Age of The Understatement

Part 13 - I Don't Like You Anymore

Somewhere, maybe 15 miles from
Las Vegas, NM
Midday

The trek to Cripple Creek was taking longer than expected. With a previously overdosed Pearl slung across her horse, she struggled to keep herself upright as she followed behind the two men in front of her. In order to keep her from teetering off of her horse, Miles had strapped her down onto her saddle with a few lengthy strips of leather tied onto either side. She seemed to be doing a bit better, although her vision still hadn't fully come back, nor her strength. Albeit, it had only been a day since the incident. Going without oxygen for even a minute amount of time does horrid things to the body.

"How's it going back there?" Alex yelled back at Pearl, the state of her was a mess.

Pearl enthusiastically threw up her free hand, giving Alex a thumbs up, the fringe of her leather jacket swinging along with her erratic movements. Practically took all of her energy to do so.

Alex turned back to face the desert ahead of him. Would she be well enough to face off against the authorities once in Cripple Creek? It's only a days time away. The last thing they needed was an opium addict ruining their plan for the future, well knowing she wasn't apart of the original plan to begin with.

"What are you thinkin'?" Miles asked, immediately drawing Alex out of his daze and into Miles' attention.

Alex sighed and readjusted his hat before responding. "I'm hoping this won't be all for nothing– We've still got quite a bit of money leftover from California.." Alex paused a bit, looking back at Pearl before continuing his sentence. "She's slowing us down Miles, and what will we do with her once we're done?" Alex's voice was hushed.

"Well.." Miles began, "we could always just leave a satchel of money and ditch her. I'm sure we will need to stop a few times."

Alex sighed and scratched his beard. "I don't think we can leave her."

"Sure we can, she's not our responsibility." Miles said, keeping his voice level with Alex's. "She'll need to be on her own eventually– it was supposed to be just us Alex."

"I know– but just look at her!" Alex said, tilting his head back towards Pearl. He wasn't wrong, how could she take care of herself?

"Well, how about we leave her at a general store then? Surely she'll find some lovely lady in the next town. She'll be fine. If anything she needs a doctor." Miles replied, hoping Alex would give it a rest. If she joins in on Cripple Creek in this state she could get herself killed, or Alex and Miles killed.

Alex sighed yet again, putting his focus back onto the path ahead. "I guess you're right.."

The three continued on not saying much of anything at all, hoping to reach their halfway point by sundown.

Around 3 p.m.
Only 5 miles from Raton

The wind blew bitter and harsh on the three, sand being pummelled into their faces. Luckily Miles and Alex had tied their handkerchiefs around their mouths. Their eyes stung as they tried to see forward for quite literally any shelter, their vision being limited to only about a mile ahead of them. Not the worst dust storm they've seen, but definitely was putting a dent into their travel time. With another stop being added to the schedule, they wouldn't be in Cripple Creek for another two days. Last thing they needed.

"Look!" Pearl yelled from behind, her finger extended out to point at a small hut that sat next to what looked to be an abandoned well.

The three quickly made their way over to the structure, pulling blankets from their saddles in effort to shield their faces. The horses tails whipped as they tried to brush the dust from their bodies, their eyes being fairly protected by their blinders. Alex, Miles, and Pear all sat huddled under the small abandoned building, a blanket thrown over their heads.

"How long do you think this'll last?" Alex said to Pearl, knowing she's had some history with these kinds of storms from living in Tombstone.

"Hopefully only a few more minutes." Pearl said, her voice horse from the amount of dust she's inhaled.

Only the sound of the wind and dust being pummeled against the walls filled the next few minutes. Miles didn't speak a word, coming to the conclusion in his mind that they would be parting ways with Pearl in the next town. Alex tried not to make eye contact with Pearl, feeling horribly uncomfortable by the fact they would be ditching her. But it would be for the best, right?

The air resumed to a gentle breeze, the sun slowly starting to peak back out. The sun shone into the small holes between the fibers of the blanket, letting the three know it was safe to come out from underneath.
Miles was the first to pull the blanket off from his head. Everything looked the same besides their poor horses which were now covered in a decent layer of dust. Alex followed after Miles then Pearl.

Alex made his way back over to his horse, leaving Pearl to roll up the blanket. After pulling a small grooming brush from one of his satchels, Alex gently brushed the dust off of his horses coat, making sure to really get around his face before tending to Miles' horse.

"So what's the plan now?" Pearl said to Miles, making him jump slightly to the sudden break of silence.

"Oh, erm well once we get out horses dusted, I guess we'll be heading to the next town." Miles cleared his throat before continuing. "Alex needs a haircut and I need a bath, so we'll probably head to the barbers. The foods most likely dusty now, so you could head to get us something fresher once we get in town."

Pearl, satisfied but unsure with Miles' answer, brushed her hands along her skirt, dust flying off every which way before making her way over to her own horse. Something was off but she couldn't quite sense it. Maybe it was the withdrawals setting in. At least in going to the general store she could stock up on 'medicine'.