Down By The River

25

𝔻𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕗 𝕙𝕖'𝕤 𝕘𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕥𝕪, 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕗 𝕙𝕖'𝕤 𝕟𝕠𝕥ℍ𝕖'𝕤 𝕘𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕙𝕖'𝕤 𝕓𝕒𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕙𝕖'𝕤 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕀'𝕧𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕥

Charlotte wasn't sure what was going to happen next. Ephraim Fletcher was dead and she had to admit that she was both appalled at the sight and ecstatic. It felt like a triumph and for a while she was worried about what that said about her. She had felt almost gleeful when she had hit him in the knee with that crowbar. She was still childishly happy at seeing his surprised and shocked face when he realised that she wasn't dead after all. Even seeing him dead at first felt like a huge relief that it was finally over. It took a few seconds for the weight of what they had just done to sink in.

They had just killed a person. Granted, he was a terrible person, but they had still taken someone's life and - at least for Charlotte - it was relatively easy. It just felt like they had stepped over a border that they couldn't go back on ever again. Like something inside her had changed forever. Charlotte wasn't even sure whether she was feeling guilty or scared or just disgusted by the sight of Ephraim's skull being blown away and his brains splattered against the wall of the barn. She didn't know if she felt bad about it, even. Sure, she did feel bad on some level. But it wasn't really this overwhelming, suffocating guilt that she had expected.

Once it was over, everything kind of just happened. Zach grabbed her hand and made his way out of the barn, making sure that no one would see them. Charlotte had just been following him. She wasn't sure that she could even think properly at this time. They made their way down to the river, throwing the gun and the crowbar away and watching them being carried off by the river for a few minutes. It was starting to dawn now, which meant they'd have to hurry, so they'd get away before many people were awake. It was only now that Charlotte started feeling incredibly tired.

She wasn't sure why she hadn't been tired earlier. She almost wished that she had taken the offer to stay with Abigail and get some rest. She could have run away with Zach right after that. But she also wanted to see Ephraim dead. But the thought of having to walk miles and miles and miles only to reach the next town was dreadful to her. She just wanted to lie down somewhere and sleep. But that wasn't a luxury she had right now. She knew her life would be like this from now on, but she hadn't realised how tired she would be. The only thing that kept her going was that she could sleep as soon as they got to the nearest inn where no one would ask questions.

In all her dreams about her future life, Charlotte had never really thought about the possibility of leading the life of an outlaw. It was just always something that seemed like such an insane idea. She never thought that she'd run off with someone everyone thought was a murderer. But here she was, drudging along the muddy road that was leading out of town, together with Zachariah Wright, the man that everyone thought had murdered his fiancee 13 years ago. Well, technically he was a murderer now, since he had killed Ephraim Fletcher, but Charlotte figured that it didn't really count. She was just as guilty then and she didn't see herself as a murderer.

They were walking in silence and Charlotte wasn't sure why. It felt like a heavy silence, like there was a lot that they should be saying to each other, but neither knew how to say it. For the first time that night, Charlotte was wondering whether she was making a huge mistake. The thing was... even if she was making a mistake, it was too late now. She had helped to murder a man for what he had done to his own daughter years and years ago. She had run away with a man everyone believed to be a criminal. There was no way she would ever be able to live a normal life again.

She wouldn't be able to go back to her parents, because they had made it very clear that she wasn't welcome in the house anymore. She wouldn't be able to just go back home, to just see her family or her friends again. She hated that she wasn't able to say goodbye to Eugenia - after all, they had been best friends all their life and even though she was kind of jealous of her, she still absolutely loved and adored her. And now she would just be gone with no explanation or anything. Charlotte knew that she would hate it if Eugenia treated her like that.

But it was too late for any of that. Here she was, running away, pledging her life to a man much older than her, to a man she had only really met a few weeks ago. It was only now that she started to see just how insane this whole thing was. She basically knew nothing about Zach. She was getting nervous about her decision once she realised this, but if she was honest with herself... even if she had stayed with her parents, she would have been married off to someone she barely knew. Probably someone even older than Zach was right now. It would have been the same, but now Charlotte at least only had herself to blame for her decisions.

And there was no reason to think that Zach was going to mistreat her. At least not for now. He had always been kind to her. He had never hurt her in any way and he seemed to respect her completely. Charlotte wasn't sure if there was anything else she could really ask for. Zach was behaving perfectly fine and he had never given her a reason to doubt his motives. She was probably just nervous because she was tired and this was all so new and strange.

"Are you okay? You've been awfully quiet the whole time." Zach then said, finally breaking the silence between them. Charlotte felt relieved to hear him speak to her. She had been worried that something was wrong and that was why he was so quiet and brooding. But maybe she was wrong.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired and a little overwhelmed." Charlotte answered with a weak smile. Zach smiled back at her and took her hand into his, squeezing it lightly, making Charlotte feel much more at ease.

"It's okay. We don't have that much longer to walk. Only about half an hour and then we're there. And then you can sleep all day, if you want." he told her. Charlotte nodded. Sleeping all day sounded good.

"Yeah... I guess I'm also a bit worried about... about everything." she mumbled. Zach tilted his head and looked at her.

"Everything?"

"Yeah, like... us running away together, if I made the right decision, what to do if this doesn't work out for some reason, the way I haven't been able to say goodbye to anyone, you know... It just all happened so fast and I guess I'm also really tired, so maybe I'm overthinking, but..."

Zach put his finger to her lips, effectively shushing her. He smiled at her gently and pulled her into a soft hug, planting a small kiss on her forehead and running his hand through her hair soothingly.

"It's okay. Of course you're worried. I'd be worried too, if I was in your place. But I'll be here for you, okay? I'll do my best to make sure you're safe and well. And if this all doesn't work out for whatever reason, we'll find a solution. We'll make it work." he said, before letting go of her again.

"Thank you. Thank you for taking care of me. I just... I feel kind of weak and helpless. And I don't like it." Charlotte said and grimaced. She really did hate feeling so weak. She never wanted to be one of those girls that would be too weak to basically live their lives. But here she was, almost collapsing with every step and doubting everything she had done because of a little hardship.

"You are strong, Charlotte. You've done more in the last 24 hours than anyone could be expected to do. And you're only young. You're only young and still you're the most impressive girl I've come across my entire life. Whatever happens, I'm sure you'll be able to deal with it. You're tough and stubborn and smart. Now let's go, so you can get some sleep and hopefully you'll feel a little better then." Zach told her and took her hand again. Charlotte smiled and nodded, before they continued their way on the dark and muddy road while the sun was rising behind them.