The Outlaw

Chapter 1

     It was hot as damn hell today. Not that any other day could be called anything else, but the thick, dry, steaming air was unlike anything else Jane Lowe had felt recently. The rocky, barren earth that stretched out before her, the relentless sun, the clouds of sand and dirt that flew about her as she flew past, it was too damn much. She thought herself akin to stew over a fire, with the only difference being the thick sheen of sweat covering every inch of her body. The only solace she felt was the cool artificial breeze she received being astride her stallion.

     She gazed on ahead at the relatively flat landscape and prayed her memory served her correctly, and that just out of her eyesight there would be a nice railroad town. A reprieve from her hard goal to make as many miles as possible from her last stop. Where she could get stock up on sum' water and she and her traveling companion could get a good meal. Ain't much in the way of hunting and foraging on a blazing day like this.

     Contributing to the foul day was the simmering anger and desperate grief she felt building up in her chest. She bit away those thoughts quickly and continued her stride atop her horse, electing to focus on the coins making a melodious clanking in the saddle bags of her horse, his hooves thumping in time with the earth. The familiar sounds calmed her frayed mind somewhat, but the thoughts persisted. A glance at the sky proved no merrier, clouds rolling in from further West that she knew better than to think would bring rain. Without a competent distraction, the thoughts fully invaded her mind.

     Just a few days prior, Jane's sweet sister Annie had met her brutal end at the hands of a deadbeat, no-good, drunk, that Annie called her husband. As for Annie, she was the opposite of Jane, a small feminine beauty with a heart of pure gold, and a sweet disposition. No one had ever had any ill-wishes for Annie, you simply couldn't. But as it always was in their part of the world, she had received a bad lot in life.

     The whispers in town had said that she had had an accident, but Jane knew better. There was no way in hell sweet Annie could've toppled over the second story of that railing with such force her whole head blew open on the saloon floor, Annie wasn't ever a drinker, and wasn't the clumsy type either. Jane refrained from imagining that mental picture, and choked down the tears she hadn't yet let spill.

     The scum she had been married to had apparently fallen on some bad luck and could barely afford to feed them both, or so she had heard from the people around, he had portrayed his life oh so pitifully. Annie had not made Jane any the wiser in their written correspondence, although Jane knew the picture her sweet sister painted wasn't the entirety of what was going on. She was on her way into town to visit with Annie when she had heard, and her visit had been abruptly cut short at the gut-wrenching tragedy.

      Her only relief from mourning was that the deadbeat husband of Annie was rotting in his own grave now too, and he hadn't been fortunate to go as quickly as Annie did, Jane made damn sure of that. Once she had finished up her own poetic justice, she had high-tailed out of there as fast as her good old horse would allow, and hadn't stopped since. If Jane thought she was an outlaw before, well she sure as hell was fetching top-price on their bounty boards now. The gold she had taken from his secret-stash, the gold he had been keeping from Annie for his pipe and his whiskey, had been her final damnation of a no good man, and whatever scum shared his blood. She was hard-pressed to feel an ounce of remorse for it. As she contemplated this, she felt saliva and blood filling up her throat, and turned her head to the side to spit out some blood from biting through her tongue at the bitter thoughts of the vile man. Good riddance, her brain echoed.

     She shook her head to rid herself of those feelings, and lowered the brim of her hat as the town in the distance finally fell into view. The wind was quickly speeding up and she pushed her horse harder, desperate to make it there before the dust hit. Her stallion panted from exertion, but almost as if he knew of their situation, sped up. Jane braced herself and chalked up a story in her mind to tell the locals if they came asking, reaching with one hand to her saddlebags to secure the gold coins thumping within, and find something to cover her dirt smeared face.

     As the shapes of buildings became clear, Jane steadied the horse to a gallop and he reared at the sudden change in pace. The dirt blowing underneath them calmed, and her heart raced from the turmoil of the day. The main street appeared in front of them faster than she expected and she gazed around in wary acceptance of their new surroundings. Chipped boards made up the buildings bordering either side of the main road, a thick layer of dust and dirt concealing what the painted signs used to convey at one point in time. The flimsy structures creaked under the wind's relentless assault, and people scurried into shelter here and there with the oncoming dust storm.

     Damn dust, Jane thought to herself, makes a fool out of all of us. She slowed down once more and carried on towards where she remembered the horse-keep to be from years and years in her past. The heat did not relent either, and Jane was reminded of the fact that she stank to high-heavens, the stench of a horse.

     Gazing down a side alley, she saw the railroad tracks a ways away, and reminded herself to steer clear in case the Pinkertons came calling. She knew her face on a poster, if it didn't already, would soon cover half of this decrepit town, but she couldn't ride through the inevitable dust. The keep came into spittin' distance and she slowed to a stop, sliding off the stallion and adjusting her hands to lead him by the reins with one practiced motion. The big-bellied man saw her coming, and waddled outside to meet her with a faint frown, remarking,

     "Gon' be extra for keepin' the horse today miss, big storm's coming"and reached up to shield his eyes from the harshly blowing dirt as he waited for her reply.

     Jane nodded, already in anticipation of this, and walked briskly around her horse to her saddlebags, returning to the man a moment later with a few coins, a tense expression clouding her otherwise appealing features,

       "How long you reckon' this one'll last? That should be enough to ensure you take care of this one for the time bein', I plan to be gone once it clears up some'"' and at the end of her words, she had unceremoniously dropped the coins into his calloused, outstretched hands.

     He raised his eyebrows quickly, but concealed his surprise at her somewhat overpayment, bushy eyebrows recollecting coolly at his temple,

     "That'll do fine, miss, this one should blow over by first light t'morrow, if you're in need of a place to rest, tell Karen up at the saloon that Jon sent ya".

    Jane nodded her head in quick thanks and turned off towards the saloon as Jon, the horse-keep pulled her stallion inside the shoddy stables and away from the upcoming dust bowl. 

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First chapter! Let me know what you think.