"They're gonna be onto us soon." Cheyenne spoke cautiously, looking over her shoulder as she rode. She felt lucky that Ringo's horse hadn't given her hell yet.
"I'll protect you." Doc said, cursing himself as soon as the words came off of his tongue.
Cheyenne just looked over at Doc with an eyebrow raised at his audacity.
"Noted." She rode off, anxious to get to Tombstone. She had a strange feeling that when they arrived, what she found would make her whole world spin.
~
"It's as dark as a black cat in a bat cave." Cheyenne muttered, looking around at the blanket of night draped over the Arizona desert around the two riders. "Doc?" She turned to the man who just stared off into the patch of woods nearby, his senses heightened.
Doc turned to Cheyenne and raised a finger to his lips. She pursed her lips, looking in the other direction. She hated to be silenced.
Suddenly, something sprang from the bushes. Cheyenne's mind didn't even wrap around what had happened until her body slammed onto the ground.
She could hear her bones cracking. She groaned, rolling over in the dirt. Through the stars circling in her eyes, she could make out the shape of her horse leaving her in the dust. Pain surged through Cheyenne's body, making her quietly cry out in pain. She felt woozy and nauseous.
She could feel her bones slowly being crushed even more by the corset around her torso. She closed her eyes, gritting her teeth.
Doc jumped off his horse, kneeling by Cheyenne's side.
Doc had never seen her in such writhing pain, even when she was shot in the side. Doc's hand slid under Cheyenne's back to lift her up. She winced, cursing under her breath.
"How can I help?" Doc asked quietly, anxiety building in his gut.
Cheyenne pointed to the corset and mouthed the word 'off'. Doc's cheeks tinted pink, but he did as she said. Doc's fumbling fingers quickly unlaced the corset, giving Cheyenne instant relief. The corset that had been compressed around her cracked ribs did not help the pain.
"Look away." Cheyenne croaked weakly. Doc did as she said. Cheyenne pulled the corset off of her torso, revealing her bare chest. She looked down at the bruises on her ribs starting to form. She groaned. Her fingers traced over the thick scarring where she had been shot. Ever since she arrived at Tombstone, she had been torn to pieces. She was sick of it.
~
"We'll be there soon, darling." Doc said to Cheyenne as they rode through the night. She nodded, tugging Doc's coat closer around her body. Cheyenne had drank nearly all of Doc's canteen of whiskey to take the edge off.
Now she sat behind Doc on his horse as they slowly made their way back to Tombstone. She was weaker than she'd even been. She wrapped her hands around Doc's waist to keep from falling off of his gray stallion.
Cheyenne noticed that Doc was more quiet now than before she was taken by the cowboys. He seemed sad and guilty. She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.
She rested her head on Doc's shoulder, burrowing her face into his collarbone. She took in his comforting scent of cigarette smoke, cologne, and fresh air. Every time he coughed she was nearly jolted off of the back of his horse, but she didn't care. She just wanted to feel close to someone.
"How are you doing?" Doc asked from the silence.
"Never better." Cheyenne mumbled into Doc's shirt, her whole body aching.
"We're here." Doc announced. She opened her eyes to watch the approaching town of Tombstone slowly come into view below the rising sun.
She picked up her head and slowly looked down at her outfit. She wore a skirt tied around her waist, with Doc's coat in her torso to keep her decent. She couldn't wait to change into her regular clothes.
The familiar outline slowly turned into familiar buildings passing by. The streets of Tombstone were bare, but that was normal at dawn. All of the gamblers, drunks, and cowboys went out until five in the morning, slept til noon and did it all over again. They were always drunk, never falling into a hangover.
Suddenly, two figures walked out of the Sheriff's office with their heads hung low.
Virgil and Wyatt.
"Wyatt." Doc croaked out, halting his horse before the men.
Wyatt's head shot up, the worry in his face melting at the sight of the pair. He rushed over to them as Doc lifted Cheyenne off of his horse.
"Christ, I thought I lost you too." Wyatt wrapped his arms around his sister, holding her tight. Cheyenne cried out in pain as Wyatt squeezed her ribs. The man shot back, his hands in front of him in a protective stance, his eyes filled with worry.
"What happened?" Virgil walked up to her, his arm still hanging in a sling.
"Cowboys. Ringo..." Cheyenne heaved, her hands on her knees. She motioned to the bruise around her throat from Ringo's hand. She pulled up the sleeves of Doc's jacket to reveal the rubs from the ropes that had held her hostage.
"I swear to God that motherfu—"
"Enough." Cheyenne placed a gentle hand on Wyatt's chest. "We need to be smart about this. Where's Morgan?"
The three men hung their heads low, none of them saying a word. Reality immediately struck her. She stared down at her boots, putting her head in her hands. Threatening tears welled in her eyes.
This was the part of cowboy's plan.
She was the bait.
꧁꧂
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