Don Coyote de la Merika

When her mother is killed by a roving militia, Silende struggles to survive in a harsh world of scarcity, and sudden, violent death. She is taken in by the itinerant Don Coyote, but soon discovers that his guise of easygoing, feckless detachment conceals far more calculating and complex motives.

Though "Don Coyote" is a stand alone novella, "Jemelle's Exile", which is also included in "Persephone's Library and Other short Stories", is a separate, sequel story that returns to the characters from "Don Coyote" several years later.