"Colonel?"<br/><br/>Malcolm turned and slowly walked back, putting on foot in front of the other up the wooden steps that spoke of the sudden heaviness in his frame. His pulse had been racing, though no part of his composure immediately betrayed this during the encounter. Now, however, his body began the process of mitigating and draining out the adrenaline pumping through his veins, leaving him suddenly feeling fatigued and faint. Still, he weathered it and responded to Elody with a smirk across his lips, his eyes glimmering with bright autumnal hues and retrieved the folded up piece of paper, handing it to her to look at.<br/><br/>"It was a letter they sent me, with the official Army seal on it, to be sure, recruiting me to scout the Dakota and Montana territories for Indians out in these parts," he admitted with raised eyebrows and a pause. "I hadn't<i>accepted</i>just yet." Malcolm stood with his right foot on the top of the step, his hands folded and resting on top of it, but when Little John invited him to stay and Elody agreed, he reached up with his right hand and tipped his hat.<br/><br/>"I'm very grateful to the both of you." Just then, a cutting wind rushed across the plains and sank its fingers deep into his clothes, reminding him of the chill he had lived with for three days before he had reached the Winston spread. An involuntary shiver ran through his frame. He pulled his coat tighter around him and then proceeded up the steps and towards the front door, stopping to gaze deeply into the warm sea of Elody's eyes.<br/><br/>"A bath sounds like heaven right now, and I'm sure anything you make me right now will taste like the best meal I've ever had," he admitted with a warm smile. "I never made Colonel, but one died in my arms. It flashed through my mind when I was dealing with..." he paused and looked back at the space in front of the house where it had just happened mere minutes ago.<br/><br/>After a long moment of silence, his eyes seeming to read the darkening horizon like some book, a frown drifting over his features, Malcolm muttered, "Guess I'm not ready to die just yet." He sighed, his eyes still moving over the distance. "Storm's coming."<br/><br/>Then he returned to the present, turning to Elody, taking her left hand in his gloved right one, looking into her eyes once more. "Your husband was very lucky. I'll do my best to make sure you are, too." The smile returned to his lips as he turned to go once more back inside the house.