In the quiet, her thoughts drifted away from the cold metal of the ship and back to the warmth of the sun-drenched plains she had left behind.
Her mind went to her adopted father, Jackson. She wondered if he was standing on the ridge right now, looking at the sky where her transport had disappeared. Did he miss her? Or was he relieved that the trouble she always seemed to attract had finally departed?
Then her mind went to the animals she loved. Her chest tightened when she thought of the creatures she had tended to. The strays, the beasts of burden, the loyal companions who asked for nothing but a kind word and a handful of grain. Who would feed them now? Would they wait by the gate for a girl who might never return?
The lump in her throat grew heavy, making it hard to swallow. The isolation of the ship was a different kind of loneliness than the one she had known before. On the planet, she was alone but free; here, she was surrounded by people but utterly trapped in a destiny she never asked for.
