She manages to get the horse to stop

She ties Maybelle to a branch before getting off

She finds the road again and sees a sign for hotels and restaurants at the next exit in 1.7 miles

She thinks for a moment

She knows she can't be seen with the horse

But where is the safest spot to keep her

She sees a cop car coming

Her immediate thought

What if they're looking for her

Did the farmers notice Maybelle was gone already

She seemed important

Did she kill a woman

She started to panic

Retracing every single step she made

Going over it again and again in her head

Asking if she missed something

Running back to the horse she prayed

The horse was gone

The fucking horse was gone

She thought that this may make things easier

She worried what if she got lost

Eaten by some wild animal

Hit by a car

What if the horse causes a trail leading to her

Shit

She started looking for tracks

Broken branches

Hair caught on a tree

She wasn't seeing anything

She called out the horse's name

Finally she wasn't sure what direction she was even in

She was ready to cry

Then she heard running water

It was a stream

And that big beautiful horse was just upstream

drinking

Ok she thought

Things can be fixed

Maybelle

Maybelle baby

She called the horse as if it were a puppy making little kissy noises

Maybelle kept drinking

Until she tried to grab her

Then she jumped to the side

So she got close to the horse again and tried to grab the saddle

The horse jumped again

She started walking slowly

But so did the horse

She knew this was delicate situation

Then she saw between the trees

A little diner

She looked back at the horse

Well I guess this is safe enough

She whispered to herself

She hopped across the river from rock to rock

When she got to the other side she tried to wash the dirt off of her face hands and shoes

She still had her black duffle bag strapped to her

It might look suspicious so she would stash it behind the diner before approaching the front door from the opposite direction after a perimeter check

Before approaching she pulled her hair in front of her face

It would be harder to identify someone if their hair was covering their eyes half of their nose and part of their chin and the tell tale beauty mark on her cheek

She went straight for the bathroom

She noticed she had leaves stuck in her hair

And she was still dirty

She also noticed a lot of farmers and truck drivers

Maybe if she left the rest of the dirt on her she wouldn't look out of place

She came out of the bathroom and went up to a waitress

Honey, could you grab me a coffee please when you get a chance?

Sure thing ma'am.

Thanks darlin

She didn't even know why she got a country accent

It just came natural in the moment

She stared at the steam coming out of the cup for a moment

planning her next move