Chased Distance: A Novella (WLW)

Chapter Seven: March 6th, 1876, Athens, Tennessee

After getting herself cleaned in a nearby stream and miserably cutting the hair she loved short enough to pass as a man's hairstyle, Elu emerged from the woods, fully donned in her new apparel. Bethany had requested the driver of the personal stagecoach would settle it near the edge of the woods while she grabbed some food and excused him to do the same until she was ready to leave. For the first time, Elu was happy she'd accumulated so much money during her travels, but she knew Bethany would eventually grow curious enough to ask about it and she wasn't quite ready to tell that story. Still, she had hurriedly got on her coat and placed some cologne along her neck.

As she stood outside of the wagon and adjusted the band around her chest for good measure on the opposing side from the town, Elu marveled at the oddly freeing effect one piece of cloth could have on her chest. Using the sensation as a source of courage to enter the stagecoach in her new garb, she opened the door and came face to face with Bethany who appeared to be in the midst of reaching for her door. She was stunning. She wore a sky blue dress that made her peculiarly pale iris and brunette hair stand out. Everything about her stood out. Somehow, Elu never noticed how fair her skin was compared to those back in their hometown or the crimson in her natural blush.

She climbed into the coach and lowered all the vinyl screens, sitting beside Bethany who was still staring at her wide eyed. "Is something the matter?"

"Wh-What...?" Bethany shook her head and cleared her throat, which was something Elu had seen her do several times since the cove. If she didn't know any better than she would have assumed that maybe some of her feelings were reciprocated, but she knew better. No woman had ever really, wholeheartedly wanted her and she knew none ever would. "Oh! No, nothing at all. Sorry."

Elu adjusted herself in her seat, resting her back along it and outstretching her legs in front of herself as far as she could. "Did the clerk in the store buy your story?"

"Yes. It would appear that a widow traveling alone is quite common, just like you voiced. He didn't even question if I was being honest or not and just took it on faith." At the tone of her voice, Elu's yearning to look at her won out and she peeked at her with a slight tilt of her head. Bethany rested her arm along the side of the wagon interior and cupped her chin, seemingly lost in thought. Not even Elu scooting closer stirred her attention and she quickly felt the need to remedy whatever was overtaking her. "Is it really so easy to deceive others?"

With a sigh of relief it wasn't something much grander, something which she wasn't sure she could even handle, Elu replied, "It's not deceit, Bethany. We are traveling together to New Orleans and I am here to protect you. If you told him everything else instead of the deceased husband bit, we would already be in a brig. We might even be strewn up in the middle of town by now. They will do anything to get to your father, remember?"

Bethany finally met her gaze and stared daggers at her, then quickly schooled her features as she palmed her face like she always did when embarrassed. "Russel."

"What?"

"His name is Russel Ensley and I would never call him my father. Not truly. My mother's writings were correct. He is either hiding in Nashville or New Orleans, or at least that's what the rumors say." Bethany hurriedly regained her composure and lightly smacked her cheeks a handful of times. Peering back into her eyes, she appeared more focused, but Elu wasn't so sure they should leave the discussion of Russel behind when it was obvious more than what she revealed was weighing on her. Despite her apparent readiness to shove on, Bethany's voice definitely had other plans as well as she spoke in a broken, rather soft tone, "We will go to Chattanooga and catch the train to Nashville first. I want to check if the rumors are fake or real. Then we will go to Louisiana. From how my mother described him, Russel would never leave Louisiana unless forced, which explains why my mother was so plagued in her escape and why I'm only hearing of Nashville now."

"What do you mean?" Elu got closer to Bethany and took her hand, feeling it tremble inside her own.

"Is it not obvious?" Bethany's face contorted into one of complete sorrow and her words felt like little blades along Elu's cheeks, as if they literally pained her as well. "He had to have abandoned my mother in her time of need. Whether that be in Nashville or New Orleans, he left her alone. At a time when she just wanted a better life for me, his own flesh and blood, he left her and she died being chased by the men from his old posse. She died because of him. Because he didn't protect her."

As Bethany cried tears that burned along Elu's neck as she pulled her in, holding her close and feeling her love only burgeoning within herself. The thing Bethany brought up most often was lacking the knowledge of why her mother had been killed. Now that she had the answer, it just wasn't enough. That much was obvious by the way her sobs rocked her entire petite form.

Elu sat back and brushed her hair from her forehead, swiftly entranced by her eyes. Bethany was gazing right into her own as if she saw everything in and around her being and a blush crested along her cheeks, begging to be caressed. Elu cupped her cheeks and ran her thumbs along her blush, then wiped away the last of her tears, catching her own reflection in the hue of her iris. Something about them always lulled her closer, ever since they were children, and it appeared that hadn't changed in all their time apart.

They drew nearer to one another, close enough for Elu to feel her breath, but a knock came at the door and Bethany hurriedly cupped her mouth as she stared at her. With an irritated grunt, Elu moved to the other side of the wagon and opened the door.

"Hello, you must be Eli Baker, Mrs. Brian's watchman for her journey." A man who appeared between thirty-five and forty said as he met her gaze. "Good to meet you, sir. You don't look a day over twenty, young buck."

"I'm actually twenty-six, sir." As she waited for the surprise to leave his expression, Elu glanced over at Beth, watching as she gazed out after lifting the visor. She waved down to the driver and he tipped his hat at her as Elu returned her eyes to him. "Good to meet you, too. Are you well rested to begin our trip?"

"Yes, sir. Are you ready Mrs. Brian?" Greene asked as he peered at Beth and shuffled in place like he was itching to get moving.

"Yes, Mister Greene." As she spoke, Elu caught Bethany's gaze and sent her an encouraging nod as she sat back on her bench. Bethany tentatively smiled at Greene, but it never reached her eyes and Elu craved to make that change very soon. "Let's go."

With that, the driver closed the door and Elu felt him leaping atop the wagon driver's seat. They began moving and she opened the visor nearest herself as well, then glanced toward Bethany who was brushing her fingers along her lips. Is she feeling this too...?