Honors And Redemptions Of The Outlaw

Chapter 14: Battles come with a Price

The ride to Bayfield was a brief trip down memory lane, filled with small stories of stealing the four horses, when Shea got taken by bounty hunters, every mission we took there contained an unwavering trust between ourselves. It all got me thinking back on Joseph, he hasn't been the same since he came back from Tindlewood. I must have had a worried look on my face while riding, a gentle tone breaking the small silence.

"Is everything okay Amber?" Elizabeth asked, I looked at her for a moment thinking how I should say this. "Just Joseph, he doesn't seem the same." Elizabeth raised a brow. "What do you mean?" I looked at Junior still holding a nice trotting pace before responding. "I don't know, he seems almost, Jealous. Guilty maybe?" Elizabeth rolled her eyes when I said that. "Jealous of what?" I shrugged my shoulders, turning my gaze back to her. "That night at the fire, when I told him I was with you and Jameson he seemed really tense after that. I guess he caught me smiling at you and Jameson and got the wrong message from it."

Elizabeth shook her head, her gaze returned to me, her eyes dim in the moment. "I never really liked him, he always seemed odd. Almost like he was hiding something, you know what I mean?" I nodded with a sigh. I removed the ring from my satchel looking at it for a moment, Elizabeth looked at it in my hands. "I'm sorry Amber, I just think you deserve someone better. It's not the first time you two have fought and he doesn't treat you right, I heard what he said to you the other day."

I looked at her with a small smile, her green eyes brightened with her smile reassuring me that everything was okay. "So, are you two done then?" Elizabeth questioned. I looked at the silver ring in my palm for a moment. Sometimes I questioned why I said yes and then other times I'm not even sure why I said yes, the first time.

"I'm done," I added, pausing for a moment returning my gaze to Elizabeth. "I have more important things to worry about now, I can't worry about stuff like that right now, I can worry when we finally get away from all this shit." Elizabeth gave a half-hearted smile placing her hand over my hand and the ring. "May I?"

I raised a brow at her for a moment before realizing what she meant. "Sure." She smiled at me taking the ring from the palm of my hand, she brought it up to her face to get a better look at it as we rode by a pond. A small smile formed on her face before she quickly turned, throwing the ring into the water. A small splash came from the top of the pond a few seconds later. "Oh my god, Elizabeth!" I said with a small chuckle, she turned to me rubbing her hands together. "I thought it would be a good skipping stone, guess it didn't work out again."

I put my face in the palm of my hand, Elizabeth shrugged. "You should be glad Shea doesn't know; she would have a gun to his head by now." I shook my head with a small laugh before Peggy's voice caught our attention. "We are coming up on that farm then, and I'm sure Amber wants to take the lead on this one." I looked at the upcoming house to the left of the road before looking back at Peggy.

"Good, you know your place already." I said earning an eye roll from Peggy. Peggy slowed a bit letting me pass to the front by Shea. We stopped about 15 feet from the house's porch when a man walked out greeting us. "Welcome, a-are you here for that special delivery?" I looked back to Peggy who gave me a reassuring nod, I turned back to him, but he wasn't there. "Miss Marston! Small world I see."

I turned to my right to see him talking to Elizabeth. She had a small smile on her face. "It sure is Mister Mindler." He looked back to me, walking over and he stopped beside me and Junior. "Follow me around the back, the wagon should be ready for you." We followed his slow pace on horseback until we made it back around the house where a wagon came into view.

"The goods should be covered, I'll uh- need my money then?" He looked at me, I tilted my head looking at the wagon. "You'll get your money once we see if everythings there, Mister Mindler." I looked over at Shea gesturing for her to go look at the wagon, she hopped down from Sybil with a small grin on her face. We all watched as Shea climbed on the back of the wagon lifting the cloth and looking at it. She looked over at Peggy before speaking. "I'm not sure what all you got from him."