey peeked between her fingers.

“But we’ve nothing to dry ourselves with,” she called back.

Dodge laughed. “The sun will dry us fast enough.”

Casey glanced from Dodge’s abandoned clothes in the green grass to the muscular figure of Dodge who now stood nearly waist deep in the water. She watched as Dodge bent over to the side to splash some water on her face and the rest of her body. Dodge’s upper back rippled with strength but as Casey caught sight of her belly as she bent over, she could see that it was soft and squishy and not at all perfectly flat. She liked the way Dodge’s body bent and curved. It was the way Dodge moved that really drew her attention though. With strength and fluidity Dodge lowered herself into the water and then she sprang forward into a graceful dive. A moment later she came again up laughing.

The act drew Casey forward from her safe spot on the grass. She lifted up her skirts, not intending to go all the way in, and stepped a few feet out into the water. It was nice and refreshing so she then pulled her skirts up as high as she dared and went in to her thighs.

She had meant to stop there. The water was nice, but she wasn’t sure she was brave enough to strip down to nothing, even if they were far from any prying eyes.

But Dodge had seen her enter and with great enthusiasm and a mischievous smile she grasped Casey’s hands and pulled her forward into the river fully clothed.

Casey gave a yelp of surprise, and once she surfaced again she looked at Dodge and Dodge looked at her, and then they both burst into laughter. Casey splashed her playfully in revenge and then sank down up to her neck, enjoying the cool feel of the water on her warm flesh.

Back up on shore Casey found she was left with little option but to remove her garments in order to ring them out. The short swim had lowered her guard somewhat but she still glanced nervously at her companion.

Dodge, noticing the hesitation politely turned away and watched the horses grazing until Casey had finished wringing out her clothes.

She donned what little she needed to keep her modesty and left the rest drying in the sun next to Dodge’s clothes.

Perhaps to make Casey more comfortable Dodge had also put her undergarments back on. Then she fetched them some food.

Casey looked hesitantly at the log of dried meat.

“You should eat,” Dodge told her. “You hardly had much for breakfast and we’ve the ride back still. You’ll need your energy.”

Casey nodded but she nibbled at her food slowly.

Dodge looked worriedly at her and then squeezed her own hair dry. She’d done it up in two neat plaits today to keep it out of the way.

Casey’s hair had been clipped back in a half-ponytail. But her dip in the stream had shaken it loose and now her blonde hair hung like wet snakes around her face.

They sat there enjoying the weather, food, and surroundings for how long, Casey wasn’t sure. Eventually their clothes were dry enough to put back on, but still they stayed, lying in the sun, napping and occasionally making small talk.

At one point Casey got to her feet and wandered closer to river. She glanced back at a stretched out dozing Dodge. Everything was so peaceful here. Her usual life felt a world away, as if it had existed in another time, and all there was was this moment.

Dodge lay on her back, hands behind her head, hat tipped down over her eyes, shielding them from the sun. Casey wanted to go and lie down next to her, right up close, and rest her head on Dodge’s bare stomach. She wanted to know what her skin felt like.

Instead she turned toward a calmer portion of the water and gazed down sadly at her own reflection. There was something wrong with herself. That she felt to be true, and she thought she had known what it was, and what she had to do to fix it, but now she wasn’t so sure. She looked at Dodge and she could see health and happiness and beauty. But Dodge was no stereotypical lady. She wasn’t like the image of women that her mother was constantly encouraging Casey to be, nor was she anything like that painting of that goddess that Casey so loved. How could so many things all be so different, all so desirable, and yet all so unattainable at the same time? It all made Casey feel so lost. And despite the fact that every passing moment she was becoming more aware that she didn’t exactly want what her mother had in mind for her, that perhaps in her pursuit of it she was instead slowly losing herself, she still couldn’t help but feel fear at the idea of the food Dodge had handed her for lunch. In a way, her habits had become a secret part of herself that was all her own, where she was in control, and she was scared to let them go.

A tear began to roll down her cheek and Casey quickly brushed it away.

Behind her, a footstep sounded and then a large SPLASH shattered the image in the water.

She turned.

Dodge had thrown a rock into the river. She looked annoyed. “Stop focusing on your own reflection, it’ll never be good enough for you, and one day it’s going to age and fade and then what will you do?”

Casey looked at her in surprise.

Dodge angrily gestured to their surroundings. “Instead look around, at the trees, the sky, the birds. They’re pretty aren’t they? In all their forms. And they’ll be here, even after we’re all long gone. And if you see it and think about it then that’s pretty too.” As Dodge spoke her tone shifted from angry to something else, something calmer and more thoughtful, but there was a plea somewhere in there too. Casey could hear it. “In the act of recognising and appreciating something for what it is, there’s a beauty in that, and you can give that to the world, with just a thought. Your face is pretty, but that's not what makes you beautiful, it's the look on it. When you see the something wonderful, a daisy, a book, a painting. That look of awe and wonder. Of a true appreciation for the things in this world. That joy is beautiful. The way...” Dodge hesitated. She twisted her hands now as if nervous. “The way you looked at that painting in that back room. Even the way you dried the glasses the first time I saw you, so carefully like you cared for every single one....” Dodge trailed off.

Casey looked around at the tufts of green grass that waved gently in the light breeze. Small vibrantly living tufts that pushed up through the dirt despite the heat and the dryness. Then she looked at Dodge, thought of everything she’d said and done, and she suddenly blurted out, “I think you’re beautiful.”

Dodge blinked, and then her lips slowly started to curve. Any hesitation or nervousness that had been there disappeared completely. She replied, "I know."

Casey stared in surprise. "You know? You can't just say 'I know' to someone when they..." but Casey trailed off at Dodge's widening smile.

"I know," repeated Dodge.

"You know." Casey matched her smile, and then they both burst into laughter.

Casey started to walk back to where they’d left their things and Dodge matched step.

“You were right, when you said I wasn’t happy in town," Casey admitted. "I think sometimes surviving is all I’m doing. But I enjoyed coming out here today.”

Dodge winced. “I shouldn’t have said what I said.”

“No, but you were right,” Casey replied.

“Maybe, but I still shouldn’t have said it. Sometimes I put my foot in it. Run my mouth for far too long. Mamma always said it would get me in trouble.”

“Your mamma?” Casey paused. She hadn’t really thought of Dodge having parents somewhere, but of course she must do, unless... “Are your parents?”

“They’re dead,” Dodge replied quickly. She dropped her gaze to the ground.

“Sorry,” Casey offered.

Dodge shook her head. “It’s alright, it was almost two years ago, back when all this first started.” She tried to give a smile to show things were as fine as she said, but it came out sort of crooked and Casey could see that it didn’t reach her eyes. She thought of Dodge out on the road all by herself and she wondered if Dodge was ever lonely.

Dodge looked away and over to where the horses were still grazing. “Our clothes are probably dry now. We should round the horses up and get going.”

“God damn rain cards,” Hades mumbled. “There wasn’t even any rain that time. I don’t get it.”

“It’s metaphorical,” replied Ares.

“Your face is metaphorical,” quipped Artemis.

“Very mature,” Ares replied dryly as Hades snorted.

Aphrodite picked up the dice. That quietened them all. “Next round?” she asked Ares.

He nodded.

She rolled.