The Outlaw

Texas June 1879

Rain had Caroline Baker’s long dark hair plastered to her head and her blue cotton dress clinging to her body. Raindrops mixed with teardrops and combined with the dirt on her face leaving muddy trails down her cheeks before falling to the ground. The sun was setting to her left and she could just barely see it through the gray clouds trying to hide its light.

The revolver felt cold and heavy in her shaking hands as she looked fifty feet in front of her at the man she was supposed to use it on. His face was bloody from the beating he had already received. His hands were tied behind his back as he stood there in nothing but his muddy trousers and his black stetson hat. His chest was covered in bloody welts from the lashing Mitchell Thompson had given him with his whip.

She forced herself to look into his dark eyes and she was shocked that she saw no fear. He was looking at her with so much love and trust that she very nearly dropped the gun from her cold wet hands.

“Kill him now, Caroline.” Mitchell Thompson’s deep gravely voice said sternly from behind her. She turned to see him standing there watching her with his arm wrapped tightly around her ten year old sisters shoulders. Caroline shook her head.

“I won’t kill him, Mitchell.” she said forcing her voice to remain strong though inside she was quivering with fear. “I love him.”

“Did you hear that boys!” Mitchell asked loudly, looking around at the armed men standing all around them. “She loves him!” Mitchell gave a harsh laugh that ended just as quickly as it had begun and his icy blue eyes hardened as he looked at her.

“You had no right to love him, Caroline. You are mine. I own you. Mind, body.. Your very soul belongs to me. I bought it the day I killed your family.” Caroline shivered at the possessive coldness in his voice. She shook her head.

“I will not kill Ethan. You will just have to kill me.” she said.

“You think I won’t!” Mitchell yelled. “I will strangle the life from you with my bare hands if necessary. I will beat you until you have no fight left in your spirit.. I will break you, Caroline!”

“You won’t lay a hand on her, you fucking snake bastard!” Ethan yelled angrily from where he was standing. Caroline turned just in time to see one of Mitchell’s men named Blue knock the breath from Ethan with a punch to his gut.

“Stop!” She screamed. She wanted to run to him but her feet were shackled. Mitchell threw a glance at Blue and he stepped away. Ethan stood straight again and squared his shoulders. Caroline knew he was in pain but she admired his strength as he refused to let it show… That was one of the many things she loved about this man.

“If threatening to kill you will not work then I will just have to try a different tactic.” Caroline turned back to Mitchell and she saw her sister silently screaming in fear and her blood froze in her veins. Mitchell had her pulled tight against him with his revolver pressed against her temple.

“No please!” Caroline cried. “Don’t kill her! She is only ten. She is just a child!” Mitchell shrugged.

“This decision is yours. You either kill Ethan or I kill her.” he replied coldly. “You better make a decision before I count to ten or my men will kill both of them.”

Caroline could see the fear in Jasmine’s blue eyes and the paleness of her skin. She felt desperation enter her. This was an impossible choice and the smile on Mitchell’s face told her that he knew how torn she was and he was enjoying every second of it.

“One.” he said as he began his countdown.

“Caroline.” Ethan’s deep soothing voice called her name from where he stood. She tore her eyes away from Jasmine and looked at him.

“Two.” Mitchell said. Ethan’s eyes were full of love as he looked at her and she nearly cried out and fell to the ground with the hopelessness of her situation.

“This isn’t even a choice, Caroline. Just remember that I love you and I am sorry I couldn’t get you away from him.”

“Three.” that cold voice said behind her.

“No, Ethan! I can’t do it. I can’t kill you!” she said through her tears. He smiled at her.

“You have to, Caroline.” he replied gently. “For Jasmine.”

“Four, Five, Six…” that voice said quickly and Caroline nearly dropped the gun from her slippery hands.

“I cant….” she said. The man across from her was the other half of her heart… She couldn’t do this….

“Seven.”

“You have too, Caroline. Just pull the hammer back and squeeze the trigger darlin’.” Ethan said gently.

“Eight.” Caroline held her arms out in front of her and aimed the gun at Ethan’s handsome face. She couldn’t let her sister die. She was all Jasmine had since Mitchell had killed their mother and father and brothers. She had to protect her sister.

“I love you, Ethan.” she managed to choke out through the lump of dread in her throat.

“I love you too.” Ethan said and still she could hear no fear in his voice. He was being strong for her and that just made it even harder.

“Nine.” Caroline laid her finger on the trigger and took a deep breath. She squeezed and the sound of the shot filled the air as Ethan’s body fell to the ground. Caroline screamed his name as her heart shattered to a million pieces and she fell to her knees crawling across the wet muddy ground to his body. He was lying on his stomach and before she could flip him over she heard Mitchell laughing and she looked back at him.

“That was very well done.” he said. “I always knew you had it in you to be as cold blooded as me.”

“You are a heartless son of a bitch.” she spat. “He was your son!”

“Well then if I am such a heartless son of a bitch, I certainly can’t let her live can I?” he said tilting his chin toward Jasmine. Before Caroline could even let out a scream Mitchell Thompson squeezed the trigger of the revolver he was holding and her beautiful little sister fell lifeless to the ground with the back of her head missing.

Caroline screamed in pain and rage. She cocked the revolver as she stood and fired a shot straight at Mitchell’s laughing face but nothing happened.

“You fool! Did you think I’d give you a pistol with more than one bullet?” he demanded. Just then a man on horseback came over the rise of the canyon.

“Boss that damn posse’s coming! We gotta get the hell out of here.” he shouted. Mitchell nodded. He walked toward Caroline and she tried to run away but the shackles on her ankles kept her from doing so.

“You should have been loyal to me and kept your hands off that boy and then none of this would have happened.” he said and then he brought his fist down hard on her face and her world went black.

Chapter Two

One month earlier

Oklahoma May 1879

“Daddy, there are horses coming!” Gregory said running into the house his twelve year old cheeks flushed with fear. “The men don’t look friendly!” Norman Baker stood up from the table where he had been playing peek-a-boo with his two year old son and he looked at his wife.

“You and the kids get in the bedroom and lock that door. Don’t open it for anybody!” he ordered. She obeyed him without question and led Caroline, Gregory, Jasmine and Tommy into the bedroom.

Caroline hugged Jasmine tight in her arms as they sat on the bed and wondered what was going to happen.

“We need a bite to eat.” a cold gravely voice said from outside.

“I’m afraid I have nothing to offer.” she heard her father reply.

“Don’t lie to us sir or we’ll just kill you and come in and take your food anyway.” Caroline looked over at her mother who was simply sitting there with her bible in her hands and her head bowed. Tommy was only two years old and too young to realize anything was wrong but Gregory’s eyes were blazing with anger.

“We have to help daddy.” he whispered, but Caroline, the oldest at nineteen, shook her head and signaled for him to be quiet.

“Come on in.” her father finally replied. Caroline listened to the sound of the men piling into the tiny kitchen and living room. She could only guess how many there were but it sounded like at least ten or more.

She listened to the sounds of her mothers organized and tidy cabinets being slammed open and shut the and the sound of many men eating and talking about vulgar things that made Caroline blush with embarrassment and shiver with fear at the same time. These were certainly not good men.

Caroline moved away from the bed to look out the small window. She pulled the corner of the checked curtain back and saw a man standing outside of the house. She wondered why he hadn’t come in with the others. He looked angry as he paced back and forth across the grass covered lawn. Caroline couldn’t help but look him up and down as she watched him. He was tall and lean. He was dressed all in black. His pants, his long sleeved shirt, his vest, even his stetson hat was black.

She nearly cried out when he looked up and his eyes met hers. He was handsome she noticed. His face was tan, with a long straight nose, strong jaw and dark eyes that were currently looking into her own.

She knew she was in trouble. This man was sure to tell the others that she was in this room and then they would kill them all or worse…. Caroline shuddered when she thought of what outlaws did to helpless women and children.

She saw his eyes widen with surprise and then she was certain she saw fear enter them. She wondered what he had to be afraid of. She lost sight of him as he walked around the house and she heard his boots come into the kitchen.

“We gotta get going.” She heard him say.

“Why is that? Did you see someone?” The voice that had first spoken to her father asked.

“No but it won’t be long before a posse heads this way after what you did back in that town.” the dark stranger replied.

“We did son. You might not of killed anybody but you stood by and let it happen and that means they’ll have a noose for your neck too.”

“All the more reason we need to hightail it the hell outta here then don’t you think?” the dark stranger asked angrily.

“Why do you keep looking at the door over there, old man?” the first voice asked. “You ain’t got a wife hid in there do ya? You holding out on us poor starving outlaws?”

“There’s nothing in that room that concerns you!” Caroline heard her father reply with a mixture of nerves, fear and anger.

“Franks, go open that door.” the first man said. Boots stomped across the wooden floor and Caroline watched in fear as the door knob wiggled.

“It’s locked.” Franks replied.

“I said to open the door.”

Caroline screamed in fear and grabbed Tommy in her arms as the man kicked the door down.

“Boss there’s a whole bunch of em hid in here.” Franks said.

“Come on out or I’ll blow your dear old daddies head off.” the dark stranger’s father said.

Caroline’s mother walked out with Jasmine holding tight to her skirts and Gregory trying to look big and brave standing beside them. Caroline came out last holding Tommy tight in her arms.

The kitchen was full of men.. More than ten it seemed, though Caroline didn’t take the time to count them. She could smell them however and they were all dirty, dusty and unkempt.

“Name’s Mitchell Thompson.” The dark stranger’s father said. Caroline looked at him and saw that he and his son looked a lot alike except this man had blue eyes as cold as ice and his skin was more worn and weathered from years of living on horseback. His eyes fell on Caroline and he let out a low whistle.

“You sure are a pretty thing.” he said matter-of-factly. Caroline hugged Tommy tighter.

“If you men are finished eating I’ll walk you out.” Caroline’s father said walking toward the door.

“No, I don’t think so. I can’t very well leave you all alive when there is a posse forming to come looking for me.” Mitchell said. Caroline saw the dark stranger from outside walk over.

“There is no point in killing any of them.” he said matter-of-factly. “We have plenty of money from that bank, more than enough food… Let’s just get out of here.”

“There is a point in killing them son. They have seen us and they know we’re wanted. They will be more than happy to tell that posse what way we go once we leave here.” Mitchell said matter-of-factly.

“No we won’t, sir! I swear it to you. My family will never mention any of you!” Norman promised while he stood in front of his wife and wrung his hands nervously. Mitchell shook his head.

“See he’s a liar.” he said and before anyone had time to realize what was happening he threw back his coat, pulled his revolver and fired a single shot into Norman’s chest before holstering his gun once again.

“Daddy!” Gregory screamed and he launched his skinny body at Mitchell who smiled and again pulled his gun and fired a single shot. Gregory’s body fell on the ground beside his fathers.

“No!” Anita Baker screamed as she fell to her knees clinging to both her son and her husband’s dead bodies. Caroline wanted to cry or scream or do something but it was like her brain had shut down. There was no way this was happening. It had to be a dream.

The men in the kitchen were all chuckling and grinning. Except for the dark stranger who was looking straight at her with a look of helpless terror on his face.

“Dad stop this!” he shouted suddenly. Mitchell ignored him.

“Kill the old woman and the other boy but I want the other two alive. They could be fun.” Caroline could hear the words but they didn’t seem to sink in until a man grabbed Tommy and tried to yank him from her arms. She bit his hand and he slapped her across her face.

“I said stop this!” the dark stranger yelled again and Caroline saw him go for his revolver but Mitchell was too fast and drew his first sending a bullet through his sons arm. The dark stranger dropped his gun and yelled in pain as two other men grabbed him roughly.

“If you weren’t my son I’d kill you!” Mitchell yelled. “How dare you draw on me!”

“I’d rather be dead than be your son!” the stranger yelled back his voice full of pain and anger.

“Tie him up and throw him over a horse!” Mitchell yelled to the men holding him and they nodded and drug him out the door though he was fighting them every step of the way.

Caroline struggled against the man who was still trying to take Tommy from her arms but it was no use. He was too strong and soon the boy was torn screaming and crying from her. Caroline and Jasmine were both grabbed and their hands were bound while men held their mother back kicking and screaming.

Caroline was thrown over one of the outlaws shoulders and she squinted when she was carried out into the harsh noon sunlight. She could see Jasmine being carried out behind her. She could hear her mother screaming and begging and she could hear Tommy’s cries and then suddenly two last shots echoed inside the small cabin and there was silence.

Chapter Three

Caroline’s head was pounding and her muscles were screaming when they finally made camp that night. She had been thrown on her stomach across the saddle of an extra horse while one of the outlaws tied it to his own horse and led it across the dusty planes. They had ridden hard and covered countless miles before finally stopping.

Caroline and Jasmine were sat on the hard ground with their hands and feet bound while the men went about setting up camp. Caroline saw them carry the dark haired stranger into a small tent. He appeared to be unconscious and he was covered in blood and she found herself praying that he was going to be okay since he had seemed like the only half decent man among them all.

She had cried for a long while after leaving the cabin but finally her eyes had gone dry… There were no tears left inside of her to cry. She looked over at Jasmine and saw that her face was dirty and tearstained and her blue eyes were scared and wide as she looked around at the outlaws.

Caroline scooted closer to her and leaned into her shoulder. Jasmine looked at her.

“Are you okay?” Caroline asked softly. “Are you hurt?” Jasmine shook her head. Caroline tensed when she saw Mitchell walking over to them.

“Hello girls.” he said his voice sounding much too upbeat and chipper after the terror they had just left behind. Caroline glared at him.

“What is your name?” he asked crouching down and looking at Jasmine. Jasmine just stared at him. “Answer me girl!” he yelled. Jasmine leaned away in fear. Mitchell raised his hand to slap her but Caroline threw her own body in front of her little sister and his hand landed on her cheek instead.

“Get back! I need to teach her a lesson! When I ask a question I expect it to be answered immediately.” he roared.

“She can’t speak!” Caroline screamed back. “She never has been able to, you monster!”

“Are you telling me she’s some kind of retard?” he demanded. Caroline spit in his face and he wiped it away with a chuckle.

“God you are gonna be fun to break aren’t you?” he asked. Caroline nearly gagged at the implication in his words. Just then a man came over from the tent they had drug the dark stranger into. He was covered in blood and looked worried.

“Boss, Ethan is going to die if we don’t get him to a doc… That bullet is still in there and he’s bleeding bad.” he said. Mitchell stood up straight and cursed.

“Well we’re fresh outta doctors aren’t we? I guess the boy will learn a lesson about going against me.”

“But we can’t just let him die boss. He’s the fastest gun we got… ‘Cept you of course.” he added quickly when he saw the flash of anger in Mitchell’s blue eyes.

“What good is he with that gun if he won’t use it unless it’s in self defense? The boy is spineless!” Mitchell said angrily.

“You would let your own son bleed to death from your bullet?” Caroline demanded from where she was sitting on the ground. Mitchell thought about smacking her for speaking out of turn but then he realized that she probably knew how to sew.

He reached down and grabbed her arm dragging her to her feet as he led her over to the small tent that Ethan was currently bleeding to death inside.

“What are you doing?” she demanded.

“You are going to nurse my fool headed son back to health. Your first job is to get that damn bullet out of his arm and sew him up.” he replied. “You can sew right?” he added. She nodded.

“I need thread and a needle.” she said matter-of-factly. “And some whiskey for the wound.” Caroline had removed bullets before… She had lost her older brother to a bullet not long ago after doing everything she could to save his life.

“Franks!” Mitchell hollered as he untied her hands and feet. “Bring that damn pack you grabbed from that cabin that had needle and thread in it and I need a bottle of whiskey.” Caroline felt anger when she saw Franks walking over with her mother’s flower patterned sewing bag in his dirty hands. He handed it and a bottle of whiskey to Caroline. Then Mitchell pulled his knife from his belt and handed it to her as well.

“Don’t even think about trying anything foolish.” he warned. “Remember that your beautiful little retard of a sister is gonna be sitting out here with me.” Caroline nodded and then ducked her head and entered the tent. She gasped when she saw the man lying with his eyes closed on the blanket covered in blood. No one had even bothered to tie anything around the wound to help stop the flow of blood.

She went to him and got down on her knees beside him. She refused to look at his face as she began to unbutton his shirt. His face was too handsome and she didn’t want to see him so pale. She nearly screamed in fear when he reached out with his good arm and grabbed her hands.

“I’ll do that.” he said. His voice was weak and pain filled and Caroline looked up at him. His dark eyes were locked on her green ones as he let go of her hands and undid his buttons one handed. Caroline helped him sit up so he could remove his shirt and then she looked at the wound in his arm.

“This is going to hurt.” she said as she pushed him back down and opened the whiskey bottle.

“I know.” he replied. Caroline raised her brow.

“You’ve done this before?” she asked as she poured some whiskey on the wound. He let out a hiss of pain through his clenched teeth as he nodded.

“I’m sorry about your family.” he said as she picked the knife up and brought it toward his arm. She didn’t look away from his wound as she shrugged.

“It wasn’t your fault. You tried to stop it.” she replied as she stuck the knife deep in the wound to search for the bullet.

Ethan bit back a curse and sweat popped out on his forehead from the pain he was in as she dug around after that bullet. He focused on her face to try to block out the pain. She had pretty dark hair though it was a mess of tangles around her face from the ride across the dusty planes. Her skin was tan from the sun and her eyes were the deepest shade of green he had ever seen as she stared down at his arm deep in concentration.

Her nose was a little too big but he saw that her lips were full and pink as she bit them with her perfect teeth. He could see a bead of sweat rolling from her temple down her dusty cheek and he fought the urge to wipe it away. He admired the strength and courage he could see inside of her.

Her entire family had just been slaughtered right there in front of her eyes but she had not broken. He had heard her yelling at his father. He could sense the fire in her spirit and he had also heard his father say he would have fun breaking her. Ethan couldn’t explain it but the thought of his father touching this woman made his blood boil hotter than a hot spring in the middle of the desert in august.

“Got it!” Caroline said with satisfaction as she held the crumpled bullet up. Ethan nodded.

“Good…. Now sew that up darlin’ before there ain’t no blood left to keep in.” he said. Caroline grabbed the sewing bag and started readying the needle and thread as Ethan grabbed the whiskey and poured a big drink down his throat before cleansing his wound again.

Caroline was impressed that he did not cry out or moan as she sewed up the wound. She only looked at his face once and had found those dark eyes locked on her. She could not explain the little tremble that made it’s way down her spine whenever their eyes met. She should not be feeling things like that after what had just happened today. She felt the tears wanting to fall again but blinked them away and focused on her task of sewing his wound.

Finally she was finished and she used her apron that she was still wearing, since she had been helping her mother and Jasmine bake pies when the outlaws had shown up, and wiped her sweaty face and blood covered hands on it.

“Thank you.” Ethan said weakly. He could barely keep his eyes open and knew he would fall asleep soon.

“You are welcome.” Caroline said as she put away the rest of the thread and the needle. Ethan wondered why she avoided his gaze… then he reminded himself that he was running with the men that had just slaughtered her entire family.

“What is your name?” he asked. She looked at him then and he swore that she was seeing right into his soul as their eyes met.

“Caroline.” she replied.

“You be careful, Caroline. If you see a chance to run you take it and I’ll do whatever I can to keep you and your sister safe.” he promised. Though he wasn’t sure exactly what he could do. He was half dead from loss of blood and his fathers men had stripped him of every weapon he owned except his hands and legs… He was damn good with those but not when he had a bullet hole in his arm.

“I’ll go tell your father that you are okay.” she said standing and walking toward the tent flap.

“Mitchell.” he said quietly. She looked back at him questioningly. “Don’t call that cold blooded, murdering bastard my father.” He swore he saw a faint smile on her lips before she nodded and left the tent.

Chapter Four

No one else came in Ethan’s tent all night but he could see the shadows of the guards that his father had left outside the flap. He figured it was probably Doomer and Franks since those were those most faithful men his father had.

Dawn was upon them now and Ethan knew his father would be loading everyone up to move on soon. It was still a good two weeks of traveling before they reached the hideout down on the Mexican border. Ethan hated this life but he was just as much a prisoner as Caroline and her sister were now. He had tried to leave several times over the last ten years since joining his father at the age of sixteen but had learned fast that leaving meant dying… His father did not allow any man to ride away from him and live.

He groaned as he pulled himself up into a sitting position and listened to his stomach growl. His mouth was dry and his head was spinning. He needed food and he needed water. The whiskey wasn’t doing anything but drying him out more.

He heard someone walking up to the tent and Caroline pulled back the flap and walked inside.

“Your fa….Mitchell… wanted me to check on you this morning. Make sure you were still alive.” she said and he could hear how tired and worn down she sounded.

“How did you sleep?” he asked. He prayed that his father and his men hadn’t taken advantage of her or that little girl as they had so many girls before them.

“Jasmine and I had our own tent. Mitchell says I need to be broken in a little more before I share his tent…. Apparently he didn’t think it was funny when I bit his lip.” she replied and he could see the spark of fire in her green eyes. It made him happy to see that, though she was tired, she was far from broken.

“You’ll probably be safe til he gets to the hide out.” Ethan said matter-of-factly. She nodded and was about to leave when she heard his stomach growl.

“Have you had no breakfast?” she asked. He shook his head. “Water?” she asked and he shook his head again. Her green eyes shone with anger and she stormed back out of the tent. Ethan scooted closer to the flap and peeked out to see her standing toe to toe with Franks with her hands on her hips.

“He needs food and water.” she said matter-of-factly. Franks laughed.

“Too bad.” he said.

“Do you want to explain to Mitchell that his son died because you let him go thirsty?” she demanded. Ethan snorted. His father would probably be thrilled if Ethan dropped dead from dehydration. But this seemed to put a little fear in Franks and he walked over to his horse and grabbed his canteen and several strips of jerky and handed them to her.

“You must have made quite an impression on all of them.” Ethan said as she walked back in the tent.

“No your fa…Mitchell, told them all to make sure I was kept happy and satisfied or else he would put a bullet in them himself. I guess he thinks that by doing that I might warm up to him a little.” she replied as she handed him the canteen. He looked at her dry cracked lips.

“Have you had anything?” he asked. She shook her head.

“Not this morning.” she replied. He reached the canteen out to her but she pushed it back toward him.

“You need it worse than I do. There’s not much left in there.” she said.

“Darlin’, I ain’t taking a sip till you’ve drunk your fill.” he replied holding the canteen out to her again. “You saved my life last night.. Least I can do is make sure you get a drink of water.” Caroline took the canteen from his hand and took a sip before handing it back to him.

He smiled before pressing it to his lips and Caroline felt her heart speed up at the sight of his smile. She handed him the jerky, though he insisted that she eat some of it too, and as they both sat there chewing in silence Caroline took the time to look at him.

He was wearing only his trousers, boots and hat and though he was covered in dried blood and dirt there was no hiding just how lean and well muscled his upper body was. Caroline’s father had been a doctor so Caroline had seen plenty of half naked men while helping him with patients but never before had she felt this strange heat in her lower body while looking at one.

“You better be getting back out there.” Ethan said finally. His voice was strong, warm and soothing… Nothing like the cold, gravel filled voice his father had.

Caroline nodded and stood to leave but he grabbed her hand to stop her. Both could feel the sparks of heat from the contact and Caroline looked back at him to see that his dark brown eyes were full of concern as he looked at her.

“Be careful.” he said. “Mitchell is dangerous and unpredictable…. If I can protect you I will but you still need to be careful.” Caroline nodded and he slowly released his hold on her hand. He held the canteen out to her and she realized there was still several sips left.

“Finish it.” she said trying to give it back to him. He shook his head.

“Let your sister have a drink.” he replied. Caroline couldn’t believe his kindness…. What was someone like this doing with these kinds of men?

“Thank you, Ethan.” she said. He simply nodded and she walked out. Ethan lay back on his blankets and blew out a long breath. He would do whatever he could to keep Caroline safe. He would do whatever he could to get her away from his father before his father was able to put out that fire in her green eyes.

888

“Can you ride a horse?” Mitchell asked Caroline after camp was cleaned up. Caroline nodded.

“Good. I’ll let you have your own horse today.” he said. He saw the hope coming into her eyes and knew her mind was thinking about escape and he laughed harshly.

“I believe I’ll let the retard ride with Doomer.” he said.

“Jasmine can ride with me.” she argued. He shook his head.

“No she’ll ride with Doomer. And if you continue to argue with me I’ll make sure my men know that the retard is fair game. I’ve kept them away from her so far but you know it’s been a long time since most of them have had a woman.” he said. Caroline felt her stomach turn. Her sister was only ten… What kind of man looked at a ten year old the way he would a woman?

“What exactly do you want from me?” Caroline demanded. “Why didn’t you just kill me with my family?” Mitchell gave her a cold smile and ran one smooth finger down her cheek. He wanted her. He liked the fire he saw in her…. He had thought about forcing her to lay with him. Beating her until she had no fight left in her but now he wasn’t so sure he wanted her broken. He wanted to bed her and feel and enjoy that fire in her soul.

He would use patience with this one. He would treat her as nicely as he could afford to without losing face with his men and eventually she would warm his bed. If she still refused he would simply use her retard sister to get what he wanted.. He saw how much Caroline loved the girl and he knew she would do anything to keep her safe.

“I want you, little Caroline.” he replied matter of factly. Caroline shivered at the feel of his finger against her skin. She nearly vomited at the thought of being in his bed but she kept her back straight and her shoulders strong as she glared up at him.

“You’ll have to kill me before that will ever happen.” she spat. Mitchell gave a cold light laugh.

“We shall see.” he said as he lowered his lips toward hers. Caroline was about to slap his face when a throat cleared behind them. Mitchell turned quickly to see who had the nerve to interrupt him.

“Ethan!” he said with a laugh when he saw it was his son standing there. “What can I do for you? I’m glad to see you aren’t dead.”

“I’ll bet you are.” Ethan said as he spared a quick glance at Caroline to make sure she was okay.

“I could have killed you for drawing on me boy but I didn’t because you are my son and I was actually kind of proud to see you growing a back bone and trying to commit cold blooded murder.” Mitchell said as he walked toward his son. Then he stopped and raised his finger so it was pointed at Ethan’s nose.

“But let me tell you boy that the next time you try to draw on me I will put a bullet through your head. Is that clear?” Caroline looked at Ethan who was standing tall with his head held high. She could see the pride and strength in him and again wondered what he was doing here. Was he here just because Mitchell was his father and he felt a loyalty toward him or was it because he was a prisoner as well?

“Yes sir.” Ethan said though his eyes held too much defiance for his words to mean anything. Mitchell sighed.

“You get that fighting spirit from your old man.” he said patting Ethan on the back. Caroline could see the look of disgust on Ethan’s face at the man’s touch. “Maybe there’s more of me in you somewhere. But just in case you didn’t take my threat seriously I think we’ll just leave you unarmed till we reach home.”

“What if we run into trouble?” Ethan asked. Mitchell shrugged.

“Guess you’ll die.” he replied. Ethan nodded.

“Yea I guess so.” he replied. He knew he could kill his father in a heartbeat right now where they stood. It wouldn’t be hard. One good punch to the throat and the man would go down like a rock. Only problem was there were fifteen other heavily armed men around who were loyal to the bastard and would take it upon themselves to fill Ethan full of holes before his fathers dead body even hit the ground.

Mitchell chuckled again, gave Ethan one last pat on the back and then hollered to all the men.

“Let’s saddle up, boys! It’s time to ride!”

Caroline was given a mare of her own though her hands were bound together in front of her to take care of any thoughts she had about trying to run. Jasmine was bound and thrown onto the saddle in front of Doomer. Caroline didn’t like Doomer. He was tall to the point of being freakish and so thin that the bones in his face and hands appeared to be nearly poking through his dirty skin. He had a big nose, shifty eyes and rotten teeth.

They rode hard all day and though Caroline’s back and legs were aching and her thighs raw from rubbing the saddle she refused to voice one word of complaint or let her discomfort show on her face. She kept a close watch on Jasmine but her sister appeared to be fine. Frightened but unharmed.

Ethan rode up to Caroline sometime during the heat of the day and handed her his canteen that he had filled with water at a small stream. She gratefully excepted it and took a long drink before handing it back to him and wiping her mouth on the sleeve of her bloodstained white blouse.

“I think we could both use a change of clothes.” he said looking down at his own bloody shirt he’d worn the day before. She nodded.

“Don’t see us getting one any time soon.” she replied. He shook his head and looked around at all the other men spread across the dusty plains, squinting in the sunlight. He looked back over at Caroline and noticed that she seemed to be getting sun burned. He pulled off his hat and placed it on her head.

“If he asks, you asked for it and I gave it to you.” Ethan said matter-of-factly. Caroline nodded but held back her smile because she could feel Mitchell’s eyes on them from about one hundred feet behind them.

“How do you feel?” Caroline asked. He shrugged.

“I’ve been worse.” he replied. “How are you?”

“Scared.” she replied honestly. “Is he going to kill my sister and I?” Before Ethan could reply a whip crack rang out loudly and he yelled out in pain. Caroline turned to see that Mitchell had rode up to them and it was his whip that had cracked sharply across Ethan’s back.

“Get moving son.” he said harshly. Ethan growled under his breath and gave a sharp kick to his stallions sides, galloping away quickly to catch up with the rest of the gang.

“Mind who you talk to little, Caroline. I’m a jealous man.” Mitchell said with a warning gleam in his eye. Caroline curled her lip.

“Every single one of your men repulse me.” she said. “Believe me when I say you have no reason to be jealous.” She urged her mare faster to put some distance between them.

Chapter Five

They made camp that night in a small dusty canyon. Mitchell set two armed lookouts up on the canyon ridge to keep an eye out for the posse though Caroline had heard men talking earlier in the day and they seemed to believe the posse had already given up and turned around. It seemed that most people were too afraid of Mitchell Thompson and his men to chase them very far.

Caroline and Jasmine were sitting on the hard ground with their hands bound and the dusty sunset shining on their faces. Caroline thought about the way her mother and father had always enjoyed sitting and watching the sunset together and felt a sharp pain in her chest. Jasmine laid her head on her shoulder and Caroline pushed her pain aside and smiled down at the girls bright blue eyes. Her face was dirty and her blond hair was a mess of tangles and Caroline knew she looked the same.

“I’m going to get us out of this.” Caroline promised. “Just as soon as I can.” Jasmine nodded and patted her sisters leg. She looked in front of them and her blue eyes widened in fear. Caroline followed her gaze and saw Mitchell and Franks walking toward them.

“Ethan’s took a bad turn. Bullocks says he thinks it’s fever cuz he’s talking out of his head and won’t wake up. Do you know what to do for that?” Mitchell asked. Mitchell knew that he should have learned what to do in these kind of situations but normally after he shot someone he just had to dig a hole to put them in…. Not nurse them back to health.

“My father was a doctor before you killed him. He taught me a lot.” Caroline replied as she and Jasmine rose to their feet. Mitchell nodded.

“Just tell Frank’s what you need and he’ll get it for you.” he said. Then he grabbed onto Jasmine’s arm and pulled her toward him. Caroline glared at him but made no move to stop him. She didn’t want him to hurt Jasmine.

“Jasmine and I will have ourselves a nice little chat while you’re busy.” he added as he led the girl away. Caroline looked over at Franks. Franks was not much taller than she was, perhaps five feet eight inches or so. He had a thick red beard and mustache and his eyes were nearly black and always squinted so tightly they were nearly closed. He spit out a long stream of tobacco onto the dust and looked down at her.

“What do you need for him?” he asked.

“I need water and rags to cool him with.” she said. “And when Crenshaw has that soup ready you be sure to send some of the broth for him to eat.” Franks clearly did not like having a woman tell him what to do but liked the idea of going against Mitchell’s wishes more. He gave a quick nod and walked away grabbing a bucket and walking over to the small pond to fill it up.

“You can use that pretty little apron for rags.” he said matter-of-factly when he walked back over and handed her the bucket. “And I’ll bring some broth when it’s ready.” Caroline nodded and then walked quickly to the tent that Franks told her Ethan was in. She walked into the tent and saw him lying there with his eyes closed while he mumbled incoherently.

Caroline knelt beside him and laid a gentle hand to his forehead only to find that he was cool to the touch. She looked down at his mouth and saw the edges of his lips pulling back in a grin.

“Did they buy it?” he asked quietly. Caroline nearly laughed and it surprised her that, given her current situation, she could do something like laugh.

“Can I ask why you pretended to be out of your mind with fever?” she whispered. He opened his eyes and smiled.

“Because I knew they’d send you in here and I wanted to be able to talk to you.” he replied. Caroline shook her head.

“He won’t like that much.” she said. Ethan rolled his eyes as he sat up.

“Well then we won’t tell him will we?” he asked. “How is your sister?”

“She is as fine as can be expected.” she replied. Ethan nodded and then he reached out and laid a gentle hand on Caroline’s cheek. Caroline leaned into the comfort and warmth of his touch. “And what about you, darlin’?” His voice seemed to be a little deeper and his dark eyes even darker as he looked at her.

“I’m scared.” she admitted. She wasn’t sure why she trusted him. Something in his dark eyes told her that he was safe and that he would not harm her. Something in those dark eyes made her heart beat faster and something in his touch made her body fill with heat.

“You asked me something earlier today.” he said taking his hand away from her cheek and crossing his arms over his knees. Caroline thought back to when they had spoken.

“Are my sister and I going to die? Is he going to kill us?” Ethan looked into those green eyes and wanted to lie to her. He wanted to tell her a beautiful tale about how all of this would end soon and that she and her sister would both be fine but he couldn’t do that. No matter how badly he wanted to lie to ease the fear he saw in her eyes he could not be that cruel. He could not give her false hope.

“Darlin’, I can’t predict what’s gonna happen. I wish I could tell you it’s all gonna be fine but I can’t. You two have made it this far without any harm coming to either of ya so maybe you’ll be okay.” he said. “And like I said I’ll do what I can.”

“He’ll kill you for helping us, won’t he?” she asked. Ethan shook his head. He was lying by telling her no but he didn’t want her worried about him. He had kept his head in the sand for too long worrying about being killed. This woman inspired him to pull his head out of that sand and do something. He would find a way to get her and her sister out of here safely even if he had to die doing it.

They heard footsteps approaching the tent and Ethan quickly laid back down while Caroline pulled off her apron, wet it and began wiping his face down.

The flap was pushed back and Franks looked inside.

“How is he?” he asked. Caroline shrugged.

“It may take hours for the fever to break.” she replied keeping her voice free of any emotion. Franks nodded and held out the bowl of broth. Caroline took it. “Tell Mitchell I need my sister in here with me. I need someone to help me keep him cool.” she said.

“I’ll help.” Franks said. Caroline shook her head and slapped his hand away when he tried to touch Ethan’s leg. Frank’s eyes flashed with anger and he raised his hand to slap her face.

“Hit me and I’ll let him die.” she warned. “How do you think Mitchell will like that?” Franks lowered his hand. He knew if Ethan died because of him he’d get a bullet between his eyes. When it came to Ethan, Mitchell was very unpredictable. Franks often wondered why Mitchell didn’t just kill Ethan and be done with it since the boy obviously couldn’t be trusted but he supposed Mitchell felt some loyalty for the boy since he was his son.

“You can’t help me Franks. Do you know the first thing about medicine?” she demanded. Franks shook his head. He knew a lot about shooting women though and he hoped when the time came Mitchell let him put the bullet in this one. “Send my sister in. She helped our father just as much as I did.”

“I’ll go talk to Mitchell.” he replied and quickly left the tent.

“I wouldn’t have let him hit you.” Ethan said once Franks was gone. Caroline smiled down at him and lowered her soaked apron to her lap.

“Me either. I would have grabbed that knife strapped to his leg and cut his guts out.” she promised. Ethan’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Looks like my dad might bit off more than he can chew with you, darlin’.”

“I’m not as helpless as I look.” she replied. “Though I’m no match for sixteen armed men”

“Yeah, me either.” Ethan replied with a sigh. “Guess that’s why I’m still hanging around.”

“I knew there had to be some reason you were here with these men. You are nothing like any of them.”

“I’m not a saint, darlin’.” he replied. She smiled.

“Me either.” More footsteps could be heard approaching the tent and Ethan quickly closed his eyes while Caroline went back to wiping his face. Jasmine walked in carrying two bowls of soup. She handed one to Caroline and then sat down on the hard ground.

“Are there guards outside?” Caroline asked her. Jasmine shook her head and then folded her hands and leaned her head against them.

“They are sleeping?” Caroline asked. Jasmine nodded and then pointed up with two fingers. “Except for the two lookouts?’ Caroline asked feeling her hopes of escaping slipping away. The canyon only had one way out and those two lookouts were watching it closely.

Just then Ethan sat up and Jasmine’s eyes widened with fear as she backed up against the cloth wall of the tent.

“It’s okay, Jasmine. He’s a friend.” Caroline said gently. Jasmine’s eyes still looked wary but she nodded and seemed to relax slightly.

“Looks like we’re sleeping here.” Caroline said as the three of them started eating their meals of broth and soup.

“Are you a prisoner too then?” Caroline asked Ethan. Ethan wiped his mouth with his shirt sleeve.

“If you’re asking can I leave here alive anytime I want then the answer to that is no. I’ve tried in the past and it always ends with me being shot.”

“Why did you join them in the first place?” Caroline asked.

“My mother died ten years ago and my father showed up the day I buried her. He made the life sound wild and fun and being that I was a sixteen year old boy it sounded like the way to live. I found out quick that my father’s idea of fun and mine are pretty different.” They sat in silence for a long while after that. Lost in their own thoughts. Finally Ethan’s voice filled the quiet.

“We should get some sleep. Still almost two weeks of riding before we reach the hideout… That is unless my father decides to stop off in a town along the way.” Caroline nodded and looked around for something to lay on. Ethan stood up and motioned for her and Jasmine to lay on his bedroll.

“Where will you sleep?” Caroline asked as he covered them both up with a blanket.

“The ground’ll do just fine.” he assured her. Caroline didn’t argue. She was too tired. She laid her head down on Ethan’s rolled up coat and fell asleep quickly.

Ethan didn’t sleep. He sat there in the darkness of the tent looking at Caroline’s dark silhouette as she lay there sound asleep. He didn’t know what it was about this woman but he was drawn to her. He wanted to keep her safe and protected. He had never been much for heroics preferring to keep his head down and mind his own business. But then he had seen her looking out that cabin window and from that moment he had wanted to be her hero.

She was strong and brave and full of fire. But she was also gentle, soft and caring. He could tell that she was smart and witty. She was everything he had ever wanted in a woman. Sometimes fate could be a cruel bitch. Here was the perfect woman for him and chances were neither one of them would live long enough for him to get them out of this hell hole and find out if she could feel the same about him.

She probably couldn’t… True Ethan had never murdered anyone in cold blood and he had never mistreated a woman but he had taken plenty of things that didn’t belong to him and had stood by while his father and his father’s men had murdered, raped and tortured countless victims. Ethan wondered if Caroline could ever want to be with a man like him. Whether she could or she couldn’t didn’t change the fact that for some reason he cared deeply about this woman and he was going to do all he could to keep her safe.

He didn’t know how long he sat there simply watching her. He knew it was hours that she slept peacefully next to him. He closed his eyes to try to get some rest as well and was just dozing off when he heard her cry out.

“No!” she cried. “Not Tommy!” She started kicking and flailing around and he could hear her tears and her whimpers of fear. He laid down beside of her and pulled her into his chest wrapping his arms tight around her.

Caroline fought against him at first but he simply continued to hold her and gently stroke her back whispering comforting words into her dark hair. Finally she relaxed against him and he could tell by her steady breathing that she was once again sleeping peacefully. He breathed in the dusty scent of her hair. He could still smell the scent of lilacs on the dark strands from the last time she had washed them.

He would save her and then if she would let him he wanted to marry this woman. He didn’t know anything about her other than the fact that she made him want to be a better man and he wanted to have her with him everyday for as long as he had left.

Chapter Six

“Wake up, darlin’. They’ll be coming in here soon.” Caroline heard Ethan’s deep soothing voice whisper in her ear. She snuggled deeper into the warmth and hardness of his chest. He groaned and used every ounce of self control he had to push her away.

“Come on, darlin… We gotta make it look like you were working on my fever all night.” he said. Fact of the matter was he hadn’t had a fever when she’d come into his tent the night before but his body was hotter than hell itself this morning from holding the woman in his arms all night.

Caroline seemed to come too when he spoke this time and she jumped away from him.

“How did I end up in your arms to begin with?” she demanded as she shook Jasmine awake and they moved aside so Ethan could lie down on the bedroll.

“Well, darlin, you were having a bad dream and….” The sound of approaching footsteps silenced him and he did his best to look ill.

“I see you’re alive son.” Mitchell said as he threw aside the tent flap and poked his head inside. Ethan nodded.

“So it would appear.” he replied dryly.

“Good. It’s time to saddle up and be moving on.” Mitchell motioned for Jasmine and Caroline to follow him and he left the tent. Jasmine walked out first and Caroline was about to follow when Ethan grabbed her hand and stopped her.

She looked back at him and was surprised by the amount of concern in his eyes.

“Take care of yourself, Caroline.” he said gently. Caroline nodded.

“You take care of yourself, Ethan.” she replied. Ethan knew it was risky but he couldn’t keep himself from doing what he did next. He pulled her to him and laid a gentle kiss to her soft lips. He heard her sharp intake of breath but then she relaxed against him and brought her hand up to his cheek.

Caroline had never before kissed a man and she was pleasantly surprised by the way his lips felt against hers. His stubble covered chin was scratchy against the softness of her own but even that only added to the sensations running through her. She felt a heat low in her body and her heart seemed to be swelling in her chest.

Again Ethan groaned and pulled her away from him. He knew he shouldn’t have kissed her but she was like a drug to him. He could not resist her.

“You better get going, darlin’.” he said matter-of-factly. He could see how dark her green eyes had become and her cheeks were flushed with passion. She nodded and quickly left the tent leaving Ethan alone to wonder just what in the hell he was going to do.

888

They rode hard everyday for nearly two weeks. Caroline was never again able to speak privately with Ethan because anytime that Mitchell saw any of the men trying to speak with Caroline he became jealous and violent. Caroline was beginning to wonder if the man was insane. He had made no more moves to touch her and though Caroline did not know why that was she did not question it either.

She and Jasmine were allowed to sleep in their own tent every night though there was always a guard posted outside to ensure they did not try to escape. Caroline knew that everyday they were going deeper into Texas. She wondered what would happen to her and her sister once they finally reached the hideout.

She was surprised and confused when after nearly two weeks of seeing nothing but dusty hills and cactuses she spotted a small town in the distance.

“Where are we?” she asked Mitchell who was riding beside her. He grinned that cold grin that always sent shivers down Caroline’s spine.

“Devils Fork, my dear. One of my favorite stomping grounds. Not a law man to be found if that is what you were hoping. I plan on letting the men burn off some steam in the saloon. Have some fun with the whores and do a little drinking before we go on home.” Caroline nodded. Her mind was working hard. Maybe she’d be able to get Jasmine out of here while the men were distracted.

Her eyes scanned the dirty dusty men on horseback around her and landed quickly on Ethan’s tall back where he was riding several feet ahead of her. She felt that familiar tingle on her lips as she remembered what his had felt like pressed against them.

Over the last two weeks he had always made sure that she and Jasmine had plenty to drink throughout the day and she often caught his eyes, full of concern, watching her even though he had to be careful not to let Mitchell catch him giving Caroline extra attention.

Caroline felt anger well inside of her when she thought about the many blows Mitchell had laid across Ethan’s back with his whip when he had felt as if Ethan was paying too much attention to her. Ethan always just shrugged them off and kept coming back for more but Caroline wished he would stay away from her for his own good….

She wasn’t sure what to make of her feelings for the tall, dark, strong, kind son of the monster who had killed her family. She had never met anyone quite like him before. She wanted to help him escape his father and rescue him from the constant hell and pain that the man put him through but first she had to think of a way to rescue herself and her sister.

Mitchell noticed the way that her eyes had once again fallen on his son and he felt jealousy and anger arise within him. This bitch was ungrateful is what she was. He had shown her and her little retard sister more patience and kindness than he ever showed to anyone. So he got mad now and then and yelled at them. He slapped them from time to time and deprived them of food and water when they back talked, or in the retards case gave him a dirty look. Those things were small compared to the treatment all the women and girls had gotten before them. Hell he hadn’t even raped either one of them yet and he had kept his men from putting their hands on them as well… The bitch should be grateful! Several men were dying to get their hands on Jasmine but for Caroline’s sake Mitchell had told them no.

She would learn to appreciate all the things he did for her or else he would stop doing them. She would learn quick just how easy she had had it the last few weeks.

“Take your eyes off of him, Caroline, or I will shoot him right here and now.” Mitchell said laying his hand on the revolver on his side. Caroline snapped out of the daze that her thoughts of Ethan had her in and looked over at Mitchell.

“Take my eyes off of who? I was looking at that cactus.” she replied in the same cold, callous, emotion free voice she used whenever she was talking to Mitchell.

“You might as well forget about any fantasies you are entertaining about my son. You belong to me. Only me. I will have you, Caroline. We will be in this town several days and before we leave I will have you in my bed.” Caroline felt bile rise up in her throat but she kept her face blank as she swallowed it back down.

“All you’ll have in your bed, Mitchell Thompson, is my cold dead body because that is the only way you’ll get me there.” she replied. He could see the spark enter her green eyes and he laughed harshly.

“You think you are a tough one don’t you?” Mitchell asked her. Caroline didn’t reply as she kept her eyes locked on the buildings in the distance that were getting bigger and closer with ever step her mare took. Mitchell growled angrily and reached out and pulled Ethan’s hat off her head.

She tried to snatch it back but he threw it in the air and before Caroline had time to even realize what he was planning, he pulled his gun and fired several shots into the hat while it flew through the air. Several of the men ducked and pulled their own revolvers as they looked around to see where the shots had come from. They laughed and re holstered their guns when they saw their boss glaring at Caroline.

“You are not as tough as you think you are, little Caroline. Whether you come to my bed willingly or I have to take you by force does not matter. You will be in my bed before we leave this town. I am not a patient man by nature and I have waited entirely too long as it is. I think you have forgotten just how vulnerable you and your little retard are out here. You have no one who is going to save you. You have no one who is going to protect you. If you think my son will then you are fooling yourself. He has no backbone. He is a spineless, brainless coward and even if he weren’t, what good is one unarmed man against sixteen men with guns?”

“You must like hearing your own voice, Mitchell, because surely by now you know I really don’t care what you have to say.” she replied coldly. She knew she should just keep her mouth shut. How many times over the past two weeks had Ethan warned her to just keep her head down and stay out of trouble? Countless times was the answer to that question but she just couldn’t help herself. She never had known how to keep her mouth shut and it had been one of the things about her that had both entertained and annoyed her family to no end.

She barely managed to keep from screaming out in pain when Mitchell grabbed her by the hair and yanked her toward him. She nearly fell off her mare and tried to blink away her tears of pain as she glared at him.

“Watch your mouth, you ungrateful little bitch. You have no idea the kind of pain I can cause you.” he growled out in his gravely voice. Caroline drew up every bit of nerve and courage she had and spit in his face. Mitchell shoved her away from him quickly and then raised his hand to slap her but at that moment Ethan appeared between them on his big brown stallion.

He glared at his father with a clear warning in his dark eyes. Mitchell’s blue eyes locked with his sons and he saw it then… The look in his eyes that told him that Ethan loved Caroline and would kill him if he harmed her.

“Get the hell out of the way, son. The woman needs to be taught a lesson.” Mitchell said calmly. Ethan shook his head. Most of the men had already ridden ahead into Devil’s Fork but Doomer, Franks and Bullocks were still riding with them. Jasmine was on Doomer’s mare with him.

“You aren’t going to be teaching Caroline anything.” Ethan replied his voice that was always so gentle when speaking to Caroline was suddenly full of ice and fire all at the same time. Caroline wanted to scream at him to get the hell away. He was going to get himself killed just to save her from a slap on the face that she probably deserved for opening her mouth in the first place.

“Are you threatening me?” Mitchell demanded and Ethan saw all three of the men around them lay their hands on their guns. Ethan knew there was a good chance they’d kill him if he didn’t back down. He was not afraid of dying anymore. Even hell itself would probably be a damn nice break from living under his father’s thumb but if he died he wouldn’t be able to get Caroline and Jasmine away from here and that was a risk he couldn’t take.

“Of course not.” Ethan replied to his father. “What kind of fool do you think I am?” With that he turned his horse back around and started away from them toward Devil’s Fork. Caroline breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the men relax and remove their hands from their revolvers. Mitchell just chuckled and seemed to have forgotten about teaching Caroline that lesson.

Chapter Seven

“Here you go, little Caroline.” Mitchell said throwing two clean dresses down on the hotel bed. “You and the retard have one hour to get bathed and dressed in these new dresses.” With that Mitchell turned and left the room.

Caroline looked at the copper tub full of hot water. As bad as she wanted to tell Mitchell to take the warm bath and the dresses and shove them both up his ass the temptation to remove all the dust, dirt, grime and blood from her body and hair was just too strong.

“You first, Jasmine.” she said to her sister. Jasmine nodded and quickly slipped out of her thoroughly soiled purple cotton dress and sunk happily down in the warm water with a smile. Caroline was happy to see that her little sister was still able to smile after all that had happened.

Caroline looked around the tiny room and sighed. It was plain and dirty just the same as the rest of this town. Caroline had not managed to see much before Mitchell had brought both her and Jasmine up to this room but from what she could see this town was barely standing. All the buildings were old and run down and the men walking around were dirty unkempt outlaws like the ones she had spent the last two weeks with.

Caroline had seen Doomer and Franks tie Ethan up and throw him into a room down the hall. She hoped that tonight when all of the men were busy in the saloon she would be able to find a way to get Ethan, Jasmine and herself out of here.

Just then Jasmine thumped the side of the tub with her hand and Caroline turned to her. Jasmine was holding up the soap and pointing to her tiny back. Caroline smiled.

“You want me to help?” she asked. Jasmine smiled and nodded. Caroline knelt down and helped her sister finish bathing. Once both of them were bathed and dressed in their new dresses they sat down on the bed to wait for Mitchell to return.

He returned exactly one hour after leaving and when he saw Caroline and Jasmine sitting there on the bed clean and wearing their new dresses he smiled at his victory. It was a small victory but a victory none the less.

“Red looks good on you, little Caroline.” Mitchell said matter-of-factly. Caroline curled her nose as if she smelled something foul. Truthfully he had bathed and changed into a rather fancy pair of gray trousers, shirt and vest. He had a golden pocket watch with a large chain attached to his pants and his graying hair was slicked back on his head. He looked quite handsome. Well as handsome as an old man who murdered innocent men, women, children and babies could look.

“I’m going to head down to the saloon for some fun. I think I’ll leave you girls untied but before you get your hopes of escape too high you should remind yourself that there is no window in this room and I am boarding the door so you cannot get out that way either.” he smiled when he saw the hope fading in Caroline’s eyes. “You ladies have fun now.” he added and then left the room. Caroline could hear the board sliding into the brackets on the outside of the door. Caroline knew that by now it must be dark outside though it was impossible to tell from inside this room. She looked at the candles and lanterns hanging on the walls and let herself become lost in the flickering firelight as she thought about how she and Jasmine were going to escape.

888

Ethan groaned as he sat up on the bed. His head was pounding thanks to the crack Franks had given him with his pistol before leaving him alone in this damn room. Ethan had been lying here unconscious since and he glanced over at the window to see that it was dark outside.

“How sweet, they lit me candles.” he mumbled as he sat up and looked around the room which was lit up by the many candles and lanterns Franks and Doomer had lit. He tried to raise his hand to clean the blood that was dripping down his face but realized his hands were tied behind him. He looked down at his ankles to see that they were tied together as well.

At least the idiots had given him a room with a window. Maybe he could go out that way and find someone to cut him loose. He scooted himself to the edge of the small hard bed and stood up. He hopped his way over to the window and used his mouth to grab onto the shutters and pull them open.

The window was a no go… He was three stories off the ground with no way to climb down. Even if his hands and feet weren’t tied he wasn’t going out that way. He looked around the small room. He had to find a way out of here and then he had to get Caroline and Jasmine away from this damn town and his father. He knew it had to be tonight if he was going to keep his father from touching Caroline…. Because his father had made it clear he was not going to wait any longer.

Ethan smiled when his eyes fell on the vanity against the far wall. There was a large mirror and he could see a jar of shaving cream. Could Franks and Doomer have actually been dumb enough to put him in a room with a straight razor?

“Please be as stupid as I think you are.” Ethan said as he hopped over to the vanity. He turned his back to it and brought his hands up to the top drawer. He pulled it open and felt around the best he could inside. He was about to lose hope that there was anything useful when he felt the blade cut into his hand.

“Son of a bitch.” he hissed but he closed his hand around the straight razor and looked over his shoulder at the mirror to see what he was doing as he began to slowly cut through the ropes tied around his hands. It took longer than he had thought it would but he knew he had to go slow… He wouldn’t be a whole lotta help to anybody if he cut his damn hand off.

Once he had his hands free he cut the rope from his ankles and took some time to stretch out his sore body. He was sick and damn tired of getting beaten up. He realized his hand was bleeding pretty bad from where he’d sliced it so grabbed the bed sheet and ripped off a strip of cloth. He tied it tight around his hand and then looked around the room again.

He walked over to the wardrobe in the corner and opened it. He smiled happily when he saw that whoever had used this room before had left some clothes inside. He changed into the clean gray trousers, white shirt and brown leather vest. He preferred black but beggars couldn’t be choosers and the clothes he’d been wearing were falling apart at the seams.

He ran his hands through his dark hair and stuck the straight razor up into his shirt sleeve so it was easily accessible but hidden. He put his ear to the door but couldn’t hear any movement in the hallway. He opened the door happy to find that no one had thought to lock him in.

Franks and Doomer were complete idiots. Apparently they had taken Ethan’s actions over the past few weeks to mean he was finally broken and they had forgotten just what Ethan Thompson was capable of.

He stepped out in the hall and was surprised to see Bullocks standing down the hall in front of one of the rooms leaning against the wall. He had assumed that all the men were down in the saloon but if Bullocks was standing right there then that must be the room Caroline and Jasmine were in.

“What the hell, Ethan? How’d you get loose?” Bullocks asked standing straight and turning to face him.

“Magic.” Ethan replied taking a few steps toward him. Bullocks put his hand on his revolver and Ethan stopped.

“Go on back to your room now, Ethan. Mitchell didn’t want you out running around.” Ethan shook his head.

“I’m leaving, Bullocks. And I’m taking Caroline and Jasmine with me.” Bullocks laughed.

“No you aren’t. Mitchell would kill me if I let you take them ladies anywhere. I think he really likes the older one.” Bullocks said. “Now take your ass back to you room like the good little boy you are.”

“No.” Ethan said again. “I’m leaving and I’m taking the ladies with me.”

“You got a lot of nerve boy.” Bullocks ground out. “Maybe you don’t realize this but Mitchell said if you get out of line we can kill you now. He ain’t protecting you any more.” Ethan laughed.

“Is that what he’s been doing the last ten years? Protecting me?” he asked. Bullocks nodded.

“I’ve been wanting to put a bullet between your eyes for years boy.” he admitted. “Now either go back to you room or else I’m finally gonna get my wish.”

“One last chance, Bullocks. Walk away and pretend you never saw me or else I’m gonna have to kill you.”

“Kill me with what? Your imagination?” Bullocks asked with a chuckle. Ethan just shrugged and Bullock’s grinned.  “Bye bye Ethan.”  He went for his gun but before he could fire a shot Ethan let the razor slip down into his hand and he threw it in an arc through the air. It made a sickening thud as it sunk deep into Bullocks skull and Bullocks fell to the ground without making so much as a moan.

“Dammit Bullocks.” Ethan said as he yanked the razor back out. “Why’d you make me do that? I always kinda liked you.” He grabbed Bullocks gun and stuck in his own empty gun belt. He had no idea where his father had hidden his revolvers so he would just have to make do with Bullocks’.

Ethan pulled the wooden board out of the brackets in front of the door and opened it quickly. He barely managed to dodge the heavy glass jar that was aimed at his head.

“Bad time?” he asked as he looked at Caroline and Jasmine who both were standing there looking ready for a fight.

Caroline nearly collapsed with relief when she saw Ethan standing there. He had blood on his head where someone had struck him but he had found clean clothes somewhere and he stood there looking like a tall, dark angel coming to her rescue.

“Ethan, you came for us!” she gasped and she ran to him throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face in his chest.

“I’ll always come for you, darlin’.” he replied wrapping his arms tight around her and breathing in the scent of her freshly washed hair. It surprised him just how well she fit in his arms. How well their bodies fit together.

“We gotta go now, Caroline.” he urged as he pulled her away from him. She saw the razor blade in his hands covered in blood and then she looked around him to see Bullocks lying dead in the hall.

“Did you kill him?” she asked with wide eyes. Ethan felt a moment of doubt. Would she still come with him if she knew he was a killer?

“He just didn’t seem too interested in talking through our problems.” he replied. Caroline looked up at him with those big green eyes and when he saw her smile he felt his heart swell in his chest.

“I knew he was out there and I’ve been thinking for the last hour about how I was going to get him to open the door so I could kill him.” she said. Ethan’s dark eyes widened in surprise and he smiled broadly. Caroline loved the way his cheeks crinkled around his mouth when he smiled.

“Why don’t you just leave all the killing up to me?” he asked and she nodded. She really wasn’t in any hurry to take another persons life. She’d love to kill Mitchell for killing her family but knew that the most important thing was getting Jasmine to safety. Mitchell would get his in the end when he met his Maker.. Everyone got what they deserved in the end.

“Follow me. Be quiet.” Ethan said. Caroline and Jasmine both nodded and followed him out of the room. He led them down the hallway to a door that led out to a rickety old staircase outside. Ethan scanned the road but it was empty. The noise coming from the saloon across the street made it clear that everyone was busy having a great time.

He led the girls down the staircase and they walked behind the old buildings until they were on the outskirts of town.

“Now you two stay here.” Ethan said.

“Where are you going?” Caroline demanded grabbing onto his arm to stop him from walking away.

“We can’t very well go walking off into the moonlight with no horses or supplies, darlin’.” he said gently. “Now you and Jasmine stay here and stay down and I’ll be back in less then an hour.” He laid a gentle kiss to her forehead before walking away back toward town staying low and in the shadows.

Caroline looked up at the full moon and tried to keep her thoughts positive. Ethan was getting them out of here. They were going to run and find somewhere safe. She didn’t know what Ethan had in mind after that. She hoped that his plans included her because she was pretty sure that she loved him. She didn’t know how it had happened but it had happened. She had met a lot of men in her life given her fathers job but never before had she had such an intense physical and emotional reaction to one. Ethan was everything she had ever wanted in a man… Except perhaps for the whole thing with him being a bank robber but that hadn’t been all his fault. His father had played a big part in that. Ethan Thompson was a good man.

After nearly an hour of waiting she felt Jasmine tug on her skirt and looked over at her.

“What?” she whispered. Jasmine raised her eyebrows questioningly and motioned at town.

“What’s taking him so long?” Caroline asked. Jasmine nodded. Caroline sighed and looked back toward where Ethan had disappeared into the shadows. “I don’t’ know.” she replied honestly. She was wondering if maybe she should go back into town looking for him when she heard the sound of a horse blowing behind them. She turned quickly and found Ethan sitting on his brown stallion looking down at her.

“I know you weren’t thinking about going back into town.” he said matter-of-factly as he jumped down. Caroline bit her lip and shook her head.

“No of course not.” she replied.

“Good. You don’t need to be taking no risks for me, darlin’. I’m hardly worth it.” Before Caroline could reply to that statement he pointed to her mare that he had brought along as well.

“How did you manage to get our horses?” she asked.

“Let’s just say the stable master is gonna have a hell of a headache when he wakes up tomorrow.” Caroline nodded and then she noticed that he was wearing a different gun belt with two revolvers and there was a rifle in a sling on his back along with two large knives and a rope strapped to his belt.

“Where did you get all that?” she asked. Ethan grinned sheepishly and scratched at his chest.

“The gunsmith was busy at the saloon. I figured he wouldn’t’ mind if I borrowed a thing or two.” he replied. Caroline nodded. Ethan wondered what she was thinking now that she knew she was running away with a thief as well as a killer.

“And I’ll bet those saddlebags on both of those horses are plumb full of stuff you borrowed from the general store?” she asked. Ethan nodded.

“Yes ma’am.” he replied. She nodded and then walked around him and hopped up in the saddle of the mare and held her hand out to help Jasmine up behind her.

“That’s good.” she said matter-of-factly. “I’m glad to see my sister and I are running with somebody that can take care of us.” Ethan jumped on his stallion and tipped his hat (which he had borrowed from the stable master).

“I’ll do my best, darlin’. I can promise you that.” he said and then he galloped off and Caroline smiled as she took off after him.

Chapter Eight

They rode north hard for a week barely stopping long enough to eat or sleep. Ethan knew he was pushing the two of them too hard but he had to get as much distance between them and his father as he could before they took any kind of break.

He was proud of the fact that though he could tell Caroline and Jasmine were both completely exhausted neither of them said or did anything in complaint. They rose when he told them too in the morning and they rode until he told them to stop. He still couldn’t quite believe he had gotten them out without being caught. He hadn’t told Caroline but he’d ran into trouble when he’d went back in town.

Crenshaw had seen him and was about to shout a warning but Ethan had grabbed the man and slit his throat before he could make a sound. That was the first time Ethan had ever murdered someone who wasn’t trying to kill him and Ethan wondered if it was a bad sign that he wasn’t more bothered by it. His only thought was that if he got caught they’d find Caroline and Jasmine and he couldn’t’ let that happen.

Ethan knew his father and his men had to be chasing them. Thankfully Ethan was real good at hiding a trail and evading capture. That was something you learned real quick when you were a bank robbing outlaw. And thankfully his dad and the men he had left weren’t very good at tracking… That was not an important skill in their line of work.

888

It was early morning and they’d been riding for a week when Caroline saw the small town coming into view. She looked over at Ethan questioningly. She knew he’d been avoiding all towns thus far and wondered why they were riding straight toward this one.

“I don’t know about you, darlin’, but I’m getting a bit smelly.” Ethan replied to her unspoken question. “That and I figure the horses could use a good rub down and a night in a cozy stable.”

“What about Mitchell?” Caroline asked.

“We’ll be alright stopping for the day.” he promised. “Have a little faith in me, darlin’.”

“I would trust you with my life, Ethan.” Caroline replied matter-of-factly. “I know you’ll keep us safe.” Ethan looked at Jasmine who smiled trustingly at him as well and prayed to God that their trust was not misplaced.

They rode into town and Ethan put the horses up at the stable and got them a room at the hotel. Caroline didn’t ask him where he got the money. She figured she didn’t want to know. If she had asked him Ethan would have told her that he was using the money from the bank robberies he, his father and his fathers men had committed before coming to her farm. Ethan knew he shouldn’t use it and he had no intention of ever robbing another bank but he’d darn near gotten killed getting it and since he was using it for the good cause of rescuing Caroline and Jasmine he figured it was okay.

“You ladies take ya a bath.” Ethan said after the tub had been filled with hot water. “I’m gonna head down and get us some more supplies.”

“Ethan….” Caroline started but then she bit her lip and stopped. She wanted to talk to him about them.. If there was a them. They hadn’t kissed or really touched in the week they’d been riding. They hadn’t spoken much either except for small talk and Caroline wondered if maybe she had just imagined it when she had seen something in his eyes as he’d looked at her before.

“Getcha a bath, darlin’.” Ethan said again and then he walked out. He pulled his hat down as he walked out onto the sunny dusty street and blew out a long breath.

He loved that woman. No doubt about it in his mind but he knew there was no way she could feel the same. He was an outlaw. A bank robber and now a murderer. Not a man that deserved a woman like her. He walked over to the general store and made a list of what he wanted with the store keep. Then he walked out and the dressmakers shop caught his eye.

He walked in and the first thing he did was get himself a pair of black trousers and a black shirt. Then he picked out a dress for Caroline and Jasmine. He hoped they would fit but if they didn’t the dressmaker assured him the alterations could be done by morning. He walked out with his three packages and carried them back to the motel.

He walked up to the clerk and his wife and tipped his hat.

“Ma’am, could I get you to carry these up to the ladies in room twelve?” he asked handing her the packages that contained the two dresses. “They were bathing and I….” the older woman smiled knowingly.

“Of course.” she said. He thanked her and then walked back out. He went over to the saloon and rented a room upstairs and asked for some water to be brought up so he could bath as well.

Once he was clean, dressed and shaved he walked back out to the street and groaned when he heard the boots on the wooden walkway following behind him.

“Hey you!” a cocky voice called out. Ethan kept walking. “Hey gunslinger!” The voice yelled. Ethan stopped in the middle of the dusty road and turned to look at the man yelling at him. It wasn’t really a man he noticed but a boy probably not yet even twenty.

“I recognize you.” the boy said. Ethan shook his head.

“No, I think you’re mistaking me for somebody else.” he replied. The boy grinned a big toothy grin and shook his head.

“No. I’m not mistaken. I heard tell you’re fast with them shooters.” Ethan nodded.

“Yeah, I heard tell of that too.” he replied. He didn’t want to fight with this boy. That was one of the downsides to being a fast gun. Not very many people knew who Ethan Thompson was or would recognize him on sight but those that did were always eager to prove they were faster than him.

“Bet you ain’t as fast as me.” the boy said. Ethan shook his head.

“I ain’t got no problem with you, boy. Why don’t you just go on back in the saloon and have another drink.” Ethan said. The boy shook his head and moved his hand closer to his revolver.

“No, I ain’t afraid of you. I’m gonna be the one that takes down the fastest gunman in Texas.” he said. Ethan cocked his head to the side. Did people really call him that? He knew he was fast but he wasn’t sure about being the fastest one in Texas.

“Kid, I really don’t to draw against you.” Ethan said.

“Too bad.” the boy replied and pulled his gun. Ethan didn’t give him time to pull the trigger before pulling his own gun and putting a bullet in the boys arm. The boy dropped his gun and Ethan shook his head.

“Get to the doc boy and then go and get ya a drink.” Ethan said and he turned to walk away. He heard the revolver cock behind him and he rolled his eyes and groaned before crouching quickly and turning on his heels. The boy fired a shot which would have hit Ethan’s head if he’d still been standing and Ethan placed two bullets quickly into the kids chest.

The sheriff pushed through the crowd of people gathering on the street and walked over to Ethan.

“What happened here?” he demanded. Ethan sighed as he reloaded his gun and dropped it back in his holster.

“The kid drew on me first, sheriff. It was self defense.” he said.

“It’s true, sheriff! He told the boy he didn’t want to fight but the boy drew on him anyway and even then the man just wounded the boy and was gonna walk away but the boy shot at him again and he had to kill him then.” A short man with red hair said matter-of-factly. The sheriff looked at Ethan with bright blue eyes that Ethan was sure didn’t miss much and had seen pretty much all there was to see in this godforsaken land and he nodded.

“Alright. I believe you and I believe Ernest.” he said motioning to the red haired man who had vouched for Ethan.

“Did he have any friends I should be worried about in town?” Ethan asked. The sheriff shook his head.

“No. He was just a drifter. There wasn’t nobody in town with him.” Ethan nodded.

“Am I still welcome to stay around till morning?” he asked. The sheriff nodded.

“Yeah, I reckon ya are. This wasn’t your fault. What’s your name though, kid?” Ethan knew it was safe to tell the sheriff his name. Ethan wasn’t a wanted man because Ethan had never come close to being caught and Thompson was a common enough last name that people wouldn’t’ just assume he was related to Mitchell Thompson.

“Ethan Thompson.” he replied. The sheriff held out his hand and Ethan shook it.

“Sheriff Burns.” he said. “Now go on about your business boy while I get this mess cleaned up.” Ethan nodded and turned to walk back to the hotel and saw Caroline and Jasmine standing there watching him. He felt his heart fall to his feet. Now that the woman had seen him kill a man he didn’t stand a snowballs chance in hell with her.

He walked over to them and stood there with his thumbs through his belt loops.

“Hey ladies.” he said. Caroline shocked him when she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly with her face pressed into his neck.

“I was so scared when I saw him follow you out! I thought he was going to kill you.” she said. Ethan hugged her tight and breathed her in. Even though he knew he was bad for her she was an addiction that his body needed to survive. He needed to hold her like this. He needed to breath her scent and feel her against him. And his heart needed her around just as much as his body did.

“There ain’t nobody gonna take me away from you that easy, darlin’.” he promised and Caroline felt her heart soar at his words. She knew cowboys and outlaws didn’t say the words ‘I love you’ and so she knew that this was his way of saying those words without actually saying those words.

“There ain’t nobody gonna take me away from you either, outlaw.” she replied looking up into his dark eyes. His eyes narrowed as he looked down at her and ran his hand across her soft cheek and smoothed some of her dark hair away from her face.

“You sure about that, darlin’? I ain’t no saint as you can tell.” Caroline smiled up at him and laid her own hand on his freshly shaven cheek.

“I don’t want a saint. I want you, outlaw.” she replied surprised at the deep husky sound of her voice. She saw his eyes darken with passion and wondered if hers did the same.

“Thank God, Caroline. Cuz I don’t know if I could walk away from you even if I tried, darlin’.” Caroline smiled and Ethan swore the Texas sun got even brighter. Ethan lowered his mouth toward hers but before their lips could touch they heard Jasmine tapping her foot impatiently beside them.

Caroline blushed red and looked over at her.

“Sorry, Jasmine. I guess we got carried away.” she said. Jasmine just smiled and then hugged her sister tight before turning to Ethan and hugging him as well. Ethan patted her blond hair awkwardly.

She pulled away from him and then held out the skirt of her new yellow dress.

“She is telling you thank you for the dress.” Caroline said seeing the confused look on Ethan’s face. “And so am I.” she added looking down at her soft blue cotton dress.

“You’re welcome.” he said to both of them.

“How did you know blue was my favorite color?” she asked.

“You mentioned it once or twice.” he replied with a smile.

“You didn’t have to buy us new clothes.”

“Sure I did. It’s my job to take care of you now.” he replied. Jasmine rubbed her stomach and made a pained face.

“Hungry?” Ethan asked. She smiled happily and nodded. “See I’m starting to understand her.” he said. He held out both arms and Caroline and Jasmine both grabbed onto one and he led them down the road to the café.

Chapter Nine

They left town the next morning shortly after dawn. Ethan knew the ladies wanted to stay put a while longer but he needed to get them out of Texas and they still had a good week or more of riding left. He figured he’d take them northeast to Missouri. He knew his father wouldn’t chase them that far. Mitchell Thompson was one of the most wanted men in the country and he wouldn’t dare go anywhere where the land was settled and the law men kept order.

Ethan pushed them hard for the nearly another week until one morning they came to where the river led them to a large clear pool of water set down in between two rocky ridges. Ethan stopped to let the horses drink and eat some of the greener grasses that were growing here and he smiled when he saw Caroline and Jasmine splashing each other playfully at the edge of the pool.

“I’m gonna walk up the ridge and see what I can see.” he said and then walked quickly up the rocky sides of the ridge. It took him a few minutes to get to the top and he was happy when he realized he could see for several miles in each direction. He scanned the horizons and could see no sign of anyone else on the dusty planes.

He knew Caroline and Jasmine needed a break and he felt safe enough to stay here for the night. As long as they didn’t light any fires he wasn’t too worried anybody would find them.

He walked back down and found Caroline and Jasmine already standing beside their mare as if waiting for him to tell them it was time to go.

“You two in a hurry or something?” he asked. “I figured we’d stay here till morning.”

“But it’s just past noon. Don’t you want to cover more miles before dark?” Caroline asked. He shook his head.

“This seems like as good a place as any to rest a while. We’ll head out in the morning. There’s just one rule and that is no fires. A fire out here would send up a smoke signal that people would see for miles.” Caroline and Jasmine both nodded and laughed happily.

They spent the day relaxing, laughing and talking by that quiet pool of water. Ethan made several trips up to the ridge but each time he couldn’t see any signs of anyone. He was sitting down on the hard ground in the dark that night leaning against the wall of the ridge when Caroline walked over and sat next to him.

“Where’s Jasmine?” he asked.

“Asleep.” she replied and he could hear nervousness in her voice. He thought maybe she was afraid they were going to be found and he wrapped his arm around her comfortingly.

“I checked just before dark, darlin’ and I didn’t see anybody. We’re safe here for now, I promise.” Caroline nodded.

“I know that.” she said. “I trust you.” That wasn’t what had her nervous. What had her nervous was the fact that she wanted him the way every grown woman wanted the man she loves. She wanted him to hold her and she wanted him to make love to her. She just didn’t know how to tell him.

Ethan kissed her hair and felt the fire in his blood that he’d been feeling for as long as he could remember every time he allowed himself to touch her. He could never remember wanting a woman as badly as he wanted Caroline. He supposed that was because he’d never been in love with a woman the way he was Caroline. But he knew she was innocent and so had tried hard to hide his bodies reaction to her touch from her in an effort to keep from scaring her away.

“You want to go for a swim?” Caroline asked quietly. Ethan was surprised by the question but nodded. He stood and grabbed her hand, helping to her feet. They kept their fingers twined together as they walked to the pool of water. The stars and moon were casting barely any light.. Just enough that they could see each other when they stood close.

Caroline kicked off her boots and began to undo the buttons of her dress and Ethan cleared his throat and pulled his hat off so he could scratch his head through his thick dark hair.

“Uh, darlin’.. What are you doing?” he asked. Caroline looked up at him and nearly laughed when she realized he was nervous. What would he have to be nervous about? She knew darn well that a man who had lived like he had the last ten years was not innocent when it came to women. She was the one who should be nervous but surprisingly now that she was here by the water with him she no longer felt anything but passion and his nervousness only helped her confidence to rise.

“Don’t you think we’re a bit overdressed for a swim?” she teased. He put his hat back on and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. She knew for sure now he was nervous. He always rubbed the back of his neck when something made him uncomfortable.

“What about Jasmine?” he asked. Caroline continued to undo the buttons on her dress as she smiled up at him.

“She is sleeping and you know as well as I do that that girl could sleep through the apocalypse. I hardly think that us taking a swim is going to wake her. And even if it does there’s no way she’d seen anything in this dark.” Ethan looked down at her and even in the darkness she could see the flash of intensity in his dark eyes.

“I can promise you now, darlin’, that if you take all your clothes off and get in that water we’re gonna be doing a bit more than just taking a swim.” he said feeling his nerves being quickly replaced by his desire for this beautiful woman in front of him.

“Good, because I can promise you, outlaw, that if you take all your clothes off and get in that water I’m gonna wanna do more than just take a swim.” Caroline finished undoing the buttons and her dress slid to the ground leaving her standing there in only her thin white underclothes.

“Darlin’, you are beautiful.” he said as a warm breeze blew her dark hair around her shoulders. Caroline felt the blush color her cheeks. Ethan pulled his hat off and tossed it to the ground and grabbed Caroline gently by her bare arms and pulled her to him. He slid a gentle knuckle along her collarbone and smiled when he felt her tremble beneath his touch. He buried his hands in all of her dark hair like he’d been dying to do for weeks and lowered his mouth to hers.

The quick secret kiss they had shared nearly a month ago in his tent had not prepared either of them for the fire and passion that this kiss stirred within them. Ethan gently nudged her lips apart and explored her sweet mouth with his tongue.

Everything around them disappeared. All of their worries vanished. There was no crazy man chasing after them. There was only the two of them and the soft breeze and the stars.

Caroline pulled away and moved her fingers to the buttons of his vest. He took a step away from her and quickly removed his vest, shirt, gun belt and boots. Caroline reached out with shaking hands and ran her fingertips across the hard muscles of his chest and stomach.

It was her turn to smile when she felt him tremble and he moaned and closed his eyes. Ethan had never been touched like this before. All he’d had before Caroline were whores and they didn’t touch a man with tenderness and love the way Caroline was touching him now. Caroline’s fingers traced lower down his abdomen and she gasped when she could feel his obvious arousal through the thick fabric of his black trousers. He raised his brow and smiled at her surprised and innocent reaction.

“What did you think was gonna happen when you started running them hands all over me?” he teased though his voice was deep and rough with passion.

“I just didn’t realize it would be so big.” she said without thinking and then she blushed red and bit her lip afraid that he would laugh at her for saying something so silly.

But Ethan’s eyes were full of love as he looked back down at her. He couldn’t believe that this was happening. He didn’t know what he had done to deserve to be in this moment with this amazing woman but he sent a million silent thank-yous up to God for letting it happen.

“I love you, Caroline.” he said as he laid his hands on her cheeks and tilted her head up to look at him. Caroline felt tears fill her eyes.

“I thought tough outlaws didn’t say things like ‘I love you’” she said. Ethan cocked his head to the side.

“Who told you something like that?” he asked.

“My big brother did once before he died. He said that tough outlaws and cowboys don’t say things like that.”

“Well that might be true but right now I ain’t a tough outlaw or a cowboy. Right now I am just a man standing in the moonlight with the woman he loves and dying to make love to her.” Caroline just stared up at him for several long moments and he wondered what she was thinking behind those deep green eyes.

“I love you too, Ethan Thompson, and there is nothing I want more right now than for your to make love to me.” Ethan pressed his lips to hers and pulled her up against him as tightly as he could. He lowered his fingers to the hem of her thin undershirt and their lips broke contact just long enough for him to pull it over her head before they went back to tasting each others kisses.

He pulled away from her again and slid her thin cotton undergarments down her long silky legs. When he stood straight again Caroline reached out and undid the button on his trousers and slid them down his long powerful legs.

She nearly cried out from surprise when he put one arm behind her knees and the other around her shoulders and lifted her up into his arms. She wrapped her arms tight around his neck and laid gentle kisses along his throat and collarbone.

He carried her into the warm pool of water and walked out until the water came to his chest.

“Make love to me, Ethan.” she moaned as he lowered his mouth to her breasts and began licking and teasing.

“Don’t’ worry, darlin’. We’ll get there I promise.” he said with a grin. Caroline closed her eyes and let him take her on the journey.

888

Hours later they were lying dressed and curled up together on Ethan’s bedroll. Caroline had her back pressed into Ethan’s chest and he was running his hand up and down her smooth arm and laying gentle kisses to her hair.

“Where are we going?” Caroline asked quietly. At first she wondered if he had heard her but then she heard him sigh.

“I was hoping to not think about any of that tonight.” he said as he wrapped his arm tight around her and pulled her closer against him. “I was enjoying the peace.”

“I’m sorry, Ethan. I really am. It’s just that we’ve been riding for two weeks and I haven’t questioned you because I trust you but I would really like to know what our future holds” she said.

“I was thinking of taking you guys up to Missouri. Mitchell is too wanted and has too big a price on his head to head that far northeast. Just another day or two of riding and we’ll be out of Texas and once we make it outta Texas there’s a good chance he won’t follow us much farther.”

“Do you think he’s really following us?” Caroline asked even though she already knew the answer. She had seen herself the kind of insane possessiveness that Mitchell had toward her.

“Yes.” Ethan answered simply.

“You said you want to get me and Jasmine to Missouri. What about you? Are you…..” Caroline’s voice trailed off as she bit her lip and wondered how she should ask him what his plans were. She didn’t know if he wanted to settle down with her or if he was just going to make sure they were safe and then be on his way.

“Caroline, I uh…” She felt him take his arm away from her and she heard the familiar sound of him rubbing the back of his neck. “Darlin’, I was actually thinking that maybe you might uh… You might decide that you wanted to uh.. To marry me.” he finished.

Caroline was sure that her heart stopped beating for several seconds. She couldn’t see his face but she could just imagine the look of love in his eyes. She could hear the love in his voice. She had never imagined she would find a man who felt this way about her. It didn’t matter to her how they had met. It didn’t matter to her the kind of man he had been before. She knew that he was her man now and she could depend on him. She could count on him. He would never let her down.

“Of course I’ll marry you, Ethan.” she said happily as she felt tears of joy slip from her eyes. “That is if you decide that you want to marry me.” she added teasingly. Ethan smiled. This woman was amazing. She was strong but gentle. She was soft but tough. She was sweet and meaner than a rattlesnake all at the same time. She could make him laugh and she had filled him with more love than he had thought himself capable of feeling.

“Darlin’, I would find a way to rope that moon up there and bring it down to you if you asked me to. There ain’t nothing I wouldn’t do to make you happy.” Caroline snuggled deeper into his strong arms and the warmth and comfort they provided.

“So tell me what we’re gonna do when we get to Missouri.” Caroline said.

“That just depends on what you want, darlin’. We can get a place in the city or if you like the country more I’ll buy us some land and build us a house. We can have a new life. Me, you and Jasmine.” he said. Caroline smiled. She loved how he had always been sure to care for Jasmine.

“Country.” she replied. “I want a place in the country.”

“Good.” Ethan said. “I just don’t think I’d fit in with them city folk.” He heard her smile and then he heard her yawn. “Get ya some rest Caroline. We’ll have a few more weeks of hard riding before we reach Missouri.”

“I love you, Ethan.” she said as she closed her eyes.

“I love you too, Darlin’. More than you’ll ever know. You saved me you know. When I saw your beautiful face looking at me from that cabin window all those weeks ago you were like an angel and suddenly I wanted to be a different man.”

“You are a good man, Ethan.” Caroline assured him. He kissed her hair.

“I don’t know about that. All I know is I am your man and I am alive to make you happy and keep you safe. That is what I was born for.” Caroline turned her head and he pressed a gentle kiss to her soft lips.

“Now get some sleep.” he urged. Caroline was exhausted and her body was still tingling and relaxed from his lovemaking and it didn’t take her long to fall fast asleep in his arms.

Chapter Ten

The scent of coffee teased Caroline’s nostrils and she yawned loudly and stretched her arms out in front of her enjoying the feel of the sunrise on her face. Her mouth watered at the thought of having a hot cup of coffee. They hadn’t had any in the past week because Ethan had not allowed them to start a fire….. A fire!

Caroline’s eyes flew open to see Jasmine sitting in front of a small fire. Jasmine was filling two tin cups with coffee.

“What the hell?” Ethan yelled removing his arms from Caroline’s waist and jumping to his feet. Jasmine jumped at his sudden outburst and spilled the cups she was holding onto the dusty ground.

“Didn’t I tell you not to start any damn fires!” he demanded. Caroline could hear the fear in his voice and his fear caused her own to rise.

“I’ll be right back.” Ethan said and he grabbed his gun belt off the ground and ran up the steep path of the ridge.

“Jasmine, honey, why did you start that fire?” Caroline asked her sister. Jasmine’s eyes were full of tears and she pointed to the coffee pot. “I know you were just trying to do something nice but Ethan told you not to start any fires.”

It was only a matter of minutes before Ethan came running back to them.

“We gotta go!” he practically yelled as he untied her mare and his stallion from the bush they were tied to. Caroline could hear the hoof beats that seemed to be getting closer by the second.

“Is that Mitchell?” she asked as she climbed onto her mare and helped Jasmine up as well. Ethan nodded.

“Listen to me, Caroline. You run that horse just as fast as it can run. Don’t you stop for anything. No matter what happens you just ride.” he said handing her his second revolver.

“I won’t leave without you!” Caroline argued. Ethan jumped on his stallion and came along side of her. He pulled her to him and gave her a quick fire filled kiss before pulling away.

“I don’t plan on leaving you anytime soon, darlin’.” he promised. Then he swatted her mare on the rump. “Now let’s go!”

They took off as fast as their horses could run. Caroline knew that Ethan’s stallion was faster than her mare but he stayed behind her. She didn’t look back as she bent over the mares neck and urged her faster. She could hear the hoof beats from the gangs horses and she could hear the men whooping and hollering.

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“There they are boss!” Franks yelled.

“I got eyes too, you moron!” Mitchell yelled back and Franks quickly fell behind him. After going to Caroline’s room that morning two weeks ago and finding hers and Ethan’s rooms empty and both Bullocks and Crenshaw dead, Mitchell had been even more unpredictable and violent than usual. Two weeks they’d been riding from town to town looking for the girls and Ethan…. The gang had just wanted to let them go but Mitchell had refused.

They had a posse about a day behind them now because Mitchell had killed the sheriff in the last town they’d stopped at after the sheriff had said that Ethan Thompson had indeed been in his town.

“I want all three of them alive!” Mitchell yelled. “If they die, you die!” The thirteen men Mitchell had left riding with him all nodded and spurred their horses faster. They were in no hurry to anger their boss because they knew damn well he meant it when he said he’d kill them.

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Caroline looked out of the corner of her eye when the bullets started flying to make sure Ethan was still behind her. He gave her a reassuring look and she turned her eyes back to the front. Another bullet passed close by them and then she heard a sickening thud as another bullet found its mark.

Caroline screamed when she saw Ethan’s horse go down and he was sent flying over the stallion’s head.

“Keep going, Caroline! Don’t stop for anything!” Ethan yelled loudly as he pulled his gun and started firing at the gang. Doomer threw a rope and lassoed Ethan tightly. Ethan cursed when he realized his arms were pressed too tight against his body for him to even fire a shot at them with any accuracy.

“We got him boss!” Doomer yelled. He jumped from his horse and walked over to Ethan, intent on hogtieing him but Ethan swung his leg up and caught the man hard on the chin sending him staggering backwards.

“Watch them feet, boy.” an older gang member named Maxwell warned, walking over and punching Ethan hard in the face. He grabbed the rope and hogtied Ethan. Ethan stopped fighting then.

He knew Caroline could get away and thank God it seemed like she had listened to him though he couldn’t see her from the angle. Just then a bullet slammed into Maxwell’s chest and he fell backwards with a surprised look on his dying face.

“What the hell?” Ethan demanded. Surely she hadn’t turned around for him. He wasn’t worth dying for!

“Get away from him!” Caroline yelled as she fired another shot though this one missed its target and went sailing harmlessly past Mitchell’s head.

“Get her!” Mitchell yelled and the men quickly surrounded Caroline and Jasmine and within minutes they were hogtied on the ground beside Ethan.

“I thought I told you to keep going no matter what.” Ethan demanded gently. Caroline shook her head.

“I wasn’t going anywhere without you, outlaw.” she replied matter-of-factly.

“How touching.” Mitchell said as he walked over to them. Caroline stared at the toes of his brown dusty boots. She could see the sunlight shining off his silver spurs.

“You killed one of my men, little Caroline.” he said as he crouched down and grabbed her by her hair lifting her face to his. She bit back her moan of pain and glared at him.

“Darn, only one?” she spat. “You killed my entire family.”  Mitchell’s eyes flashed cold and angry and he punched her hard in the mouth. Caroline felt her head start spinning and she could no longer focus her eyes. She could feel the blood trickling from her lips but could do nothing to wipe it away with her hands tied behind her back.

“Get your fucking hands off of her!” Ethan yelled, fighting uselessly against his ropes. Mitchell let go of Caroline’s hair and her head fell back on the dusty ground. He stood straight and walked over to Ethan, his spurs ringing out in the silence.

“Did you touch her son?” Mitchell asked calmly. His voice was cold and flat.

“Let her and Jasmine go.” Ethan replied. Mitchell let out an angry roar.

“You touched her!” he yelled. “My own son betrayed me! She was mine!” Mitchell kicked Ethan hard in the face and then turned to Franks.

“Load them up. We’ll go back to that nice little ridge they were camped at and teach them a lesson about what happens when you betray Mitchell Thompson.”

Chapter Eleven

Jasmine looked at Ethan and felt tears pouring silently down her face. He was standing there looking so handsome and proud with his hands tied behind his back. The rain was coming down so hard it was difficult to see things clearly but she could see the blood pouring from the spots on his chest where Mitchell had whipped him. His face was bloody and bruised.

This was her fault. She had wanted to do something nice for him to pay him back for all the help and kindness he had shown to her and her sister. She hadn’t realized that Mitchell and his men were really chasing after them. She hadn’t realized that starting that tiny fire just to boil some coffee would lead to this.

“I won’t kill him, Mitchell.” she heard Caroline’s strong voice say. “I love him.” Jasmine looked at her sister ignoring Mitchell’s reply to her comment. Jasmine could tell that Caroline was scared. She may be standing straight and her voice may sound strong but she was scared. Jasmine knew Mitchell wanted Caroline to kill Ethan. But Jasmine also knew that Caroline loved Ethan. They didn’t know it but Jasmine had been listening the night before when Ethan had asked Caroline to marry him and Jasmine had been so happy when her sister had said yes.

Jasmine could feel Mitchell’s arm wrapped tight around her shoulders and she felt a shiver run down her spine. She hated Mitchell. Mitchell was a bad man and he had killed her daddy and her big brother.

“If threatening your life won’t work then I’ll just have to try a different tactic.” Jasmine heard Mitchell say and then he was pulling her in front of him and she felt the cold hard barrel of his gun against her head. She let out a silent scream of fear and she saw the panic on Caroline’s face as she begged for her little sisters life.

Jasmine saw Caroline turn back Ethan. She could hear them talking and she could hear Ethan telling her to kill him even as Mitchell counted. Jasmine saw Caroline raise the revolver and aim it at Ethan and she screamed at her older sister not to kill him… This was Jasmine’s fault and it wasn’t fair that her sister and Ethan were suffering! Of course no one could hear Jasmine’s desperate screams because her voice didn’t work. It never had. Jasmine heard the gun in her sister’s hands fire and both Ethan and Caroline fell to the ground. Caroline crawled to Ethan and then turned and yelled at Mitchell.

“Well then if I am such a heartless son of a bitch I can’t very well let her live can I?” Mitchell asked and Jasmine knew she was going to die. She saw the panic on Caroline’s face and she wished that she could tell her sister that she loved her just one time. Jasmine was dead before the sound of the shot had time to reach her ears.

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Grayson  was on his way back to his tiny shack after a long day out hunting on the plains. He was returning home with nothing to show for all his hours of work because some damn posse had ridden past him in the rain and scared every critter within one hundred miles way.

He decided to take the shortcut through the ridges and he was just passing by the big pool of water that he loved to swim in when he heard a moan to his right. He grabbed his rifle quickly and aimed it toward the sound. A man couldn’t be too careful out here in outlaw territory. He looked through the rain which was starting to let up a bit. It was growing darker though and Grayson knew within another fifteen minutes or so he wouldn’t be able to see his hand in front of his face.

“Who’s there?” he called out. He heard the moan again and that’s when he saw the man lying half naked in the mud. Grayson jumped from his mare and walked cautiously toward the man. A flash of color caught his eyes and he turned to see a girls body on the ground as well. He ran to her but she was clearly dead and shot in the head and he shuddered at the sight of her. He turned his attention back to the man.

He walked over to him and nudged him with the barrel of his rifle but the man just moaned again and made no attempt to move. Grayson flipped him over with the toe of his boot and gasped. The man was covered in blood. Grayson wondered what the hell had happened to him and the girl.

He whistled for his mare and she walked over to him obediently. He hoisted the man up over his shoulder and then threw him over the mares rump. He’d have to come back with a shovel and bury the girl before the critters got her.

“Come on, old lady, let’s get this fella out of the rain.” Grayson said lovingly to his mare as he jumped in the saddle. Grayson had been living out here on his own for nearly twenty years and for the last twelve he’d had his Annabelle for company. She was the closest thing to a wife he had ever had and he treated her just as lovingly as he would a wife.

They made their way through the dark to Grayson’s tiny cabin. He had worked painstakingly hard to make sure it was camouflaged among the hills and rocks and he knew that even from the ridges it was invisible unless he had a fire going.

He carried the man into the house and took him out of his wet clothes. He tended his wounds the best he could and wrapped him in a thick wool blanket before starting a fire in the fireplace to dry to damp air in the shack. Then he grabbed his shovel and went back out in the rain to go bury the girl’s body.

Chapter Twelve

Ethan groaned and raised his hand to touch his head. He could feel the bandage wrapped around it and he thought back to the last thing he remembered. The last thing he remembered was seeing Caroline’s face full of hurt and love as he had told her he loved her and she had squeezed that trigger.

Ethan opened his eyes and realized he was inside a tiny shack. He was lying on a small hard bed and there was a fire in the fireplace across from him with a kettle of what smelled like venison stew cooking. Ethan felt his mouth water at the smell and he wondered how long it had been since he’d eaten.

Then he wondered what the hell he was doing still alive. Caroline had had that gun aimed right at his head. He had heard the sound of the shot and then everything had gone black. He tried to sit up but found that he could not and he collapsed back down on the bed feeling as if knives were being rammed between his ribs.

“I wouldn’t try to move just yet kid.” he heard a voice say from across the one room shack. His eyes flew to the man quickly and he instinctively reached for his gun belt only to find he was naked beneath the wool blanket he was covered with.

“Who the hell are you?” he demanded finding that his words barely came out louder than a whisper and his throat burned with the effort of talking. The man, who was wearing clothes made of what looked like deer hide and had a big bushy blond beard and thin blond hair that was wild and tangled around his face, walked over to him with a cup in his hands.

“Drink ya some water before you try to talk. You’ve been laying in that bed for a whole week.” Ethan’s eyes widened with surprise even as he took the cup and drank deeply letting the cool water soothe his dry throat.

“You found me?” he asked. The man nodded and smiled, revealing a mouth full of rotten teeth with quite a few missing.

“Yep. You were pretty beat all to hell to, kid. Looked like somebody wanted you dead.” Ethan nodded.

“Yeah, somebody did.” he replied.

“Me and Annabelle found you out there and brought ya back here. Looked like somebody tried to shoot ya in the head but it just grazed ya and knocked ya out I guess. You were beat pretty bad too. Couple of bruised ribs maybe a couple cracked. The damn fever about took ya but since you’re awake now I reckon you’ll be okay.”

Ethan pulled the blanket down to his hips so he could look at his chest and realized just how bad he looked. His ribs were indeed bruised bad and he was covered in cuts and welts from his fathers whip. He could remember the way Caroline had screamed every time the whip had fallen across him almost as if she could feel the pain herself. Now she and Jasmine were alone with his father and had been for a week. He felt his heart break at the thought of what his father was putting them through.

“Here’s ya some soup.” the man said bringing him a wooden bowl full of the delicious smelling stuff. He sat in on a small table beside the bed and helped Ethan into a sitting position leaned against the wall. Ethan grabbed the soup from him and happily began eating.

“Annabelle make this?” he asked remembering that that was who the man had said was with him when he’d been found. The man laughed as if what Ethan had just said was the funniest thing he’d ever heard and Ethan wondered if maybe this man was a little crazy.

“No not Annabelle. The old lady don’t cook too good.” he replied. “My names Grayson by the way.” he added.

“Ethan. Where is Annabelle?” he asked.

“Out in the barn. She stays out there most of the time.” Grayson replied. Ethan raised his brow. This man made his woman stay out in the barn?

“Really?” he asked. The man nodded.

“She can’t very well come in the shack.” he said as he sat down at the small table beside the fireplace. “She don’t fit through the door.” Ethan’s eyes widened in shock. Ethan had seen lots of women in his life but never one so big she wouldn’t fit through a door. Grayson noticed the look on his face and started laughing loudly again.

“She’s a horse, kid! Damn what did you think she was? A woman?”

“Yea actually I did.” Ethan said rubbing the back of his neck. “I mean you did call her old woman.”

“She is old and she sure as hell ain’t a man. She’s the closest thing to a wife I’ve ever had. Been with me for twelve years.” Grayson replied his gray eyes getting misty as he thought about his beloved horse. Ethan just shook head and went back to eating the stew. It wasn’t his place to judge the man, even if he did seem to be a few bushels short of a full load.

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“I ain’t never seen somebody so determined to get up and about after taking a beating like you did!” Grayson said three days later as he sat cutting up some meat for stew and watching Ethan walking in circles inside the shack. He had found some clothes for Ethan to wear even though they didn’t fit perfect. A pair of brown trousers and a deer hide shirt. The shirt fit a little tight across Ethan’s chest since Ethan was broader than Grayson was but Ethan was happy with how easy it was to move around in.

“I got business I gotta take care of.” Ethan replied thinking about Caroline and Jasmine.

“Business?” Grayson asked. Ethan nodded.

“Some men gotta die and I gotta kill them.” he replied.

“The men who did this to you and killed that girl?” Grayson asked. Ethan’s blood froze in his veins. This was the first Grayson was mentioning anything about a dead girl.

“What dead girl?” Ethan asked his voice barely above a whisper. Grayson wiped his dirty hands on his deer hide pants and stood up.

“The girl that was dead where I found you. Somebody shot her in the head and did a better job than they did when they shot you.”

“What…” Ethan’s voice cracked so he cleared his throat and tried again. “What did she look like?” Grayson could see the fear and sadness in Ethan’s eyes.

“Young girl.. Maybe ten or twelve. What was left of her hair was blond.” he replied. Ethan closed his eyes and groaned as he sat down hard on the bed.

“That son of a bitch killed her anyway.” he whispered as his heart broke thinking about what Caroline was going through because of his father. Grayson sat down.

“Kid, I think maybe you need to tell me what’s going on. Might do ya some good to have somebody on your side.” he said.

“You might not want to be on my side once you find out who that puts you up against.” Grayson snorted.

“Let me be the judge of that.” he said and so Ethan told him everything. Starting with the day Mitchell killed Caroline’s family and ending with Caroline pulling the trigger and putting the bullet in his head. Once he was done Grayson rubbed his thick beard for several long minutes and then nodded.

“I’ll help ya get her back. Sounds to me like as long as she’s with that man her life is in danger.”

“I don’t think he’ll kill her. I’ve never seen him the way he is with her. It’s like he truly believes that she is his. But there ain’t no reason for you to involve yourself, Grayson. You done saved my life and as far as I’m concerned that’s more then enough.”

“Nonsense. If that was my Annabelle I’d be going after the men that had her. Besides the old lady’s been wanting to take a vacation.” Ethan couldn’t help but chuckle.

“You are one crazy man, Grayson.” he said. “A good man but a damn crazy one.” Grayson grinned his nearly toothless grin and went back to cutting up the meat.

“I’m gonna take that as a compliment.” he said. “As fast as this world and the people in it are going to hell I’m happier than hell to be less than normal.”

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It was nearly a week from the time he woke up in Grayson’s shack before Ethan was feeling fit enough to start back down south. He knew his father would have taken Caroline straight back to the hideout and so that’s where Ethan was going to head. He walked out to the barn to find Grayson saddling up Annabelle and a stallion that he had said Ethan could keep once all this was over.

“I’ll pay you for that stallion as soon as I can.” Ethan assured him. Grayson just waved his hand.

“Nonsense. I said you can keep him. Besides I don’t like the way he looks at my Annabelle so I’m more than happy to get his big ass out of the barn.” Ethan chuckled and jumped up in the saddle.

“We’ll head to town and fill these saddlebags. Afraid we’ll have to buy you a couple more revolvers cuz your pa stole yours and all I got is a rifle.”

“I don’t have money.” Ethan replied. “They stole that too.”

“I got plenty. I made a lot of it when I was a young man and as you can see by my lovely home I don’t spend very much of it out here.”

“I’ll make sure you get it all back when this is over.” Ethan promised. Grayson just shrugged and took off on Annabelle and Ethan urged his stallion faster to catch up.

Chapter Thirteen

Caroline looked around the dark dirty room she’d spent the last few weeks in. She would have long since lost track of days and night if not for Franks taking her out for a walk once a day and the nightly visits that Mitchell had made to her room since they’d arrived here. She shivered and nearly vomited the bread and water she’d eaten for breakfast when she thought of his hands touching her and his body on hers…..

She had fought him with everything she’d had the first night he’d come but it had been useless. He was stronger than she could ever hope to be and he had laughed and told her how much her fire turned him on…. So after that she had laid limp and motionless beneath him while he sweated and groaned on top of her

This had angered him worse than anytime she had spit or yelled at him and therefore she had made sure to lay limp and motionless every time he came. He was not gentle and she was covered in bruises but each time he left angrier than the time before and if she’d had any happiness left inside of her she would have smiled at her victories.

She had no happiness left inside of her however. Her heart was dead and her soul was gone. She had killed the love of her life in order to save her sister and that monster had killed her sister anyway and then laughed at her tears. Not that she had cried for long.. She didn’t want to give Mitchell the satisfaction of seeing her broken. She had nothing left to live for but had too much spirit to lay down and die. She thought every day of how she would escape but still had not found a way.

The gang had broken up after that rainy night nearly three weeks ago. Most of the men had gone off to do their own things with the money they still had from the bank robbery. Only Franks and Doomer had come with Mitchell back to the hideout near the Mexican border.

Caroline was sitting on the tiny bed in the windowless room when thoughts of Ethan again entered her mind. She tried not to think of him often because she never could keep her tears from falling when she thought of him. She tried hard to not think about how cold that gun had felt in her hands. Or the way it had roared in her ears when she had squeezed the trigger and sent the bullet into her beloveds head.

Instead she tried to remember that incredible night in their little oasis they had found. She remembered the way Ethan’s hands had touched her with such skill and the way his arms had held her with so much love and tenderness. She could still remember the fire of his kisses and the look in his eyes as they had made love in that pool. She could remember how he had rubbed his neck nervously as he’d asked her to marry him.

She wiped hot wet tears from her eyes and punched the hard mattress beneath her. She was a murderer. A cold blooded murderer. She had pulled that trigger and killed Ethan as he had looked at her with nothing but love. It would make murdering the three men holding her prisoner easier she supposed. Once you’ve killed the love of your life the thought of killing other people didn’t bother you quite so much.

Caroline heard the key in the lock of her door and quickly dried her face. Franks came in carrying a plate of food. He didn’t bring his guns or knives with him when he came to see her anymore, not since the first day she’d been here and had managed to get his knife from the strap on his leg and had sliced his arm deeply before he managed to get it away from her.

“How is your arm?” she asked as he sat the plate full of potatoes and venison on the bed.

“Better than yours is going to be once Mitchell tires of you and I’m able to get a hold of you.” he promised with a glint in his small black eyes.

“I am not afraid you any of you, Franks. I welcome the thought of dying and you cannot possibly hurt me any worse than I am already hurting.” Caroline noticed that he was quiet so she looked up at him and was surprised by the strange look on his face. He had never looked at her that way before. It was almost like he felt sorry for her.

“Eat your lunch, Caroline, and then I’ll take you out for a walk. Mitchell is gone to town till tomorrow so he won’t be bothering you.” Caroline nodded unsure of how to respond to the kindness in his normally harsh voice. Franks turned and walked back out.

Caroline wondered if maybe she could use his kindness against him. Maybe she could get him to let her go while Mitchell was away and then once she was free she could plan a away to come back and kill Mitchell and avenge the deaths of her mother, father, brothers and Jasmine. And of course Ethan.. Because though she may have been the one that pulled the trigger Mitchell was truly the one to blame.

She knew she had to get out soon. They had traveled for two weeks to reach this hideout of Mitchell’s and now she’d been locked in this room for nearly another two weeks. Mitchell was getting meaner every night he came and Caroline knew that her face was already scarred from the many beatings he had given her. She knew he wasn’t going to keep her alive much longer and that she was running out of time.

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“You must think I’m stupid or something.” Franks said matter of factly as they walked around the courtyard of the abandoned fort that Mitchell called home. Caroline shrugged.

“It had crossed my mind.” she replied as she fidgeted with the manacles that were around her wrists causing the chain that led down to the manacles on her ankles to rattle.

“Even if I do feel a little sorry for ya that don’t mean I’m gonna let you go! Mitchell would kill me for sure.”

“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of Mitchell.” Caroline asked forcing disbelief into her voice. “A tough guy like you?” Franks laughed.

“You think you’re real smart. Trying to get me to turn against my friend but I see what you’re doing and it ain’t gonna work. You are gonna stay right here until Mitchell gets tired of ya and then I guess you’ll die.” Caroline felt her last bit of hope fading. She had hoped Franks would help her but that seemed hopeless and she knew that Doomer was a no go. He was even more loyal to Mitchell than Franks was.

“We could run together you and I.” Caroline said throwing her head back so her dark hair would catch the sun. She smiled the most charming smile she could manage through her busted lips and looked over at him. He was staring hard at her and she could tell by the look in his eyes that he found her tempting.

“Yeah and I guess if we ran away together you’d let me make love to you?” he asked causing Caroline to shiver with disgust. “And I’m not talking about what you do with Mitchell. I want your body the same way you gave it to Ethan. I want you willing and….” He never got a chance to finish before Caroline launched herself at him. Not that she could do any damage with her hands and feet chained together.

Franks laughed and grabbed her by her hair to hold her still.

“That’s what I thought, you little bitch. Trying to use your body to get what you want. Well I ain’t that stupid and it ain’t gonna work on me. Let’s get your ass back to your room.” Caroline bit her lip to keep from crying out in pain as he drug her by her hair back to her little room.

Chapter Fourteen

Ethan and Grayson rode into Devils Fork around midnight and led their horses to the stable. Ethan knew it was only a few more hours of riding until he reached his father’s hideout at the old fort and if they kept riding they’d get there at dawn. Ethan wanted to have the cover of darkness when he rode in so they were going to stay here in Devil’s Fork until dark fell the next day and then make their way to the fort.

“You better take good care of my Annabelle.” Grayson said to the young stable hand. “She’ll tell me if you don’t, kid, and then there will be hell to pay.”

“Yeah, mister, sure. I’ll take care of your horse.” The boy said. Grayson puffed up angrily.

“Her names Annabelle, dammit.” he bellowed. The stable hand looked over at Ethan to see if this man was serious but Ethan just shrugged and threw his saddlebags and the pelts he’d collected over the last two days over his shoulder.

“Sure mister. I’ll take care of Annabelle.” the boy said. Grayson grabbed his own saddlebags and glared at the boy.

“And mind how you rub her down boy! I’m a jealous man.” he said and before the boy could respond to this Grayson turned and walked out of the stable.

“Is he serious, mister?” the boy asked Ethan. Ethan shrugged.

“Just don’t rub his horse the wrong way and I guess we won’t have to find out.” he replied and followed Grayson out the door. They took their stuff to the hotel and Grayson rented both of them a room on the second floor. Ethan didn’t like the first floor because it was too easy for outlaws to come through the windows and he didn’t want the third floor because you couldn’t jump out the window if somebody came through your door.

“I don’t know about you, kid, but I’m feeling a bit thirsty.” Grayson said. Ethan nodded. He’d made some money over the last two weeks by shooting coyotes and deer and selling their pelts in towns when they stopped. He had some more to sell but the general store was closed till morning.

“Sure I could use a drink.” Ethan replied. He pulled his bandana off his neck and tied it around his face so all that was visible beneath his hat were his eyes.

“What the hell you doing, kid?” Grayson asked with a laugh.

“Might be some folks around here that would recognize me.” Ethan replied. “Folks that would be real surprised to see me looking so healthy.”

“Alive you mean.” Grayson countered. Ethan shrugged.

“I figure it’s better if I make myself a little harder to recognize.” Grayson nodded and the two men walked down the dusty road to the saloon. They ordered two whiskeys and then walked to a back corner where the shadows were dark enough Ethan could pull his bandana down without fear of being recognized.

They sat there in silence for a long while scanning the saloon and Ethan’s eyes fell on four men he recognized. Dusty, Zachary, Pete and Freddy, his fathers men. Men that had helped his father hold him, Caroline and Jasmine. Men that had stood by and laughed as his father had forced Caroline to shoot him and then stood by and allowed him to kill little Jasmine anyway. In Ethan’s mind they were men that deserved to die.

“Mitchell wants all of us to meet up at the fort tomorrow. Tommy and Blue are already out there with him along with Franks and Doomer. Mitchell says he’s got a job for us up in Pikes Basin. They got a new bank and their sheriff is real green.” Dusty said.

“Sounds good to me. I’ve about went through my earnings from the last job.” Pete said before letting out a loud belch.

“He should be easier to be around now that Ethan is dead. Won’t be so much tension.” Zachary agreed.

“And seeing as how Mitchell finally killed that brown haired bitch he was so hung up on we won’t have that to worry about either.” Dusty added. Pete looked surprised as he held up his empty glass and signaled for a saloon girl to bring him another.

“Did he finally kill that whore?” he asked. Ethan was staring hard at the men and his heart was lying in pieces right next to his worn out boots on the dusty saloon floor. Caroline could not be dead. If she was dead then his life was over. The thought of holding her in his arms again was the only thing keeping his head on straight. If she was gone then he didn’t have any reason to fight the darkness inside of him.

“They talking about your woman?” Grayson whispered. Ethan nodded slowly.

“I was over at the fort the other day and didn’t see no sign of her anywhere and usually he parades her around like a damned trophy. I noticed the last time I saw her about a week ago that she looked like she’d had the hell beat out of her. I’m sure by now he’d have gotten tired of her and finally killed her off.” Dusty replied.

“You think he really killed your woman?” Grayson whispered. Ethan couldn’t form a response. His brain seemed to have shut down all except for the part that controlled his trigger finger. Without a word of warning Ethan stood and pulled his revolver, firing two shots straight into the hearts of Pete and Zachary who fell to the ground dead.

Dusty yelled and he and Freddy jumped to their feet and tipped the table over so they could take cover behind it. Ethan fired two more shots into the wooden table and heard Freddy yell in pain as one of the bullets went through.

“Who the hell are you?” Dusty yelled as he fired a blind shot in Ethan’s direction. Everyone else in the saloon quickly cleared out except for Grayson who was ducked down in the corner.

“You know who the hell I am. Now stand up and face me like a man, you son of a bitch.” Ethan replied calmly.

“Ethan is that you?” Dusty asked as he stood up straight. “I thought you were dead! Surely you ain’t gonna kill me. We was friends.” he said holstering his gun. Dusty knew Ethan didn’t kill men who wouldn’t draw on him… Then again Pete and Zachary were lying dead on the floor and Freddy was quickly bleeding to death from the hole in his gut so maybe Pete shouldn’t have put his gun away so quickly.

“Yeah, we was friends.” Ethan replied and then he fired a single shot into Pete’s head.

“Damn kid. You are good.” Grayson said walking over. Ethan didn’t reply. Instead he walked around the table to where Freddy was lying in a pool of his own blood.

“Hey there, Freddy. How long has it been since you all stood around and watched me be executed after we’d rode together for ten years?” Freddy’s eyes widened as he looked up at Ethan. Ethan kicked Freddy’s gun away from him when he saw his bloody hand reaching for it.

“You’re dead, Ethan. We all saw her shoot you.” Freddy said his voice weak and wet sounding as the blood gathered in his lungs.

“Guess you’re fixing to get killed by a dead man then aren’t you?” Ethan asked.

“Don’t kill me, Ethan I never did nothing to that girl. Help me get to the doc”

“There ain’t no help for you, Freddy. You’re dead with or without another bullet from me.” Ethan replied.

“Dammit Ethan! Are you a ghost or something?”

“Yea that’s exactly what I am.” Ethan replied as he holstered his revolver. Truthfully he was a ghost. Now that he knew Caroline was dead he was just a ghost of a man with nothing to live for other than revenge. Ethan walked away from Freddy and Grayson followed quickly behind him.

“Kill me, Ethan! Don’t let me die slow!” Freddy yelled. Ethan stopped. He figured he owed it to Freddy to kill him quickly since they had been friends years ago. He pulled his gun, fired one quick shot into Freddy’s head and then continued on his way.

“Do you think your woman is really dead?” Grayson asked as they walked into the hotel. Ethan nodded.

“My father wouldn’t have kept her alive forever. If they said she’s dead then I ain’t got no choice but to believe it.” Ethan replied in a voice that was so cold and empty it made Grayson shiver.

“I’m sorry, kid.” he replied.

“Tomorrow morning I’m riding to the fort. I’ll wear the bandana, hide my face, change my voice and tell him I’m there to join up with him. Once I’m inside I’ll kill that son of a bitch once and for all.”

“You’ll need help.” Grayson replied. “Them men said your pa’s got four other men with him. I know you’re good with them guns you got but a little back up never hurt nobody.”

“I don’t want nobody else getting killed for me, Grayson. I ain’t got no plans of living past tomorrow and I don’t rightly care just as long my father don’t live past tomorrow either.”

“That ain’t no way to talk, kid. You gotta have something in life to live for.” Grayson scolded. Ethan shook his head.

“Not without her. She’s the one damn person in my entire life that ever called me a good man. She trusted me and I let her down. Without her I ain’t got nothing.” The two men stood in the hallway in silence for several long minutes before finally Grayson spoke up.

“I’m riding with you, kid. I don’t know nothing about good men and bad men. I think we all got a little of both in us. But I know that anybody that can kill that pretty little girl I buried nearly a month ago don’t deserve to be breathing the same air as the rest of us.” Ethan nodded.

“Alright then. Get some sleep. We’ll leave first thing in the morning.” They shook hands as if sealing their fate and then they both went into their separate rooms to toss and turn until morning. Both of them knowing they probably wouldn’t live through the next day.

888

“Mitchell Thompson! We’re interested in a job!” Grayson hollered out. It was around noon the next day and he and Ethan were sitting on their horses outside the fort. They had agreed to let Grayson do the talking figuring that even if Ethan tried to change his voice his father would recognize it.

“Mitchell’s busy right now. What can I do for you men?” Franks asked looking through a tiny hole in the big wooden door of the fort.

“Well we heard some men talking in Devils Fork last night and they were saying that Mitchell Thompson was out here and looking for men to go work a job with him.” Grayson replied.

“Yea and where are these men you heard talking now?” Franks asked.

“I’m afraid they’re dead. They ran their mouths to the wrong bunch of fellas and got their heads blown clean off.” Grayson replied as he patted Annabelle’s neck.

“Shit.” Franks muttered. He moved away from the door and Ethan and Grayson looked at each other and shrugged. Ethan had plenty of dynamite in his saddlebags to toss over the wall if they weren’t allowed into the fort. It was several long minutes before Franks came back.

“Alright I’m opening up. But I want you boys to know that there are two other men out here with me that are armed and ready to blow you both sky high if you try anything funny.” he warned.

“We ain’t here to try nothing funny. We just want to make some damn money.” Grayson replied. The doors were swung open wide and Grayson and Ethan rode slowly into the fort. Ethan looked around as Franks closed the door behind them.

He knew this fort like the back of his hand. It was small and there was only three buildings inside. One was a bunkhouse where the men stayed, one was a barn and the other was made of adobe bricks and this was where Mitchell stayed. Franks, Tommy and Blue walked around to stand in front of Ethan and Grayson.

“Jump down off those horses, boys.” Franks said and Ethan and Grayson did.

“Her names Annabelle.” Grayson muttered under his breath. Franks ignored him and turned his attention to Ethan.

“You got something to hide, friend? Take that bandana off your face.” he said. Ethan shook his head and took a wide legged stance while crossing his arms over his chest.

“You ain’t in no position to tell me no.” Franks said angrily.

“He ain’t gonna tell you nothing.” Grayson cut in. “He can’t talk. He don’t take that bandana off because to tell you the truth his damn face is a mess. He ran into some trouble in a saloon a few years back and took a bottle across the face. Messed him up pretty bad. It ain’t a pretty sight.”

“I don’t like it.. I wanna see your face.” Franks said stepping toward him. Ethan thought he was going to have to shoot Franks, which he didn’t want to do just yet because he didn’t even know where his father was but just then Mitchell walked out of the big brick building.

“Leave him be, Franks. Probably doing us a favor with that bandana.” he ordered. “You look more like a trapper than you do a bank robber, old man.” he said to Grayson.

“Names Grayson. I need some cash and I like to kill people. I heard you’re a good man to run with if you want to do both.” Grayson replied. Mitchell laughed and Ethan felt his hand itching for his revolver. He was about to draw and put a bullet straight through his fathers laughing lips when he heard a familiar voice.

“Dammit, Doomer, you son of a bitch, get your hands off me! I’ve been walking on my own for damn near twenty years! I think I can handle it!” Caroline yelled angrily. Ethan’s head whipped around to look at her and he felt the biggest sense of relief he’d ever felt in his life. Caroline was alive. He relaxed his arm. He couldn’t just start a gunfight now. Caroline could be harmed. He would have to take this slow and figure out a way to get her out of here alive.

“You’re a mean little bitch.” Doomer yelled back. Ethan took time to look at Caroline more closely. She was chained. She had manacles around her wrists and ankles with a short chain connecting them. She was clean and had on a nice green dress. Her dark hair was long and silky down her back. But her face was a mess. She had several small scars on her cheek below her eye and her lips were busted open where someone’s fist had struck them. Her bare arms were covered in bruises and he could see several bruises on her soft neck as well. He felt his blood boiling. His father would pay for each of those bruises with blood.

“Charming as always Doomer.” she said looking over at Ethan and Grayson. Caroline felt a strange sensation come over her when she looked at the one with the bandana on his face. There was something familiar about his posture and the way he stood there staring at her. She couldn’t see his eyes clearly because his hat was pulled too low. She realized that he reminded her of Ethan and she nearly let a tear slip down her cheek before blinking it away. Doomer gave a yank on her chain bringing her attention back to him.

“I was just trying to help ya walk in them a chains. You know be a gentleman.” Caroline gave a harsh laugh.

“Little late for that, Doomer. Don’t ya think?” she asked. Grayson chuckled while Ethan bit back his own laugh. He wasn’t supposed to be able to talk, or laugh for that matter. He was happy to see that Caroline’s spirit was still strong. She wasn’t broken yet. “Why don’t you be a real gentleman and let me out of these chains?”

“Hell no, devil woman. The last time I did that you stabbed me in the damn leg with my own damn knife!”

“Ethan was right when he said you were the dumbest son of a bitch on the face of the earth.” Caroline replied while throwing her dark hair over her shoulder with a twist of her head.

“Yes but Ethan was wrong when he thought he could trust you wasn’t he, little Caroline.” Mitchell asked coldly. Ethan saw and recognized each emotion as it crossed Caroline’s face. He hadn’t seen her in nearly a month but he could still read her like a book. First there was guilt and then pain and then rage and she launched herself at Mitchell with a scream. Mitchell laughed as he caught her by her hair and held her at arms length.

“God, I love you, little Caroline. I’m keeping you forever my dear.” he said. Caroline glared at him and then spit in his face. He slapped her face sharply and Ethan barely managed to contain his rage and keep his hand away from his gun. He didn’t’ want to risk Caroline’s life. Now that he knew she was alive he wanted to get her out of here and take her back to Missouri like he’d promised. He wanted to build her that farm house in the country and grow old as her husband….. He wouldn’t live long enough to get her out of this fort if he drew his revolver now.

“Say hello to our new friends, Caroline. This is Grayson and uh…” Mitchell pointed at Ethan and looked over at Grayson.

“Uh… I don’t rightly no seeing as how he can’t talk and can’t write. I just call him Kid and he answers to it.” Grayson said.

“Say hello, Caroline.” Mitchell said again. Caroline curled her nose and looked at both the men.

“Hello Grayson. Hello Kid. Welcome to our humble abode. We hope you’ll be happy here and on a side note I hope you both take a bullet in your asses and can’t sit properly in your saddles for a month.” Mitchell laughed.

“Isn’t she the greatest. Full of fire this one. She’s mine though. Off limits to both of you.” he said giving both of the new men a firm glare. They both nodded though Grayson’s seemed more heartfelt. Grayson knew this was Ethan’s woman and he had no desire to piss Ethan off. Besides he was a one woman man and he done had Annabelle. He couldn’t risk her getting jealous and turning her back on him.

“All right boys. Doomer, you take little Caroline for her walk. Franks, Tommy and Blue, take the new guys and show them the bunks. We’re leaving in the morning. Dinner is at five.” With that Mitchell walked back into the big brick building.

“Bring your horses over here.” Franks said leading both men over to a small barn. “You can put em inside and give em some oats and hay.” All five men walked into the barn and Ethan and Grayson quickly put their horses up.

“Get ya some rest, old girl. I know it ain’t as nice a place as the one at home but please don’t get too cross with me. I love ya, dear.” Grayson said to Annabelle and then walked out of the barn. Franks raised his brow as he looked at Ethan.

“Does he always talk to his horse like that?” he asked. Ethan nodded.

“Is he crazy or something?” Blue asked. Ethan nodded again.

“Great. Just great. We got a damn retard and a crazy person riding with us now. Hopefully you’re both good enough with a gun it’ll be worth the trouble.” Franks said and the three men left the barn.

Chapter Fifteen

Ethan had been hoping to see Caroline at dinner but found that she was not at the table when he walked in and sat down with the rest of the men. She had cooked the meal but Mitchell did not allow her to serve the men because she had once purposely dumped the steaming hot contents of Franks’ bowl of stew on his lap and Mitchell had barely been able to stop the man before he put a bullet in her.

Ethan was even more pissed that night when he realized that Franks and Blue were keeping watch at the top of the fort and he wasn’t able to sneak into the main house to find Caroline. He could only imagine what his father was doing to her behind those walls and it made his blood freeze and boil all at the same time.

888

Mitchell was in Caroline’s room at dawn the next morning though he’d only been a gone from her room for a few hours. He was staring at her as she brushed her long dark hair in the small tin mirror. He had taken away her glass mirror after she had broken it and very nearly sliced Franks throat.

“Time to go, little Caroline.” he said and he looked her up and down with his icy blue eyes as she stood and she nearly gagged. “I like that skirt and blouse. It looks very nice on you.” he said.

“Save your compliments for someone who doesn’t hate you.” she replied coldly.

“One day you will learn to love me.” Mitchell replied pushing a long strand of her hair behind her ear.

“One day maybe you’ll wake up from your delusions. You killed my mother, father, my brothers, my sister and you are responsible for what happened to Ethan…. One day you will die, Mitchell, and it will be me that kills you.” Mitchell just laughed at this.

“Let’s go on outside, little Caroline.” he said.

“What no ropes or chains today?” she asked. He shook his head as he led her outside.

“If you are foolish enough to run the men have been advised that shooting your arms and legs is perfectly fine. You won’t die but you won’t make it far.”

“How very kind of you.” Caroline replied dryly. Mitchell handed her a straw hat when they walked out into the sunrise and though she would have liked to have thrown it back at him she knew she needed it so she put it on her head.

The six men riding with them were already saddled and ready to go. Caroline again found her eyes drawn to the stranger named Kid. He had that bandana over his face again today and his hat pulled low. He wore a gun belt with double holsters and a rifle on his back along with knives and a lasso hooked to his belt. She was again struck by just how much it felt like she was looking at Ethan. But no this was not Ethan because she had killed Ethan a month ago. This was just another damn outlaw who would probably be no different than the rest.

Caroline climbed up on her white mare and then looked at Mitchell as he climbed into the saddle of his large roan mare.

“You could just let me stay here while you go have some fun.” she said to him. He laughed harshly.

“Yes and I bet you’ll promise me that you’ll be right here waiting for me like a good little girl when I get back.” Caroline smiled a big fake smile.

“Of course.” she lied. Mitchell just shook his head and then signaled for everyone to ride out.

“Let’s go, boys. Pikes Basin is a good two day ride away.”

888

It was a little past noon and Ethan had been watching Caroline all day. He knew she had not had a thing to drink and she was starting to look a little weak in the saddle. The summer sun was beating down on all of them and everyone was covered in sweat and dust.

Ethan could see Mitchell about one hundred feet ahead of Caroline and he seemed to be very interested in the conversation he was having with Franks. Ethan couldn’t stand to see Caroline suffering and so he rode up along side of her without Mitchell noticing.

“Hi there, Kid.” Caroline said without looking at him. “They tell me you can’t talk but I didn’t know you couldn’t hear…. Mitchell told all the men to stay away from me. He won’t hesitate to put you in your place if he sees you riding next to me.” Ethan grabbed his canteen from his saddlebags and held it out for her. She looked at it for several long seconds as if considering whether or not it was poisoned and then took it from his hand.

“Thank you.” she said and took a long drink. She tried to hand it back but he shook his head and pushed it toward her mouth again. She narrowed her green eyes and looked over at him. Ethan pulled his hat lower to hide his eyes. He didn’t want her to recognize him right out here in front of everyone because she was bound to give him away.

“You remind me of someone I used to know.” Caroline said finally as she took another drink. “He always made sure I had plenty to drink too.” Then she laughed lightly.

“Guess I can tell you pretty much whatever I want and not worry about you telling a soul, can’t I?” she asked looking over at him. He shrugged and smiled though she couldn’t see it behind his bandana.

“He was my fiance’.” She said feeling the pain fresh in her heart as if it had only been yesterday that she’d lost Ethan. She didn’t really know why she was telling Kid this… She guessed it was because he reminded her of Ethan, she needed someone to talk to and she knew he couldn’t tell on her. “I loved him with all my heart even though we only knew each other for a month. He always made sure to take care of me and my little sister though he received beatings for it every time when his father was around and I used to beg him to stay away from me to save himself the pain.” Caroline smiled faintly when she remembered how he had simply shrugged and told her she was worth any pain his father could inflict on him.

“Kind of ironic that he did everything he ever could to take care of me and I ended up being the one that killed him. I stood there in the rain and put a bullet in his head while he stood there and looked at me with nothing but love and trust….. Don’t think I’m a monster though, Kid.” she added quickly. “I didn’t want to kill him. Your new boss is a bit of a son of a bitch and he made me kill Ethan to save my sister and then he killed my sister anyway…. I have every intention of killing him real soon and I’m hoping you’ll stay out of my way. You seem like a decent guy and I’d hate to have to kill you too.”

Ethan wanted to comfort her. He wanted to hold her in his arms and tell her that she was not a murderer. Tell her that he was alive and breathing and still her man in every single way. He looked at Mitchell and Franks in front of them. He knew he could easily kill both of them before they had time to draw from his position behind them but that left Blue to his left, Tommy to Caroline’s right and Doomer riding beside Grayson behind them. There was no way Ethan could get them all before they took him down or got Caroline in the process. He would have to wait.

The two of them rode in silence beside each other for several more moments before Caroline finally handed him back his canteen.

“You better get away from me, Kid. I wasn’t joking when I said he’d shoot you for talking to me.” Ethan shrugged but the look she gave him told him she wouldn’t take no for an answer so he let his horse fall behind hers.

Chapter Sixteen

They made camp that evening just before dusk and Ethan was happy to see that Caroline was given a tent. It gave him an idea on how to talk to her alone without risking blowing his cover or getting her hurt. Ethan walked a little ways away from camp and signaled for Grayson to follow him.

While Ethan took care of natures calling he whispered over to Grayson.

“I need to talk to Caroline and let her know who I am.”

“You can’t, Kid… You can’t talk remember.” Grayson replied as he pretended like he was checking the ammunition in his rifle.

“She has her own tent. I figured he’d do that. He doesn’t want his little Caroline sleeping out where all the men can see her. If I was to get hurt he would send me into her tent for her to tend to me.”

“What makes you think that?” Grayson asked. Ethan rolled his eyes.

“He’s my father. I know how he thinks and I know exactly what he’ll do in any situation. Trust me. He’ll see me hurt, he’ll send me to her tent, he’ll tell her that someone will die if she steps out of line with me and then he’ll tell her to patch me up. When we were all riding together before he did that anytime any of the guys were hurt. Her pa was a doc so she knows things about medicine.”

“Well just how do you suppose you’re gonna go about getting hurt?” Grayson asked. Ethan pointed to the rattlesnake that was curled up about three feet from where the men were standing.

“Holy shit! That’s a big snake.” Grayson said pulling his gun. Ethan grabbed his arm to stop him from shooting.

“You have to shoot my leg and then shoot the snake. You can say you missed and got me instead.”

“I don’t never miss.”

“You can say it scared ya.” Ethan replied.

“I ain’t some young kid that’s wet behind the ears.. I’m a tough old man.” Grayson said his voice full of indignation.

“Yea a tough old man that kisses his horse good morning.” Ethan replied with a chuckle.

“Her name’s Annabelle, dammit.” Grayson said. “Now where do you want the bullet and how deep in your leg am I putting it?”

“Not very damn deep unless you want one in your ass.” Ethan replied matter of factly. “I was thinking you could graze my lower leg right above my boot.”

“You sure about this?” Grayson asked. Ethan rubbed the back of his neck and shifted his weight onto the leg he wasn’t about to get shot in.

“Yeah.” he said.

The men didn’t know but Caroline was watching them from behind her tent flap and her heart jumped up into her throat at he sight of ‘Kid’ rubbing his neck nervously. She would bet her life that man was really Ethan… But how could that be possible? She cursed the tears of hope that she felt gathering in her eyes. This could not be Ethan. She had killed Ethan a month ago. Though it seemed more like a lifetime ago after all she’d been through since then. She closed her tent flap and sat back on her blankets, pulling her knees up to her chin and sobbing into them like a child. A woman could only be strong for so long before she broke down.

Caroline screamed when a shot rang out followed closely by another shot. She jumped from her tent to see ‘Kid’ jumping up and down on one leg while grabbing at the other one. She could see blood on his hands as he touched the leg he was favoring. The man named Grayson pulled a knife and cut off the head of a big rattler and held the rest of it’s long body in the air.

“What the hell are you two doing!” Mitchell demanded storming toward them.

“I killed a rattler.” Grayson replied. Mitchell pointed to Ethan who was having a really hard time keeping himself from yelling out and telling Grayson to take his revolver and shove it up his ass. He hadn’t realized just how damn bad this was gonna hurt and a man who couldn’t talk certainly wouldn’t be able to curse Grayson’s soul to the fiery pits of hell.

“What happened to him?” Mitchell demanded.

“Well the damn snake startled me and I’m afraid my first shot went in his leg.” Grayson replied. Mitchell laughed but Frank’s wasn’t so amused.

“The damn crazy man shot the retard… Boss I don’t think these men are the kinds we need to be riding with.” he said.

“We’ll need all the guns we can get once we get to Pikes Basin and go at that bank.” Mitchell replied. Then he pointed at Caroline’s tent.

“Kid, you think you can get yourself over to that tent. Little Caroline knows how to tend wounds. She’ll take care of you.” he said. Ethan bit his lip and nodded and limped over to her tent.

“Caroline, you better just tend to his leg and send him back out… If you let that man touch you….”

“Yeah, yeah, you’ll kill me or you’ll kill him or you’ll kill the virgin Mary herself…. I understand, Mitchell.” Caroline replied and she followed Kid into the tent. Ethan sat down on the blankets and Caroline didn’t even look at his face as she pulled his pant leg up, looked at the wound and then walked back out.

“Franks!” she yelled. Ethan could hear the sound of Franks boots stomping over to her.

“You don’t command me around, woman! Who the hell do you think you are?” he demanded.

“Get your hands off me, Franks, or we’ll find out who Mitchell likes more.” Caroline replied coldly.

“What do you want, Caroline?” Franks asked his voice sounding much more calm.

“I need some water to clean Kid’s wound. And I need your bandana.” she replied.

“What the hell you need my bandana for?” he demanded.

“To use as a bandage… Seems we’re fresh out of those out here in the middle of nowhere.” she replied. Ethan shook his head even as he grinned. She had a bad habit of letting her temper get carried away and letting her mouth run too much but damn it was cute to listen to. He heard Caroline’s footsteps coming back toward the tent. She walked in carrying Franks’ canteen and his bandana.

Ethan noticed that she still avoided looking at him and instead focused on his leg as she set about cleaning the wound out with water.

“You stupid outlaws! Running around shooting each other. The least your friend could have done would have been to shoot Doomer or Franks or one of them other ones instead of you.” she said. “Don’t know why I even bother patching you up when all you’re gonna do is go steal money from hard working folks and kill people who don’t deserve to die.” Ethan just listened to her voice too caught up in its soothing melody to respond.

“Can you believe he threatened to kill me or one of those men? Like I give a rats ass if one of us dies. No that’s not what he’d do. He’d wait till we get to this town we’re going to and then he’d find some little kid and shoot them and tell me it’s my fault. That’s more like what that jackass you’re riding for would do.

“You know he killed my little sister? And then never even gave me a chance to bury her or my man. So now both of their bodies are probably nothing more then a pile of coyote poop and I never even got to put them to rest.” she said and Ethan winced when she tied the bandana tight around his leg. “You’re lucky.. It’s just a graze.” she said. She was about to leave the tent when Ethan finally found his voice again and spoke up.

“Jasmine was laid to rest, Caroline. The coyotes never touched her.”

“Yeah, well what about you, Ethan?!” she demanded and then she stopped in her tracks when the reality of what he’d just said and what she’d just said back settled into her mind. She turned and crouched down in front of him. With a trembling hand she reached out and pulled the red bandana down off his face and then she covered her mouth with her hands and fell down hard on her backside.

“Ethan.” she gasped her voice barely above a whisper.

“Hi darlin’,” he replied. Her green eyes filled with tears and he reached his hand out to wipe them away but she jerked away from him.

“It can’t be you…. You are dead. I killed you.” she replied with disbelief. Ethan looked down at himself and then back at her.

“It is me, darlin’. I am very much alive and you didn’t kill me.” he replied. Caroline’s head was spinning. It was impossible but this was Ethan… This was her man and he was alive and well and as handsome as ever as his dark eyes looked at her with all the love she remembered. She barely kept herself from crying out as she threw herself into his arms.

Caroline breathed him in. She loved his scent. Sweat, dust, horse and the masculine scent that was only his. She felt his strong arms around her and for the first time in the last month she felt warm and safe.

“I love you so much, Ethan. I didn’t want to shoot you but I had to save Jasmine…” Ethan cut her off by pulling her away from him and lowering his mouth to hers. The kiss was full of fire and desperation as they tried to make up for every second they had lost with just this quick contact. Caroline pulled away first when she heard some of the men laughing in the distance and she remembered where they were.

“If I didn’t kill you then what took you so long to come for me?” Caroline asked as she ran her fingers through his thick dark hair, (his hat had been knocked off during their passionate kiss), and felt the scar where the bullet she had fired had grazed him.

“Well darlin’, you did shoot me in the head. That’s the kind of thing a man needs a little time to recover from.” Caroline bit her lip and he saw new tears coming to her eyes. He kicked himself for saying something so stupid and wiped her face clean with his thumbs.

“I’m here now, Caroline. And I’m gonna get you outta here. Do you still trust me?” he asked. Caroline nodded but stared at him with disbelief.

“You came back for me.” she said. “You could have been free from him finally but you came back for me.”

“I told you once I’d always come back for you, darlin’. My life means nothing without you in it.” he replied as if this should have been obvious to her. “Do you still trust me?” he asked again.

“Of course.” she replied. “Are we running tonight? We could run while everyone is asleep and..” She stopped talking when she saw Ethan shaking his head.

“We’re not running again, Caroline. If we run he’ll chase us and I don’t want to have to look over our shoulders the rest of our lives. That man has taken too much from you and he deserves to die.” he said. Caroline nodded. She wanted Mitchell to die too.

“But how….”

“You let me worry about that. I know where he plans on camping tomorrow night. It’s a canyon about an hour outside of this town we’re going to. We’ll get there about sundown tomorrow and he’ll want to camp for the night and hit the bank the next morning. Grayson and I will take care of everybody. You just have to keep your head down.”

“Grayson?”

“Yeah, he found me and saved my life. He’s the one that buried Jasmine. He’s a good man. A little crazy but a good man.”

“Okay, Ethan. I trust you.” she said. Ethan nodded and then pulled a derringer out of his boot.

“Can you keep this hidden with you?” he asked. Caroline nodded, took the derringer and stuck it down in her skirt, pulling her blouse over it so it was hidden.

“Good. Now if that son of a bitch tries to come in your tent tonight you just forget all about the plan and you blow his brains out of his head before he gets a chance to touch you.” Ethan said. Caroline’s face flushed red and she bit her lip and looked away from him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. Caroline picked at a fray in the blanket beneath them and he could hear the nervousness and the shame in her voice when she replied.

“He has already touched me, Ethan….. A lot.” she added. She looked at Ethan in time to see the flash of anger in his dark eyes. She had never seen him look quite this mad before. His hands were clenched in angry fists and he was breathing hard through his flared nostrils. Caroline just sat there in silence looking at him and finally he seemed to calm down a bit.

“I guess I already knew that.” he replied his voice still full of a rage Caroline knew he was barely containing. “Just the same if the son of a bitch comes in tonight make sure you blow his good for nothing brains out before he touches you again.” Caroline nodded.

“Remember, darlin’, my name is Kid and you don’t like me.” he said as he pulled her back into his arms.

“Nope I don’t like you at all.” she agreed as she laid gentle kisses along his jaw. Ethan groaned and pulled her away from him.

“I better get out of here before anybody gets suspicious. Is there any point in me telling you to keep your mouth closed and your head down until tomorrow night?” he asked. Caroline shook her head.

“You know how I am, Ethan… I have no control over my mouth.” she replied. He smiled and kissed her nose.

“I love your mouth.” he said. “Now I really do have to go. Take care of yourself, darlin’.” With that he left the tent leaving Caroline sitting there wondering if her love had really truly come back to her or if she had dreamed the last ten minutes up.

Chapter Seventeen

Ethan did not sleep at all that night. He laid awake on his bedroll and stared at Caroline’s tent. His body ached to be in there with her. His arms ached to be wrapped around her and his lips ached to be pressed back against the sweet softness of her own.

He thought about ending this tonight. There was a good chance he could sneak up on the sleeping men and kill them silently but there was also a chance he’d be caught in the act and it would be safer tomorrow night in the dark canyon with Grayson standing guard on top of the ridge with his rifle.

Ethan was relieved when dawn finally came upon them and the men all began rising from their bedrolls and eating their jerky and dry biscuit breakfast. He had fully expected to have to shoot his father in the night as he made his way to Caroline’s tent but Mitchell had made no move to join her all night.

“Let’s saddle up, boys. We gotta make it to the canyon before dark and tomorrow we’re gonna be a hell of a rot richer!” Mitchell said as he jumped on his mare.

“How is your leg, Kid?” Blue asked as he rode up alongside of Ethan as they made their way down the dusty trails. Ethan just nodded and gave a thumbs up. “You remind me of somebody, Kid.” Blue said. Ethan cursed under his breath. Of all the men that would recognize him it would be Blue.

Ethan and the Mexican outlaw had come into the gang around the same time ten years ago and since they had been the same age they had formed a sort of alliance. That was until the day that Blue had raped and murdered an eight year old girl and Ethan had seen his friend for what he truly was.

“Why don’t you take that bandana off, amigo?” Blue said. Ethan shook his head and pulled his hat lower as he squinted and looked out over the horizon. “I said now, amigo.” Blue said and reached his hand toward Ethan’s face. Ethan grabbed his arm in one hand and had his knife pulled and pressed against Blue’s neck before the Mexican had time to realize what was happening.

“What’s going on?” Grayson asked riding up beside them. Ethan let go of Blue who instantly raised his hand to his neck as if checking for blood.

“Your amigo is loco.” Blue said matter-of-factly.

“He don’t like being touched. Did you try to touch him?” Grayson asked. Blue nodded. Grayson clucked his tongue and shook his head slowly.

“You shouldn’t do that. The last fella that touched him ended up castrated like a bull at round up…. You ever seen a bull be castrated, friend?” Grayson asked. Blue looked at both men like they were crazy and then urged his horse faster to catch up with Mitchell and Franks.

“Castrated like a bull?” Ethan whispered to Grayson. Grayson shrugged.

“Worked didn’t it?” Grayson replied. Caroline rode up on Ethan’s right side laughing.

“Kid, I had no idea you knew so much about bulls….” she said. Ethan glared over at her but she could see the amusement in his dark eyes.

“Little Caroline! Get up here and ride with me.” Mitchell said glancing back at them. Caroline rolled her eyes.

“Yes sir.” she said her voice dripping with sarcasm and she urged her mare up to catch up with him. Ethan could feel Tommy and Doomer watching him from behind and that was all that kept him from drawing his gun when Mitchell grabbed Caroline by the hair and jerked her head toward him while he whispered angrily.

Ethan shook his head when Caroline spit in Mitchell’s face and Mitchell let go of her quickly and laughed. Tonight just couldn’t come fast enough so he could kill that son of a bitch once and for all.

888

“I’m telling you, boss, that hombre is Ethan.” Blue said in a whisper so that only Mitchell, Franks and Caroline could hear him. Caroline barely managed to keep a blank look on her face at his sudden statement.

“That’s impossible, Blue. I think the sun done fried your Mexican brain. Ethan is dead.” Franks replied matter of factly. Blue glared at him.

“I’ll fry your brain gringo.” he growled. Mitchell held up his gloved hand.

“Settle down boys… Ethan is dead, Blue. Our little Caroline here put a bullet in his head, remember.” he said patting Caroline on the back.

“Yeah, Blue, you remember don’t you? You watched me kill him.” Caroline added in a cold voice.

“No other gringo besides Ethan could ever get the drop on me. He had that knife at my throat before I could blink.” Blue said earnestly.

“This gringo is fixing to put a bullet up your ass if you don’t stop insulting gringos, you damn Mexican.” Franks replied.

“Enough talk about dead men, Blue. You’re just angry because he’s faster than you.” Mitchell said matter of factly.

“I’m telling you, boss.. You need to keep an eye on him.” Blue said. Mitchell nodded but said nothing else and the men knew the conversation was over. Mitchell already had been keeping an eye on Kid. There was something about the man that was familiar and while Mitchell wasn’t foolish enough to think it was his dead son come back from the grave seeking vengeance that didn’t mean the man should be trusted completely.

888

Just as Ethan had said they would they arrived at the canyon around dusk. They came to a dead end inside the canyon system that was wide enough to set up camp comfortably. Once they had all the horses tied and the fire roaring Grayson walked up to Mitchell.

“I’ll keep watch tonight.” he said. Mitchell looked the wild looking mountain man up and down.

“I always like a man that volunteers to work.” he said with a nod. “Get your ass up to that high ridge over there and take your rifle with ya.” Grayson nodded and walked over to where Annabelle was tied.

“Love ya, old girl.” he whispered to the horse. “You better keep your head down when them bullets start flying or else this old man’ll just throw himself off that cliff.” He grabbed his rifle from his saddle and started up the narrow rocky path up the steep canyon cliff side.

Ethan saw him out of the corner of his eye and smiled behind his bandana. He had been a little worried that Mitchell wouldn’t let one of the ‘new’ guys keep watch but obviously Mitchell was still just as overly confident and arrogant as he had always been. He didn’t feel the need to be too careful about watching for trouble because he was sure that no one would dare take on the great Mitchell Thompson. Ethan chuckled. Mitchell was about to get a rude awakening in the form of a very pissed off ghost from his past.

Chapter Eighteen

Ethan waited until the only sound in the camp was the crackling of the fire and the steady breathing of the sleeping outlaws. He rose from his bedroll looking very much like a ghost as he moved silently in the shadows. He pulled back Caroline’s tent flap and found her waiting for him. He motioned for her and she stepped out into the darkness. She looked up at the starlit sky and sent up a silent prayer that they would make it out of this moonlit canyon alive. Ethan walked her over to a rock on the edge of camp and made her sit behind it.

“I love you, darlin’.” he whispered gently. “You better keep your pretty ass behind this rock and you don’t come out no matter what. Do you hear me? If something happens to me then you stay here and you shoot any of them sons of bitches that come around here after you.”

“I won’t let you die again.” Caroline argued. Ethan pulled the bandana from his face and kissed her quickly.

“You heard me, darlin’.” he warned and then without another word he walked away.

Ethan glanced up on the ridgeline and saw Grayson crouched and watching him. Grayson threw his hand up and Ethan acknowledged the motion with a nod. Ethan moved through the shadows as silent as the night itself and pulled his knife as he neared Tommy’s sleeping form on his bedroll.

He crouched beside Tommy and threw his hand over his mouth. Tommy’s eyes flew open and widened in surprise when he recognized Ethan but before he could fight back Ethan slid his large skinning knife along his throat and Tommy’s eyes slowly rolled back in his head as his blood pooled around them on the ground.

Ethan moved to the next bedroll and glared down at Doomer’s sleeping body. Doomer was responsible for some of the bruises covering Caroline’s body. He would love to make this bastards death slow but he didn’t have time for that. He crouched down and clamped Doomer’s mouth closed before quickly sliding his bloody knife across his throat. He moved away from Doomer quickly to move to the next man.

Blue was next. Ethan moved silently and quickly toward him but as he lowered his hand toward Blue’s mouth, Blue’s brown eyes flew open and he grabbed his arm and flipped him over before jumping up and straddling him. Ethan was pinned to the ground beneath Blue. He fought against him but the damn Mexican was stronger than he was and he couldn’t budge him.

“I told Mitchell you had come back from the dead. You’re a ghost!
Eres un fantasma
!” Blue snarled.

“I ain’t a ghost, you jackass. You all just didn’t kill me good enough the first time.” Ethan said calmly.

“What the hell is going on?” Mitchell demanded as he stared at Blue’s back. He couldn’t see who Blue was holding down.

“Franks, Doomer, Tommy! Get over here!” Mitchell yelled. Franks rose quickly from his bedroll and ran over to Mitchell but Doomer and Tommy remained motionless.

“They are dead, boss.” Blue said. “This ghost killed them.”

“What the hell you talking about you damn crazy ass?” Franks demanded. Blue reached down to Ethan’s guns and removed them both from his gun belt and threw them into the shadows and he removed his second knife from his belt and squeezed Ethan’s wrist of the hand that was holding the bloody knife tightly until Ethan was forced to drop it.

Blue pulled his own revolver and jerked Ethan to his feet keeping the gun pressed into his side.

“Who the hell is that?” Mitchell demanded. “I can’t see his face in them shadows… Bring him over here closer to the fire.”

Ethan kept his face looking down at the ground so that it was still hidden even in the firelight.

“Kid?” Franks asked. Ethan brought his face up and saw both Mitchell and Franks take a step back in their shock as they recognized him.

“Hey pops.” Ethan said with a cold smile that sent chills down Mitchell’s spine.

“You are dead. I saw her kill you.” he said slowly. Ethan shook his head.

“I’m alive and well and I’m gonna kill you before this is over.” he replied.

“Just shoot him boss and let’s get this over with! Damn dead people coming back from the grave and slitting people’s throats in their sleep… Ain’t never seen….” Franks never got the chance to finish telling them what he’d never seen because a bullet slammed through his head as the blast of Grayson’s rifle echoed off the canyon walls.

Ethan took advantage of the shock of the moment and grabbed Blue’s wrist that was holding the gun in his side and turned it into Blue’s own chest before putting his finger over Blue’s and pulling the trigger. Blue fell to the ground and stared up at Ethan in shock.

“You killed me…..” he said weakly. “I thought you were my amigo.”

“I ain’t amigos with cold blooded murderers.” Ethan replied.

“You killed two men in their sleep…” Blue gasped in a deep painful breath. “And you’ve killed me… What does that make you?” Ethan just stared down at Blue so caught up in what he had said that he forgot about where he was or the danger that he and Caroline were in…. He watched the blood start to ooze between Blue’s lips and Blue managed one cold smile before his eyes turned lifeless and his breathing stopped.

“Get your hands off me, you son of a bitch!” Caroline’s voice snapped him out of his daze and he turned to see her being held in front of Mitchell like a human shield while Mitchell kept his gun pressed tight against her temple.

“Let go of her, father. She has nothing to do with this!” Ethan said as he spared a quick glance down at the gun still in Blue’s dead hand.

“Don’t even think about grabbing that gun boy. I’ll kill her before you ever get a chance. Now tell your man up there to toss that rifle down here.” Mitchell said. Ethan stared at Caroline. Why hadn’t she pulled her revolver and killed Mitchell when he’d come around that rock?

“Grayson!” Ethan yelled.

“I can’t get him, Ethan! Not without taking a chance of shooting your woman!” Grayson replied his voice full of frustration.

“I know. You did good, Grayson. Now throw your rifle down here.” Ethan said not taking his eyes away from Caroline’s green ones. She didn’t look scared enough for the situation they were in and he didn’t know why.

“Are you sure?” Grayson demanded.

“Yea dammit I’m sure. Throw it down.” Ethan yelled back. The next sound any of them heard was the sound of the gun crashing against the rocks at the bottom of the canyon floor.

“Let her go, Mitchell. This has nothing to do with her. This is between you and I.” Ethan said. Mitchell laughed coldly.

“This has everything to do with her! I found her! She belonged to me and you stole her away! You tried to shoot me the day she came to us! You have killed men that were supposed to be your friends all in her name!” Mitchell shouted. Ethan knew it was true… He had become a murderer same as the rest of these men were but his murders had all been for Caroline… Everything he had done the last few months had been for Caroline. She was all that mattered. He couldn’t lose her now.

“Let her go.” Ethan said again but Mitchell just laughed.

“I have no choice but to kill her, son. She came between us and turned you against me. She has to die and then so do you.” Mitchell replied. Ethan had never felt so helpless. There was nothing he could do. He wasn’t armed and he knew he couldn’t get to the gun in Blue’s hand before Mitchell pulled that trigger.

“Ethan…” Caroline said calmly. Ethan looked back into her eyes and was shocked to see that she was smiling. “I love you.” she said.

Then without warning she reached into her skirt, pulled the pistol, and before Mitchell had time to realize what was happening she raised it to his shoulder and pulled the trigger. The sound of the shot echoed across the canyon as blood sprayed across Caroline’s face. Mitchell yelled in pain and dropped his own gun.

Caroline’s vision seemed to become black and white as she jumped from Mitchell’s arms and turned to face him. All she could think of was her family that he had murdered right in front of her eyes. She wanted this man dead! She kept cocking that pistol and pulling the trigger emptying it into Mitchell’s body even as he fell to the ground in a pool of his own blood.

She didn’t stop cocking that gun and pulling the trigger even long after she was out of bullets. Tears streamed down her face as she thought of her mother and father. Brave Gregory who had tried to protect his mother and sisters and poor little Tommy who had been ripped from her arms before having his two year old cries silenced by a bullet… And Jasmine.. Her little Jasmine whom Caroline had done everything she could to save.

“Caroline.” Ethan’s voice broke through her rage and pain. She felt his hand on her shoulder. “I think you got him, darlin’.”

Caroline turned and threw herself into his arms. She sobbed into his chest for what felt like hours as he simply held her and ran his hands through her long dark hair. Finally she pulled away from him and he cleaned the tears from her face with his hands.

“Are you okay?” he asked gently. She looked down at Mitchell’s dead body and nodded.

“Yes.” she replied and she knew she was telling the truth. Finally being able to kill the man that had killed her family made her feel like she had finally been able to put their souls to rest. Ethan put his finger beneath her chin and turned her face back to him.

“Why didn’t you kill him as soon as he came around that rock?” Ethan asked. Caroline blushed and bit her lip.

“Because I was doing what my mom always taught me to do. I had my eyes closed and I was praying to God to help us and I never saw him coming till it was too late.” she replied. Ethan smiled down at her. It amazed him to hear that even after all she’d been through she still had faith enough to pray.

“You are a hell of a woman.” he said.

“Should I be bothered that killing him didn’t bother me? I wanted to kill him. I wish I could bring him back to life just so that I could kill him again.” she admitted. Ethan let out a long breath and shook his head pulling her into his arms again and kissing her hair.

“No darlin’. You shouldn’t feel bad. Sometimes the darkness inside of us all gets the better of us but the way I figure it is as long as you’re using that darkness to kill sons of bitches like him and the men that rode with him then it ain’t bad.”

“I love you, Ethan.” Caroline said looking up at him. He smiled from beneath his hat his dark eyes teasing.

“I’d say I love you too but I was told that tough outlaws don’t say things like that.” he replied.

“I don’t know nothing about that. But I do know that you are one tough outlaw that owes me a new damn gun! My damn sights got busted all to hell when I threw it over that cliff.” Grayson said walking up to them while leading Annabelle by the reins with his busted rifle in his hand.

Caroline pulled away from Ethan and wrapped her arms tight around Grayson in a hug. Grayson looked at Ethan as he patted her back awkwardly.

“Thank you for saving his life and helping him get back to me.” she said as she pulled away and let Ethan grab her arm and pull her back into his chest.

“No problem, ma’am.” Grayson said a blush coloring his old cheeks beneath his scraggly beard. Annabelle snorted and Grayson patted her head.

“Don’t worry, old woman. She’s a pretty girl but I got you.” he said lovingly.

“Is he serious?” Caroline asked Ethan. Ethan smiled and laid his head on her shoulder while wrapping his arms tighter around her waist.

“Yep.” he replied.

“So where we off to, kids?” Grayson asked. Ethan turned Caroline in his arms so he could look at her face.

“I think we should let the lady decide.” he replied. Caroline just shrugged and kissed Ethan lightly.

“As long as I’m with you I don’t care.” she replied but Ethan could see the look in her eyes and knew there was more she was wanting to say.

“Might as well tell me…. You never have been the type to know when to keep quiet.” he teased.

“I know you like Texas. I know Texas is home to you… But I really really really hate this damned state and every damned man it. I don’t care were we go just as long as it’s not in Texas.” she replied. Ethan laughed loudly and kissed her forehead.

“Alrighty then.” he said. “Well stay with you, Grayson, till we get you and Annabelle home and then….” Grayson cut him off.

“Actually the old woman and I have been talking and well we were getting a mite bit lonely in that shack. We was thinking that maybe we could stay with y’all.. You might need some help once you get wherever you’re going.” he said. Ethan looked at the man and then at Annabelle and nodded.

“Alright y’all. Let’s saddle up and head for anywhere that isn’t Texas.”

Epilogue

Epilogue

Five Years Later

Wyoming 1884

“Mommy!” Jasmine exclaimed as she ran into the kitchen and buried herself under Caroline’s skirts.

“What’s the matter?” Caroline demanded as she continued to stir the cake batter she was busy mixing.

“Gregory is trying to throw a toad at me!” Came her daughters muffled response from under the folds of fabric.

“Am not!” Gregory exclaimed defensively as he entered the kitchen at a whirlwind pace and skidded to a stop on the hardwood floor.

“What’s behind your back?” Caroline asked as she fought back a smile. Gregory kept his hands clasped firmly behind him and shrugged.

“Nuttin.” he mumbled. Caroline couldn’t help but laugh when the toad in his hands let out a loud ‘CROAK!’ Gregory was so much like his uncle, his namesake, that sometimes Caroline wondered if she and Ethan hadn’t made a mistake by giving him her younger brothers name.

“That’s a pretty loud ‘nuttin’.” Caroline replied. She pointed toward the door. “Take the toad back outside and stop trying to scare your sister.”

“I wasn’t trying to scare her. I just wanted her to pet it. She ain’t nothing but a big ol’ crybaby.”

“Am not!” Jasmine spat angrily from beneath Caroline’s dress.

“Folks must be right when they call me crazy.” Grayson said with a laugh as he walked into the kitchen. “Because I could have sworn I just heard your skirt talk.”

“That was me, uncle Gray.” Jasmine said with a giggle as she poked her head out of her hiding spot.

“Well I’ll be!” Grayson exclaimed with feigned surprise as he covered his chest with his wrinkled hand. “What are you doing under there?”

“Gregory’s toad is trying to kill me.” Jasmine replied in a very serious manner. Caroline was unable to keep herself from laughing lightly. Jasmine was the most dramatic three year old that Caroline had ever known.

“Is that so?” Grayson asked, clucking his tongue against his toothless gums. “Why I ain’t never heard of a killer toad before.”

“It ain’t a killer toad, Uncle Gray. It’s just a regular one.” Gregory replied as he held it up for Grayson to see.

“That’s funny, because I thought you said it was a nuttin.” Caroline reminded him with a raise of her brow. Gregory gave her a sheepish grin that reminded her of Ethan and then he ran for the door.

“Come on, Uncle Gray, help me put it somewhere safe!” he exclaimed. Grayson started toward the door laughing and Jasmine jumped out from under Caroline’s skirts and joined them.

“Keep it away from my chickens!” she yelled.

Peace and quiet once again overtook the kitchen of their small, homey cabin and Caroline poured the cake batter into a pan. Ethan had been gone for nearly two months taking some cattle to market and getting supplies but he was due home today and she wanted to have this cake done before he arrived.

She had news to tell him about the tiny life that was growing inside of her. Their third child. She placed the pan of batter into the oven and then stood straight and laid her hand over her stomach.

Life had been so hard for so long. Death, pain, fear and desperation had seemed as if it would never end for her or for Ethan. But finally they had a home and a family of their own. The ghosts from their pasts were dead and they were happy.

True to his word, Ethan had taken her away from Texas and they had not been back since and for that Caroline was glad. While she knew that evil people came from everywhere and not just Texas, that place held too many painful memories for her. As did Oklahoma where she had once lived with her parents and siblings.

She grabbed the freshly churned butter, sugar and milk and began to mix together the icing for the cake. She could see Grayson chasing after Gregory and Jasmine on his old legs, which were still surprisingly swift and agile for his age.

Ethan had picked the names for their children. He said he wanted to honor the losses that she had suffered and give her a piece of what had been stolen from her back. Caroline knew that there were still moments that Ethan fought his demons of guilt and it was in those times that she simply loved him the best way a woman could and helped him to see the goodness that was inside of him.

Though there were still nights that she woke up sweating and shaking as memories of Mitchell’s cold soullessness came flooding back to her mind. On those nights it was Ethan’s turn to love her though it.

She was lost in her thoughts, gazing down at the icing she was mixing when suddenly she felt two arms close around her waist. Instantly her heart kicked in her chest and she grabbed the knife lying beside her on the counter. She twisted in her attackers arms and brought the knife to his throat, just as she realized it was Ethan.

“I missed you too, darlin’.” he said with a smile as his dark eyes filled with amusement. Caroline gasped and tossed the knife back to the counter before throwing her arms around his neck and clinging to him tightly.

“I have missed you so much!” she admitted, breathing in the scent of dust, sweat and horse still clinging to his skin and clothes.

Ethan held her close and buried his face in her dark hair.

“Have the kids been good for you?” he asked.

“As good as they ever are.” Caroline replied and then she frowned as she pulled away. “Why didn’t they tell me you were here? I didn’t even hear the cart pull up.”

“I came the back way and I left the cart at the edge of our land, darlin’. I wanted to sneak in and have a few minutes alone with you.” Caroline smiled and then rose up and pressed her lips to his. He kissed her tenderly and reached in his pocket as he pulled away.

“What do you have there?”

“A present.” Caroline eyed him curiously as she took the small black box. She opened it and nearly dropped the box in her surprise when she saw the beautiful gold bracelet.

“How did you get this?” she gasped.

“The price of cattle went up since last year so I had a little extra.” he replied as he took the bracelet from the box and then grabbed her tiny wrist in his free hand. “Do you like it?”

“I love it.” she promised. He fastened it and she held her arm up, letting the sunlight coming through the window, glint of the shining metal.

“I have a surprise for you as well.” she admitted.

“I smell a cake.” Ethan replied as he slid his rifle off his back and walked toward the oven.

“It’s more than just a cake.” she replied and he looked at her and frowned. “I believe we’re going to need that addition built onto the cabin after all.” She added as she laid her hand over her stomach.

Ethan’s smile was so broad that his face nearly cracked as he quickly crossed the floor and lifted her off her feet, spinning her around and around. They were both dizzy and she was breathless from laughter when he finally sat her down.

“Who would have thought we’d ever be this happy, darlin’? This at peace?” Ethan asked quietly as he kept Caroline wrapped in his arms.

“I had always kind of hoped for it.” she replied. “Though I’ll admit there were days that I started having my doubts.”

“Pa!” Jasmine exclaimed as she ran into the house and straight into Ethan’s waiting arms followed closely by her brother.

“Did you bring us something?” Gregory asked.

“Something pretty?” Jasmine added. Caroline smiled as she watched her family laughing and talking together. If she looked hard enough she could almost see her lost loved ones in the corner smiling with their approval and their happiness.

Caroline had lost a lot in her lifetime but it was worth every hardship she had ever faced to be here now with her children and her outlaw.