Rud and James were anxious to leave for their hunt, and about midday, they were ready. Rud had already asked Billy if he would stay behind in case something came up on the homestead, and Billy had agreed.

Billy understood this was time for Rud and James to reconnect, and as he and Rud hunted together all the time, Billy didn't mind staying back with the ladies. As Rud and James headed out, everyone wished them a successful hunt.

Rud and James would be gone three or four days. She didn't say it, but Patience hoped this time with James would help heal some of Rud's still open wounds from when his family was killed.

Rud still had trouble trusting people, a trait he acquired when the villagers abandoned him. James had already earned Rud's respect, but earning Rud's trust was something else.

James was more of a talker than Rud, and especially so as they rode out of the valley towards where Rud knew the Elk would be. James was a little nervous as he still remembered Rud standing over the body of the man who tried to steal Rud's mule. Rud would have to earn James' trust as well.

Rud and James made camp near where they would hunt, and after supper sat around the fire laughing about their childhood adventures and the trouble they had gotten into as young boys.

James woke a couple hours before dawn and kicked Rud's foot, saying, "Time to get up." Rud rolled out of his blankets and put on his boots as James organized the gear they would need for the hunt. Rud and James quietly made their way to the location they had found the previous day.

Once there, they sat looking out over the area where they expected to see the Elk. After they had talked and laughed last night, Rud was feeling more comfortable with James but could tell James was still not comfortable around him.

Rud asked, "You seem nervous, are you afraid of me?" James said, "Yes, but it is more than that. I threw up after seeing what you did to the man who tried to steal your mule. The anger, hate, and betrayal in your eyes for the thief, and the rest of us that day still scare me."

James spoke again, "A couple of years after you left, we started hearing stories about a young boy, living in the wilderness that had gone mad and killed a lot of people. I knew when you left the village, you had gone to the valley your father had found. And I knew the boy in the stories was you. No one else made the connection, but they had not seen what I saw in your eyes after you killed the thief."

"Sarah said you killed nine men the day you rescued Patience and Billy. People say you have killed many more, maybe three times that number. The boy I grew up with, my friend, was not a killer, we did that to you. Nothing can ever make that right again. We were best friends, and I failed you. I thought after we killed those men at your cabin, the regret I felt would go away, but it hasn't. I am very sorry, Rud."

Rud said, "You were just a boy, it wasn't your fault." James said, "So were you. That is what makes it so unforgivable." Rud realized what happened was not James' fault. Rud had never considered there were people in the village powerless to help. Rud had blamed them all.

James asked, "The stories about you, are they true?" Rud said, "I don't know what you've heard. I did not go mad, and I never ate anyone. But as to the rest, the truth is probably worse."

Rud continues, "As for you, I had only hate for those who promised everything then when needed gave nothing. A blood debt was owed, and I intended to someday collect on that debt. After rescuing Patience and Billy, I passed your village during the night and so much wanted to go to every door I had pounded on, including yours, Jimmy, and kill everyone inside. That is what hate and anger will do to a man, and you had good reason to be afraid of me."

Rud continued, "But I am a different man now, and I no longer hate you or any of the people in your village. I had to let go of all the hate and anger to be a man who deserved someone like Patience. There was no room for the hate and anger anymore, so I let go of it and never looked back. I'll kill anyone who threatens my family, but it will not be from what happened back then."

Rud looked James in the eyes and said, "Patience says I also need to forgive, and I am trying. Forgiving you is easy, but forgiving your father and the others is difficult. But the blood debt is paid. You and your men paid that debt when you saved my new family. And you need to let go of this regret and guilt. It was never yours to carry. Let it go, Jimmy, it's time."

Neither man spoke. James thought about what Rud had said. When a herd of Elk topped a nearby ridge, Rud and James used hand gestures to indicate where each would go to intercept the herd. They moved apart quickly but worked as a team to have the best chance at a kill.

Rud remembered sneaking through the woods with James when they were boys while hunting small animals with their slings. James remembered too. Both felt like they were those boys again before all the bad happened. It was going to be a good hunt.

* * * * *

Patience, Sarah, and Alice spent the rest of the day talking, cooking, and showing Sarah the homestead. It was nice to talk with someone outside of Patience and Alice's usual circle of friends as Sarah had stories and news of what was going on in the villages and the town. Sarah kept Patience and Alice laughing all day.

When it was time for supper, Billy came in from working in the food plot and had supper with the ladies. After supper, they all went down to the lake, and Billy listened as the ladies talked.

Sarah had some funny stories Billy enjoyed hearing, but most of the discussion was of little interest to him. After a while, Billy was looking pretty sleepy, so Alice grabbed his hand, said goodnight to Patience and Sarah, and led him back to their cabin.

Sarah was curious about Billy and Alice and listened as Patience explained about "the doves." Sarah, who had the "town" view of things admitted she was a bit shocked at first. But having seen them together, she could understand how in this remote place they could live together under the same roof.

Patience made it clear Billy and Alice's relationship was seen as a positive by all who knew them and asked Sarah not to judge. Sarah promised to keep their secret and confided she envied Billy and Alice. Sarah wished she and James had found each other earlier in their lives.

Sarah and Patience continued to sit on the half-log bench, looking at the stars. Sarah told Patience she had an ulterior motive in coming to visit. James had been deeply affected by what happened to Rud and his family. Certainly not to the extent Rud was, but James had been Rud's best friend, and James felt guilty for not helping Rud's family.

Rud had killed a man the morning after his family was murdered. James saw him do it, and it had shocked James. Patience said, "The thief who tried to steal our mule." Sarah nodded, "yes."

Sarah had not connected the woodsman who saved Patience on the docks to James' childhood friend Rud until the uncle's men came through the village. One had gotten drunk and told several villagers what they had planned.

When James told her why he had to help Rud, she realized who Rud was. James would never tell her the whole story of what happened to Rud's parents and sister, but the other women in the village had filled in the details. Sarah said it was horrible.

After the attack, James could not forgive his father for not helping Rud. It drove a wedge between James and his family to the point James' father was not even invited to their wedding. Sarah said Rud lost his family, and in a way, so did James. It was not the same, but Rud and his family were not the only victims of that night. After James' father's passing, they had moved back to the village, and James allowed his mother to be more a part of his life, but there was no closeness between them, and it broke his mother's heart.

Sarah said, "I love my husband, and I was scared to death when James rode out to help Rud, but I knew he had to go, if not for Rud, then for his own sake. Now that I know you, I am very glad he did. When James brought those dead men back, he was so proud of what he had done, and he was better for a while, but the sadness was still there. James is a good man, and I do hope somehow they can work this out, and the sadness will go away."

Patience agreed and told Sarah that Rud was a different man now than when he had rescued her. She, too, had hoped Rud and James would mend fences while they were on this trip as Rud also had unhealed wounds from the night his family was murdered.

The chill in the night air got to be too much, so Sarah and Patience walked back to the cabin, both with high hopes for the outcome of this hunting trip.