DECEMBER 2, 1861

It was about four hours since Jewel had lain down to fall asleep, so Stone decided that she would be out until morning. He put some more wood on the fire and laid down himself. Not long afterwards he fell asleep.

Pretending to be sleeping, Jewel opened her eyes about an hour after Stone had drifted off. She quietly stood up and snuck out of camp. She didn't know which way to go. She didn't know in which direction Dreamville was from where she was, so she just took what she thought looked to be the best possible route away from Stone. She hoped she wouldn't have far to go to find help. Soon the sun would be rising, and she hoped to put some miles in between herself and Stone. She untied both horses that they had taken; one being Stone’s horse and the other one was from the livery. She led them what she thought was far enough away from the site and then she mounted Stone’s horse and rode off leading the mare.

She hadn't gone too far when the horses started getting jittery. The one she was leading was so unruly that she couldn't cope with both of them, so she let the reins slip through her fingers and watched as the mare ran off. She just hoped that Stone wouldn't find her. As long as she was riding, and he was walking, then she would be all right.

She stopped and looked about wondering what was scaring her horse. His ears were standing straight up, but she couldn’t see anything, but he was neighing and snortin’ very loudly. Something sure was spooking him. She started again, but Jewel kept scanning the area looking for any sign of danger. Then she heard a noise. She stopped her horse. She swiveled in her seat and looked behind her because that's where the growling noise was coming from. She spotted the cougar not to far away. The big cat was in the trees, hiding and stalking her. The only thing she could think to do was spur her horse into a full out run.

She took a quick glance back and saw the cougar-giving chase. Her heart was beating so fast that if it had legs she thought that it could outrun her horse. Before she knew it though her horse hit a chuckhole and they both went falling to the ground.

The green eyes were coming closer and Jewel was paralyzed with fear. She could only stare as the cat lurched into the air.

It was the skinny hungry cat's lucky day. She pounced on the juicy mammal and tore into its belly. The horse gave out a loud cry and kicked with its legs trying to get up and also to kick the ferocious beast off of her.

One of the horse's back legs struck the cat in the face. The cougar backed off growling and as the horse finally had it's legs up underneath her and was about to get to her feet, the cougar attacked again. Only this time she went for the horse's throat.

When the animal attacked the first time, panic overwhelmed Jewel, and she was shocked into paralysis, but as it struck for the second time, she started moving. She had to get away. Struggling with her foot and the stirrup, she eventually got it released and started scooting backwards. She didn't want to stand up close to the mammals because if
the cat's eyes focused on her than it might come after her.

When she did stand it was near some trees, so she ran blindly into the woods. Her vision was blurry and that's when she realized that she had been crying. She heard the cougar and her horse making a ruckus behind her.

A half a mile away from the horrible incident, Jewel tripped and fell. She scooted herself over to a rock and crossed her arms and laid her head down. She was out of breath and her heart was racing so that she could actually feel it beating.

Now what would she do. She had lost both horses, and she didn't know where she was. She could be lost for a very long time and die because she had no provisions such as water and food. And she had no matches in which to start a fire to warm her. After all it was December and the nights got rather cold here in Nebraska.

Jewel hoped that the cat would get its fill from the horse and not track her, but she couldn't be sure of that, so she had to keep moving. She gathered her strength and continued on. Not even knowing where she was at or where she was bound. Fifteen minutes later she came upon a stream. She preferred getting liquid from a well or pump, not from the earth, but her mouth was so parched, and there was no telling how long she would have to fend for herself. She sat down at the edge of the stream and cupped some water into her hands and drank it greedily. She then decided to walk in the stream that way if the cougar was following her it would lose her scent. But which way should she go? Down stream or up stream? She looked both ways and then started traveling down stream.

Meanwhile Stone woke shortly after Jewel had left. He had stirred in his sleep and feeling as though something was wrong he got up. Anger crossed his face as he realized his mistake. He shouldn’t have trusted her. How could he have been such a fool? She was gone and with both horses. He started out on foot. The trail wasn't that hard to follow. He concluded that she wasn't trying to hide her trail. She was just trying to get as far away from him as she could. But no matter how far she got, he would find her.

As he happened upon the scene that had taken place about an hour ago and saw that the brown mare lay dead, Rowdy wondered where the rider was. The fella who owned the horse was nowhere to be seen. While watching the ground for a trail, he spurred Midnight over to the trees. His horse was nervous, so the dark brown eyed boy spoke softly
to him to calm him down. He knew it must be the cougar’s scent that was making his horse fidgety.

Watching inconspicuously Stone saw the lad direct his horse into the woods. After a minute, Stone walked over and starred at his horse. He felt a little remorse for his horse because they had been together for five long hard years. But that was the past; he had to think of the present now. He hoped the wildcat hadn't got a hold of Jewel, too. He took off following the young boy through the woods, devising a plan to get the intruder's gun and horse.

The boy planted his feet firmly on the ground. He saw the cougar's paw prints traveling down stream. He also noticed shoeprints. He would follow the cougar for a while, but he hoped that the cat had taken the opposite direction in which the fella had taken.

Though the cat’s belly was full, she was tired from the exertion of killing the mare, so she had stopped to rest. Meanwhile the wind had shifted and the cat sniffed the air capturing the human’s scent in his nostrils. He turned around and headed back the way he had come.

Before Rowdy could turn around, he was knocked into the water. Menacingly Stone headed for Rowdy. He intended to drown him and take his horse.