"Let me guess; you want me to stay here and wait for you."

"No, Cheyenne. I want you to come with me, but I decided to buy the room anyway."

Cheyenne chuckled and sat on one of the beds. Connor was starting to come around to her sarcasm as of late, and would smile or make sarcastic remarks of his own. Unfortunately, as much as she was enjoying his company, he only stuck around long enough to set a bag of money on the table and offer a brief goodbye.

Not that it mattered if their parting was quick. She would quickly rejoin him; he just wouldn't know it.

Cheyenne waited until his heavy footsteps fell silent, then left the room and went downstairs. Luckily for her, she caught sight of his white coat as he passed a window. After giving him a few seconds to create a little more distance, she hurried to the door and went outside.

As she did so, she ignored the familiar set of eyes boring into her back.

Connor had taken her to inns three times now, and she'd noticed a bald, hard-faced man following them sometime after the first. Then, whenever she came down to get food or step outside, he would be there; always off to the side, watching her closely while trying not to make it obvious. She'd mentioned it to Connor once but he brushed it off, saying the man was nothing more than another curious colonist watching the two outsiders. If it wasn't for the way he refused to make eye contact, she might have believed him.

Either way, there was little she could do about it. At least the man had yet to approach either of them. In fact, aside from that drunkard she and Connor encountered, no one approached either of them. They just watched from afar, though the amount of people who did so was noticeably lower today. Probably because she wasn't by Connor's side for once, and she blended in better with her new clothes. Even if it was unusual to see a young woman in pants and a shirt, it stuck out less than her modern day attire.

Cheyenne used this to her advantage as she walked down New York's streets, often ducking behind buildings to watch Connor until he disappeared from sight, only to relocate him and keep following after. She felt anxious about doing this but it couldn't be helped; Connor's behavior and that strange man made her suspicious and eager to find an explanation for all of it.

Eventually Connor approached another man, older and balding and dressed like other colonial men. They walked through the market for a bit, though Cheyenne couldn't hear what they were saying. When they stopped, she took shelter behind a wagon of corn, watching as together they observed two more colonists nearby. One seemed angry and threw what looked like pieces of paper at the other. The colonist looked startled and quickly retreated soon after, adjusting his tricorn hat as he did so.

That was where Connor left the company of his balding friend and followed the retreating man. Eyebrow raised, Cheyenne kept trailing Conor, though she let him get further ahead now that he seemed to be keeping a closer eye on his surroundings. Through multiple alleyways and streets, and a few occasional pauses where Connor listened in on the man's conversations, Cheyenne followed Connor who followed the colonial man.

Until Connor decided to take to the rooftops instead. Cheyenne cursed and came to a crouch behind a wagon, but nearly jumped out of her skin when a call rang out. "Hey you! Stop!"

Connor stopped in his tracks and looked to his left, and that was when Cheyenne spotted the guard on the roof. She'd seen them before, but this one looked angry and pointed his musket at Connor threateningly, now demanding that he get down immediately.

The aggression made Cheyenne nervous, though her blood ran cold when Connor ripped the musket away and stabbed the guard square in the chest. Red spurted from the wound after Connor ripped it out, and he let the guard's now twitching body collapse on the roof. The sudden violence was too much for Cheyenne, but Connor simply dropped the bloody musket and kept trailing his target, vanishing from her line of sight moments later and disappearing altogether.

Now, if Cheyenne had quickly followed after, she might have found him again, but she knew that he would be long gone when she finally stumbled to her feet a couple minutes later. Uncertain and overly anxious, she turned away and started back to the inn.

The day was warm, but she was shaking and cold, even more so than after what happened with the drunkard a month ago. Cheyenne had never personally witnessed death before, especially not something so violent and unexpected. She thought Connor was just going to heed the guard's warning instead of reacting the way he did, and his reasoning confused her deeply.

As did his reasoning for dropping her off at inns and keeping her practically leashed to his side. Coupled with his lies and sudden violence, she couldn't help but wonder what he was keeping from her.

But after seeing how he walked away from that guard's corpse like it was nothing, Cheyenne wasn't sure if she wanted to know anymore.

…

A few hours later, Cheyenne was back in her room at the inn. She'd spent most of the time staring at the ceiling and pondering over what to do. Usually, she was bored out of her mind during these stays. From time to time, she listened to a song or two on her phone, but switched the device back off immediately after. The charge was still high after more than a month, and Cheyenne hoped to save her music for when she truly needed it. Unfortunately, music wouldn't help her now; she would be far too distracted to truly enjoy it.

After a while, she realized she was starting to get a little peckish. Grateful for the distraction, she took a few coins from the bag Connor left her and headed for the stairs. Thankfully, when she approached the counter, there were only a handful of others sitting at the tables. Once she'd gotten her food, she made a rare decision to eat downstairs. She was starting to get sick of the silence in her room.

Although Cheyenne didn't like it, she decided not to confront Connor later. She doubted she'd get much of an answer if she tried, considering all the other secrets he was keeping from her. Plus, if it did anything, it would make Connor distrust her even more. Uncomfortable with his attitude as she was, Cheyenne was grateful to Connor and, considering she could either stay with him or go out on her own, she wished he would relax around her. Cheyenne liked him, though she wouldn't go so far as to call him a friend.

"What's your name?"

She jumped. Lost in thought, she hadn't noticed that two colonial men had approached her, one with hair as dark as the other was light. "Cheyenne."

"Yer named after an injun tribe?" the other fair-haired one asked.

"My mother thought it was a pretty name," Cheyenne said quickly, cursing the fact that she'd never considered how her own name might sound to some of the colonists.

Luckily the two seemed to accept her answer, but they had a few more questions for her, which Cheyenne answered politely. No, she didn't know where Connor was. Yes, she was waiting here for him and she was here willingly. No, she didn't want to go anywhere or have a drink with the two of them.

Eventually they left her alone and she returned to her troubled thoughts. When she was finished with her meal, she returned her bowl to the innkeeper and was heading towards the stairs when another man loudly entered and announced his presence. He was immediately called over by the two who spoke with her earlier, followed by a demand for a pint of ale. Uninterested, Cheyenne kept her pace as she walked back to her room.

"Did ya hear? Couple of blokes just got arrested on counterfeiting charges."

"Really now?"

"I saw the whole thing. Unlucky bastard was being chased by some big native when the guards caught 'em both."

Cheyenne froze in her tracks. Could it be-

"Any idea who they are?"

"I've never seen the first bloke, but I've seen that native before. He's the one with the white coat; often has that girl with him."

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the blond colonist turning towards her, but she disappeared and went back to her room before they could lock eyes. She slammed the door on the way in and let her body slide down the wall, head in her hands as she fought to keep her panic under control. Connor- in jail? For counterfeiting? What the hell was going on?

A sudden knock interrupted her thoughts. "Go away," she called out.

"Please, Cheyenne. I need to talk to you."

The sound of her name gave her pause, as well as the unfamiliar accent. He definitely didn't sound like most of the colonists. "Who are you?"

"My name is Jacob Zenger, and I'm a friend of Connor's. Please open the door."

At the mention of Connor's name, Cheyenne was up and reaching for the door. She opened it and was greeted with the same bald guy that'd been watching her and Connor for days.

She tensed and almost slammed the door in his face. "How do you know Connor?" she demanded.

"There's no time for that. We need to get moving."

"What are you-?"

"You're in danger Cheyenne. Connor's mission went wrong and there are redcoats looking for you now."

"Looking for…Wait. Where are we going?"

"Boston. No more questions, now. We need to go."

He moved past her to grab what little possessions she had in the room. Cheyenne was too stunned to do anything but watch quietly. But when Jacob went to the little bedside table to take the pouch Connor had given her, a worn looking necklace slipped from around his neck and clattered against the floor. Jacob cursed loudly and bent over to retrieve it, and Cheyenne realized that the lone charm was the same symbol as the one Connor wore around his waist.

Cheyenne had asked him about it before, but Connor quickly brushed it off as something important to his people that she probably wouldn't understand. She'd been slightly offended, but she never brought it up again. Seeing the same symbol now made her think Connor hadn't been telling the truth; it wouldn't be the first time.

But it did mean there was a real connection between Connor and Jacob, and that helped reassure any worries she had. Mind made up, Cheyenne reached out to take her phone and willingly followed Jacob out of the inn.

…

Jacob gestured here towards his horse, a brutish looking black mare. "Over here. Have you ridden before?"

"Only with Connor. Why?"

"Just curious."

Cheyenne raised a brow, but let the strange question drop and mounted the horse while Jacob made a few last minute transfers between the two packs in his possession. He'd taken her phone back and placed it, her earbuds, and the pouch Connor gave her inside. Now, he was loading provisions into it. After he seemed satisfied, he closed both packs and handed her the one with her belongings.

He must've sensed her confusion, because he smirked at her. "What? You don't expect me to carry all this by myself, do you?"

"I guess that would be rather rude of me," Cheyenne said jokingly. Jacob laughed while he climbed onto the horse and took the reins, but took her by surprise one last time when he handed her a worn looking knife over his shoulder.

She studied the weapon. The leather on the handle was well used, but the blade itself was sharper than a surgeon's scalpel. "What's this for?"

Jacob shot her a confused look. "The frontier is crawling with predators and redcoats; it isn't safe out there." He turned around and gently kicked the horse's side. At the sudden motion, Cheyenne jumped and carefully stuck the knife into her waistband, though she didn't take Jacob's waist until the horse increased its speed to a gallop, then a smooth run. "You know, I'm surprised Connor hasn't given you a weapon yet."

"Connor made it clear he doesn't want me to touch one," Cheyenne informed him. Unfortunately, she couldn't keep much of the bitterness out of her voice.

"I see."

Her frown deepened. "You're a friend of his. Has he told you anything….About me?"

"Nothing much. Just that you were staying with him."

Cheyenne nearly laughed. Turned out that Jacob, like Connor, was a horrible liar. His words damn near sounded rehearsed, too much to be natural.

"Okay then. What about that charm on your necklace?"

"What of it?"

Cheyenne fought to keep her tone light and casual. "Connor wears the same symbol on his belt."

Jacob shrugged nonchalantly. "It's just a necklace. Nothing special about it."

"And Connor too?"

"What about him?"

Cheyenne faltered at the slight edge in Jacob's voice, but pressed on regardless. "I've just seen it on Connor. I wondered if the symbol meant anything."

Thankfully, he relaxed again. "It doesn't mean anything. Just something to add to the outfit." He turned to catch her eye and Cheyenne smiled at him, though inside her mind was racing. She'd caught Connor in another lie, and now she was really starting to get scared. He was part of something, as was this Jacob Zenger, and Cheyenne was starting to regret following Connor out of the inn.

A sudden hiss from Jacob regained her attention, followed quickly by shouting and the loud crack of a musket firing. She gripped Jacob's waist for dear life while he jammed his heel into the horse's side and directed it off the road and into the woods around them.

"They're goin' off tha path!"

"Don't lose them!"

"Ready another round!"

Cheyenne looked behind her. Before a large tree blocked them from view, she caught glimpses of men clad in red, all four on horseback with muskets in hand. There was another bang when the muskets fired again. The sound of splitting wood echoed around them, while another round whizzed past her and Jacob. This time she screamed and buried her head in Jacob's back, but he ignored her and yelled something in another language. She felt him turning in the saddle, then more loud gunfire as Jacob fired his pistol. There was shouting from the men and a pained scream, and Cheyenne hoped that would be the end of it.

Then there was another loud crack, but this time it was the horse that screamed while something warm splattered against the back of her leg. The horse went down, taking her and Jacob along as it tumbled down a large hill. Thankfully, they were both flung off to the side before they hit the ground, preventing either from being crushed by the large animal on the way down.

Cheyenne skidded to a painful stop, her entire body feeling scratched and bruised through the thin fabric of her clothes. She moaned in pain and shakily stood on her feet. Terrified for her life, her breathing was getting more rapid, and she nearly screamed when Jacob grabbed her arm and dragged her away from the hill. They sprinted a short distance before he pulled her behind some bushes and pulled her down. Wide eyed, she watched Jacob while he pulled a rolled up parchment out of his pack and quickly shoved it into her hands.

"It's a map," he said quickly. "Get to Boston and find Stephane! He'll help you!"

"But-"

"He's a friend of Connor's; you can trust him! Now go!"

Giving her no time to protest, Jacob pushed her away from the bushes and marched in the direction they'd just come from. Cheyenne staggered a few steps and stopped, but quickly changed her mind and ran once more redcoat voices sounded out.

The last thing she heard before she disappeared into the woods was Jacob shouting back and the clang of metal swords.