Cam stopped short to think about the question. Since he was holding the horse’s bridle Bronzey had to stop as well, but only after giving Cam the hairy eyeball. The horse could smell running water and really wanted to reach it.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Believe me, I care more than you know,</span>Cam thought to himself.<br/><br/>The young man breathed deeply and sighed as he stared at the ground. He knew exactly why he was sticking around: to collect a sky-high bounty for returning her safely home. Even though he couldn’t admit to that detail there were other reasons which were also true. He turned and took a step closer as his spoke, his blue eyes glinting in the bright sunlight.<br/><br/>“This is how I see it. If I were someone who wanted to hurt you or take your stuff, I would have tried by now. That’s not me. If you were someone who wanted to hurt me or take my stuff, you would have tried already, too. So here we are.”<br/><br/>He let that thought sink in for a moment before continuing.<br/><br/>“What I do for a living is help people out here – that’s how I get by.” He made it a point to make eye contact as he explained. “I help you get home, you pay me and I get to eat. It seems like a fair deal to me. Every day I wake up involves risk. I can see by the way you treat Bronzey that you have a kind heart. That's not true for most of my clients. So, the deal is still on as far as I'm concerned.”<br/><br/>Out of habit he reached out his hand to reconfirm their arrangement with a handshake, then thought the better of it. “I… ah…trust you. We don't need to shake,” he tried to explain awkwardly as he retrieved his hand.<br/><br/>"Besides, I have seen a lot of odd things in my time. The moon is getting closer every day. I think things are only going to get weirder.”<br/><br/>With that he let Bronzey lead him forwards. The horse really did need some water after all. Cam thought more about her situation for a few minutes before turning his head and making an observation over his shoulder.<br/><br/>“It must be tough, having to hide who you are, not letting people get too close to you.” His observation was genuinely heartfelt but stopped short of pity. She was clearly a strong person who could take care of herself regardless of how she might feel about her powers.