This is the prologue of a work-in-progress novel, Mia, or the Exodus of a Lady and a Bastard. Aiming to be 80,000 words, it follows the story of an outlaw who, after accidentally killing an innocent woman, surrenders himself to the law. Sentenced to hang, he just barely escapes death when the rope breaks, making him a free, yet ostracized, man. Thirty years later, he is forced back into action when a battered woman winds up on his front porch, pursued by her abusive husband.