Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Low Lights

wednesday. with the man what persists.

The trees are thinning, and the hills will start rolling out into flatlands. That's where the town'll be, sprawling across that golden grass, but it ain't there yet, so Elijah keeps them moving into the afternoon before pausing for a short break. A quiet wind rolls slow across the hillside, and Elijah peers back the way they've come, but the horizon's clear, so far as the naked eye can see.

The kid and even Miss Little dismount from their mule without no help, though Elijah catches Cyrus tryna offer a hand—even looks a little let down when Miss Little says she's alright. Elijah frowns some, but then he shakes his head and leaves Snowshoe to graze.

The kid's looking over at the bushes what dot the hillside, and then he peers up at Cyrus and inquires, "Mr. Cyrus? You, uh, you wanna go 'n look for more berries?" The kid's got to tilt his head back so he can look Cyrus in the eye, and his shoulders ain't so slumped no more.

Cyrus is fixing his hat, but he pauses at the question and then inclines his head. "Sure, kid."

Blue's eyes brighten, and then he looks over at Miss Little and Elijah. "Y'all wanna come, too?" he asks. "Miss Little? Mr. Elijah?"

Cyrus looks up, and his stare catches on Miss Little before shifting briefly to Elijah, who peers right back. That frown what was pressing at Elijah's lips deepens, and he narrows his eyes at his baby brother, so Cyrus casts his gaze to the ground, rubs the nape of his neck, and then kicks at a loose pebble. The frustration's a burr, but disapproval runs thicker. Cyrus should know better, and Elijah ain't gonna sit back and let his brother play dumb.

"That's alright," says the lil' lady, and she shakes her head and offers the kid a smile what's sweet as honey. Must be all what she is, deep down. "You two have fun."

The kid looks to Elijah, but the gunfighter's shaking his head, too. "Y'all go ahead." He looks at the mountains and the hills they've covered and crosses his arms over his chest, but his hand's rising to his face, and his massages his mouth and furrows his brow. "Pick us some good ones." He glances back at the boy and offers a smile and a wink.

Let the kid have his fun. Elijah can talk with Cyrus later.

Blue nods before heading right off, and Cyrus goes with him. Ain't limping so bad no more, though Cyrus has to move a little slower when they start climbing down the hill, but Blue almost starts sliding down toward the bushes, what with how eager he is. Let him roll around in dirt some. Kids his age need room to run.

Miss Little's stretching, and the sight has the ache what's digging into his thighs and spine knocking harder, like some kinda reminder, so he stretches his legs and then digs around in his jacket pockets for those hairpins he took from her. He'd considered dropping a couple more outside the homestead, but maybe it's better he hadn't, considering they wound up taking her with them, anyhow. Still, they ain't in the woods no more, and the grasses grow tall, but it might be easier to spy metal out here, where there ain't no trees tryna hog all the sunshine.

They've had to lose time. Had to slow down on account of Blue, but it ain't the kid's fault. Death ain't easy, not even when you're grown.

There were two men back at that ravine. That's one bounty hunter more than Elijah would like, though none would be the ideal, but if he can split them up, and Blackburn's as sweet on Miss Little as she is on him, then they could be rid of him.

A gust of cool wind curls past Elijah's cheek, and he breathes out slow. Miss Little's standing near the mule, watching it sniff along at the ground and the grasses what're waving in the wind. She's covering her pretty hair with a scarf, but the collar of her borrowed blouse ain't so high as her wedding dress's, and the skirt's hem stops above her ankles. The wind finds her, and it pulls at her skirt and apron and petticoats and tries making them billow.