The Man and The Outlaw

Chapter Twenty Two

"I sure hate to break up a good time," a voice said from somewhere above them, cutting their laughter like a dull knife. Three shadows fell on Clara and Walker from the top of the ravine where the sun shone between three figures on horseback. Clara would've recognized that voice anywhere. Sometimes, she still heard it in her nightmares.
She scrambled to her feet, Walker quick to do the same beside her, reaching for the gun at her hip. A shot rang out, the bullet whizzing high above their heads and both of them froze.
"You just go on and keep those hands where I can see them," the voice instructed.
Clara finally looked up to where the voice was coming from. She'd hoped she'd never have to lay eyes on Todd Pryor again but there he was atop a jet-black horse. He wore a navy button down shirt and a gray vest over it. There was a small purple flower pinned to the front. His face split in a smirk as he lowered his pistol from the air and aimed it right at Clara's chest.
The two men that sat on either side of Todd wore plain clothes and had strangers' faces. They both carried rifles, the barrels trained down on Clara and Walker. None of them wore any kind of ear protection and Clara instinctively licked her lips.
"You open your mouth and I'll put a bullet in it before you get two words out, girl," Todd snarled. Clara let her jaw relax, swallowing hard and biting back the words that had been poised to come out. She knew he would do exactly as he said. There was evil in his eyes.
"I've been waiting for this a long time, Clara," he said, a smirk playing on his lips. His eyes looked her up and down hungrily. "Did you think I'd let you get away with what you did? You should've killed me when you had the chance."
Clara shook her head. "I'm not a killer, Todd."
She knew then that it was the truth. No matter how badly she might want to kill for revenge, to make Todd or Valdez or anybody pay for the wrong that they had done, she wouldn't. Repaying evil with evil, no matter how justifiable, was just as wrong. She believed in justice, she believed in God's will, she believed in right and wrong, good and evil. She knew what side she wanted to stay on.
"I'm not like you," she spat at him.
He laughed.
"When I'm through with you, you're going to wish you were," he said, and he straightened up on his horse. His eyes were black and dead looking and his hair, maybe from the wind and the twister, had curled up around the top of his head like horns. He shifted his gun, as Clara watched, from her own chest to Walker's.
"Now, you're going to get up here and you're going home with me. I'm going to show you what it means to be sorry. If you don't do it as quick as I'd like or if you try any of your Silvertongue tricks, your boyfriend dies."
Clara's heart stopped in her chest. She was the one who had gotten Walker into this mess in the first place. She'd dragged him halfway across the county, away from his home, put his life in danger too many times already, and there was no way she was going to let Todd kill him. Not over her.
"Alright Todd," she relented, raising her hands in a surrendering gesture. "I'll go with you. You got me, just let him go, let him live."
Walker stiffened at her side, taking a sharp breath in and jerking his head to stare at her. Todd rolled his head on his shoulders, a shady sort of agreement, and Clara took a step towards the inclining side of the ravine in front of them where the three horses shuffled slightly overhead.
"Clara, you can't," Walker called to her from behind.
"Go home Walker," she told him, looking back at him over her shoulder. He was staring at her with disbelief in those blue eyes of his. She could still feel his kiss on her lips. She hoped she would be able to feel it forever.
"Thank you," she whispered to him, "for everything."
"Don't do this," he replied. He took a step forward, one arm reaching to stop her, when one of Todd's men fired off a warning shot near his feet.
"You won't get another one, kid," the man grunted. "Stay where you are."
"Just go Walker. It's okay. I'll be okay," she assured him, her voice cracking slightly as she felt tears sting her eyes. She knew that this could be the last time that she ever saw his face and she wanted to soak in every detail. She'd never noticed that he had a tiny scar above his left eyebrow before or that he wasn't scratching behind his right ear because it itched but because he was nervous. He was doing it then as she looked at him. Not only did he look nervous, he looked scared for what felt like the first time since she'd met him. He looked desperate too and his eyes had turned wild. Then, he pulled his gaze away from her and looked right up at Todd.
"Listen to me," he implored him, slowly raising his hands over his head to show that he wasn't trying to pull anything. He raised his voice to be sure that he was heard.
"Let Clara go, and you can take me instead."
Clara gaped at him, open-mouthed and slightly confused. Todd wrinkled his nose and barked a laugh.
"And why should I care a lick about you?" he sneered down into the ravine.
Walker looked back at Clara, fixing her with a somber, longing look. It was full of fear and panic, sorrow and despair. But there was love there too and he set his jaw and tore his gaze from her once more.
"Because" he said loudly, clearly so that Todd would fully understand him, "I'm Hector Valdez."