Running Bear was thinking of how the two of them grew up, one outside the family and one inside, but with similar interests. As I watched, I saw the other three women. All blondes with strikingly similar features to mine, intelligence in their gazes and …
Fear. They'd all been afraid of something in this time period. In each of the scenes, the sheriff was with them, in town, and they were scared. The images were too hazy and unclear for me to tell for certain what was going on.
Could he have killed them? I shifted uncomfortably on the horse, beginning to think it was a bad idea to accompany the sheriff's brother anywhere, let alone on a stormy night when no one knew to look for me. There was too much I didn't know about the sheriff to want to trust him and yet, the same sense I had about Carter upon meeting him, that we were friends in another life or linked somehow, I experienced with the sheriff as well.
"I met your brother," I said.
"He told me he renamed you." Running Bear's voice was tight.
"What's wrong with him?" I asked.
"Can you tell me?"
"Not really."
"He said you could see his mind."
"Yeah." I frowned, disturbed when I considered what I had seen. "He's done horrible things. I can't stop thinking about him."
"He talks to spirits, too."
I glanced towards him. It wasn't possible to see his expression from this angle. Did he think I was crazy, too? "You and the sheriff are kind to take care of him."
"He is my brother."
Lightning shattered the sky above, and I jerked.
"It's like the lightning from the night I came, isn't it?" I asked uneasily.
"Yes. It will strike the trees before us," Running Bear told me over his shoulder. "The wind is what you should fear."
I saw his memories. He'd witnessed the meteor blaze across the sky, a different sort of brilliant fire than the lightning that night and followed it with the other members of his hunting party. He didn't see what happened when it hit, but when they reached the crater, he saw me, curled up in the middle, shaking.
"Oh," I whispered, distressed by the image. "That night … you found me in the crater."
"You were fortunate to survive the lightning."
I said nothing, aware the explanation that I had traveled from the future would only make him warier.
"Why do you wish to see my uncle?" he asked with a note that told me I better answer carefully.
"My father is ill. The doctor doesn't believe he'll survive the week," I replied. "Father asked that your uncle comes to visit him before he's gone. I thought I should invite him personally instead of sending Philip."