As the house was getting its finishing touches, Mary, Laura, and I went to collect some berries from a bush near the creek. It was a peaceful late morning, with the birds chirping and the peaceful ambience of flowing water. Per usual with the Ingalls, we sang as we picked berries.
                    ♪" 'Twas down in the meadows "♪
                       ♪" The violets were blowing "♪
              ♪" And the springtime grass was fresh and green "♪
"Do you think Mr. Edwards would've had time to deliver a letter before he left?" Mary asked.
"Who are you writing letters to?" Laura asked.
"No one," Mary said quickly.
I made a 'mhm' sound. Before Mary could argue further, the buzzing of mosquitoes was heard, and she slapped her wrist to kill one. The girls teased each other about being too sweet and salty for mosquitoes. Laura went a bit farther than supposed to to collect berries because, according to her, 'these bushes were loaded', and she said that if we collected them we'd have pie all winter.
"You should stop eating them, then" I teased, and Laura side-eyed me while Mary giggled. Suddenly, we heard some women speaking in Osage. Of course we couldn't understand them but we went to a spot to see them better. As we watched, Laura suddenly waved and called out to them.
"Hi! Hello! I'm Laura." she said. I waved at them too, but Mary told Laura to stop quite loudly that the women looked at us and then left. My cheeks reddened slightly in embarrassment.
"I wanted to meet them" argued Laura.
"Ma's going to be mad" countered Mary.
"I think that it's better if we go home now, if we want to meet them it should be with a smaller distance so we don't yell and scare them." I tell both of them.
Laura and Mary exchange some tense eye contact before Mary and I walk away. I look back at Laura who put her flower crown down. "Laura!" Mary yells. "Come on Laura! Don't stay behind." I call out for her.
When we come home, we find that the house was finally finished and that Caroline had decorated it. There was a special figurine in the center of the house, a porcelain shepherdess. It signified that they were finally at home. I found it very sweet. Caroline told me to decorate if I wanted. I hadn't brought any decorations with me from home, except for a porcelain doll that I always kept near my bed, so I did that now. It was a gift my parents gave me for my 7th birthday, it was the last thing they gave me before the accident and so I cherished it. Caroline asked me about it, and we bonded because the china shepherdess was also dear to her for a similar reason, it was the last thing her father gave her. It was a bittersweet moment, and I was glad that I had someone who could relate to me.
      -------------------------------------------------
Later, we rode to town to celebrate the post office opening. I had to mail my aunt to tell her I arrived safely and how things were going. As we were riding in the wagon, we saw two Osage men riding next to us. The second man was the same man I had been thinking about for a long time. They both wore a hard to describe face, but from what I could decipher from there eyes was carefullness and a bit of despise. Laura tried to wave to them but Caroline lowered her hand. It seemed she didn't really like them or maybe it was that she just didn't want problems with them. Either way, I looked back at them and to my luck, he also looked back. I blushed slightly at his intense gaze and quickly looked to the front of the wagon.
As we arrived to the town, there were many red and white banners to celebrate the post office opening. Eli James, the husband of Jemma James, gave us a post card while congratulating Charles. The post card had a drawing of Independence with the shops and the main building was the post office.
"Pa, did you draw this?" Laura asked.
"I just might've" Charles answered.
"You're full of surprises" Caroline commented. Charles agreed with a chuckle.
"This is incredible, you could design some building Mr. Ingalls" I said. Charles pondered this for a while before a lady approached him. He introduced us to her, she was Ms. Aubert. Laura was shocked that a lady could wear pants. Ms. Aubert answered that not many people consider her a lady.
"Women in Paris wear pants, some even wear them in the city" I said and Ms. Aubert smiled. She was from France so she would know. Just as we were having a good time, Mrs. James came and took Caroline and the girls away. God how I hated the woman, and it seemed that my suspicions of her being the type of women who was judgmental and thought of herself highly because of her husband's job was correct because she did not even greet Ms. Aubert.
"I'm going to mail a letter and meet you back home if that's alright, Mr. Ingalls," I told Charles.
"Go ahead, kiddo" He answered.
I walked to the post office; the line was long, but some sweet man switched his second place with me. I thanked him very much and so I was able to send my Aunt Josephine the long letter I wrote for her the night before rather quickly. I thought I was going to spend a lot of time in the post office, but now I had an hour or so for myself. I decided to go exploring
    ----------------------------------------------------
As I left the town, I went to go find a creek because I was thirsty. I walked away from the road that we came from. I got a bit lost, but then I found a creek and guess who I saw sitting near it? Him! I was the type of person who believed that if you meet a person more than once by accident, it's a sign. It was that red string that I read once in a book. I went closer to the creek and crouched down at a distance from him to drink water. I could feel his eyes on me. I debated whether or not to initiate communication. My aunt always taught me to never initiate a friendship or relationship with a man but I decided to not listen to her.
I looked to my side and locked eyes with him. I smiled. "Hello" I said quietly. However, the man only stared at me with a rather grumpy expression. "What's your name? Can you understand me?" I asked him.
"I can understand you" He answered sharply. I didn't mind his tone,
"My name is Clara" I said cheerfully, "What's yours?" I asked.
"Little Puma" he answered coldly.
A moment of silence passed by before I broke it. "Are you Osage?" I asked.
"What did you think I was? A settler?" He said frustrated.
"Well no, I just wanted to make sure.. What's it like to be Osage?" I asked to change the subject.
"Normal, but much better than being a settler" He said harshly.
Some time was spent with me asking him questions, I hoped he'd soften a bit, and he did. The sun was starting to set and I stood up. I offered him a hand to be polite and to my surprise he accepted it!
--"Do you know your way home?" He asked.
--"In that small house in the prairie"
--"That's very kind of you, thank you"
He got on his horse however I stayed down. "Do you know how to ride a horse?" He asked me. "No" I answered without looking up to him. Before I knew it he got off the horse and put me on the horse. I let out a small shrieked sound at the suddeness of it all. He got on behind me while holding the reigns close to my waist.
The ride home was silent. At a good distance from the house I asked him to let me down there. He helped me down. "Thank you very much, I hope to see you around." I told him with a smile while he got on his horse, he only smiled back at me. I waved him goodbye and walked to the house. As I reached home it was already dark so I ate a small thing before going to bed.
[A/N:Â I tried to make this a bit longer and I'm sorry for the delay I had some things to do today but I'll try to finish this story soon because I doubt I'll be able to write when school starts since I'm taking AP World and I'm so scared lol]
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