A buzzard circled overhead, its occasional screech ringing out across the endless reaches of the cloudless sky. As he sat on the buckboard, reins looped lightly through his fingers, Han watched the bird intently, knowing its presence was a bad omen. Behind him, huddled beneath a threadbare blanket, the woman stirred restlessly. They had spent the best part of two days in a fruitless search for her boy, taken by a Comanche raiding party. She"d pleaded, begged him to continue, but it was useless. Han was no tracker, so they packed up the open wagon and headed south towards a small mining town in the hope of finding his sister.
begged“You expect me to help you, when you do nothing for me!” she had yelled, beating her fists against his chest. She blamed the Okinawan for everything, regardless
