"Very well then, Aoife, can I take yer trunk for ye? It's gonna be a bit of a hike to my place."

"I ah... that's alright. I'll manage." she reassured him, though her grip on it's handle tightened as she said so. Considering that all of her worldly belongings were encased within those four walls, it was probably better to keep it close for the time being.

Nothing fancy as you might well imagine, just a bit of thrown together shack. I'm not tryin' to be a settler ye see, I prospect for gold. Pan it in the streams, that sorta thing, and before ye ask, how's it bin workin' out fer me then? Well, look at me, I'm poor as a church mouse. All those stories back East about there bein' gold everywhere... they be just stories I'm afraid."

As they began to walk up the way in Robert's indicated direction, Aoife found herself mulling over what he had told her. This young man, living alone on the edges of society, probably had it rougher than she could imagine. Surely the New World had more to offer than this?

"Whereabouts are you from then, Robert?" she asked. Presumably he had been born somewhere in Ireland at least, else he wouldn't have held on to the accent so strongly.

The drunken father, a sentiment that Aoife knew all too well. Alcoholism, although quite the caricature, seemed an epidemic to the Irish - as was ever so often declared by those less welcoming of the American people. She had never really seen the appeal in truth, though of course a nip every now and then could be fun, but blacking yourself out and spending the next day emptying your stomach simply did not seem a good time.

"What' bout you, Aoife? What part of the ol' country ye from?"

"Ah... Milford, in Ulster." she said, as she stepped over a branch. "We left a few years back. Same story, new start. Can't say I've done too much living here, plenty more traveling."

She glanced over to the young man as they walked, a momentary expression of unease upon her face. "I've heard that folk around here can be... poorly disposed to our kind. Is that a reason you're out here?"

"The town is friendly enough though I did have me some trouble with the blacksmith's apprentice for a bit when I first arrived. We settled it with fists. I won," claimed Robert, triumphantly. Aoife allowed his good humor to rub off on her, and shot back a quick smile.

"But thing is, Aoife, the reason I be out here is this is where the gold is. Well, is hopefully supposed to be. Damned if I've found much of it. Just a few grains here and there, but no strike so far."

"And that's what you've been doing then? Combing the hills and rivers for treasure, outplaying anyone who comes at you?" It sounded almost whimsical when she said it out loud, like a cross between Robinson Crusoe and Ali Baba from the Thousand and One Nights. Come to think of it, the American frontier was probably a breeding ground for folk heroes. Who could say that Robert might not be one of them?

"You should be quite safe in town. The law is fair. If ye be religious there is a Catholic mission outside of town too but to be honest I never have been there yet. Have to admit to bein' not all that devout."

"Oh aye?" she said idly. Admittedly, religion had not been at the forefront of her mind for some time either, but an old Conquistador or French mission could be interesting to see. Unless of course it was a dull, modern thing, of which she'd seen plenty back in the home country.

"Mostly 'cept for the outplayin' part. Not quite sure what that means?"

"Oh, sorry. Sort of like, beating. With both wits and fists, y'know?" she offered, feeling ashamed at becoming overly verbose once again. She almost added 'like Ali Baba' but stopped herself, not wanting to complicate the matter any further.

"To be honest, I haven't had any real competition out here. Oh there is one mine shaft I found but it was already abandoned. Course they claim that the best place ta find gold is on Indian reservation land though the government is gonna move 'em off that. You think we Irish have it hard... be an Indian... feel bad fer 'em but that said, gotta be careful as the Indians have been raiding and killin' folks all over the territory or so I heard."

"I saw a few of them." she told Robert matter-of-factly. "On the caravan headed west. The trailblazers said they like taking convoys, what with being filled by fresh folk with their livelihoods."

"What about you? You have somebody you know in Kalispell? Or fixin' ta stay?"

"Oh well I left my folks back in Missoula. I heard there was work down in Kalispell, what with a hospital opening up." she paused for a moment, before adding; "I was a nurse. In Milford."

It seemed impressive, even to her, but it felt as though all she'd been doing for the past decade was putting ice on bruised egos. Maybe out in Kalispell there'd be more opportunity for real work.

As they rose in altitude, climbing upward to Robert's refuge, Aoife began to feel a little more relaxed. The nature around them was pretty, and little squirrels scurried around the boughs of trees as they passed.

"How good are you with that iron then?" she asked, indicating the rifle at his shoulder. "Ever shot a rabbit?"

"A nurse ye be, huh? Well, there's an interestin' job I bet. Me sis would faint at the sight of blood, she would never have become a nurse. Well, I wish ya best of luck then. I know the town has itself a couple of doctors. One's old an' one ain't."

"Well it isn't for the faint of heart, but I manage alright. I imagine you've seen your fair share of innards and gore, if you've been living off the land." she told him. "...and thank you. For the well-wishing."

She couldn't quite tell how much time had passed, but it was enough that Aoife could have imagined waking back to the caravan by now. Not that it'd still be there of course. At any rate, she at least had someone to direct her now. "We're almost there." he told her, and Aoife allowed the tension in her trunk-carrying arm to loosen a little.

"No, not very good. I'm better if my target sits still and let's me get up nice n' close but I can't hit a movin' target to save me life. If the Indians come after me, I'm gonna have ta ask 'em to stand still so I can aim. I did hit a rabbit the other day though, he was quite tasty too. Me lucky day, him not so much." he quipped.

"Why, that's impressive enough on it's own." she said encouragingly. "I've never shot anything. Heck, no Leane ever has. Not for lack of fighting though. Da sure knew how to punch a feller. I suppose it requires a bit less thinking."