𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐧𝐭 ~ 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐝

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

Early the next morning, Laurie saddled up Artax, mounting him with a small smile as she looked around at the rest of the gang, thanks to Billy, Laurie was able to accompany them on this little trip. Once everyone was ready, they took off on their horses in a gallop.

Laurie didn't keep track of how long it took for them to round up the chosen cattle that they were going to steal, cantered alongside Billy, making sure none of the cattle tried to escape through the side as Artax snorted, enjoying this little adventure. It was a beautiful day, the sun was up and shining bright, the sky was a bright blue and the rolling hills looked especially gorgeous today. Once the cattle were all rounded and had calmed down, the gang walked along the trail, Jesse and a few guys trotted ahead while Laurie trailed at the very back, helping make sure none of the cattle strayed behind. She pulled Artax to a stop when they got to the army base that the stolen cattle had been sold to, allowing Bob and John to herd the cows into the corral. Once the cows were inside the pen, the gang quickly left, a lot of the men were very rowdy and cheery about the successful round up.

ⅠⅠⅠⅠ

Later that night, when the sun had left the sky and the world was becoming dark, Jesse returned to camp in a wagon pulled by two black Friesans, tossing booze to the excited gang-members as women exited the wagon, greeting the men with smiles. The young teenager watched from her spot in a tree branch, drawing a picture of Artax.

Laurie wasn't stupid, she knew what these women were – prostitutes. She never really knew how to feel about them, but all she knew was that when she saw them coming to the camp, she would be in for a very sleepless night listening to the guys have their fun with them. The girl rolled her eyes, however just before she was about to turn her attention back to her drawing, one of the women caught her eye. Laurie recognized hat voice and face and it felt like time froze.

It was Jennifer.

It was her Ma.

She immediately climbed down from the tree, pushing through the crowd of overexcited men to get to the woman. It had been almost 4 years since she had last seen her mama. And it was so surreal to finally see her again.

"Mama?," the young teenager asked, following the crowd into the house. The older woman froze upon hearing the child's voice and she turned around with a shocked look.

What are the odds of seeing the daughter you abandoned at the camp you were going to be having sex with pretty much every guy there?

"Lauren?," Jennifer questioned, looking at the teenager up and down. "You've grown." She did not sound as happy to see Laurie as Laurie was to see her. Laurie was stunned for a moment, trying to figure out why her Ma didn't sound happy to see her.

"It's been years," Laurie said, the happiness in her voice faltering into sadness and disappointment, maybe a little bit of anger, even. "Where have you been all this time, Ma?"

"I've been around," Jennifer replied awkwardly, her tone was somewhat dismissive as she tried to go into the house but Laurie grabbed her arm.

"That's it? That's all you're going to say?," Laure pleaded, her voice breaking. "Why did you leave me? Why? I just need to know why? Was I not enough for you?"

Jennifer didn't answer, she went stiff, staring at her daughter. She had left because she felt like Laurie was nothing but a burden to her.

"I left because you were doing nothing but cause me unneeded stress," the woman snapped, yanking her arm away from Laurie. "You're nothing but a burden to me and everyone else in this camp, Lauren. I don't know how you even survived this long, but I want nothing to do with you."

Laurie was frozen to say the least. Tears spilled down her face, poor Laurie didn't know whether to be angry or heartbroken. She simply left, crying as she climbed her tree again, she sat in the thickest branch, quietly sobbing as she hugged her knees to her chest and rested the back of her head against the trunk of the tree, cursing herself for thinking her reunion with her mama would have been this heartwarming thing filled with happiness and strong emotions.

She hated herself for thinking that that was how the world works.

Later that night, a few men were outside drinking and having a good time. Laurie hadn't left the tree since interacting with her Ma. How could she have just left her alone like that? She was only 9 when she left. She wiped her face, turning her attention when she heard the sound of Billy snapping at Bob.

"Shut the fuck up, Olinger," Billy snarled, fixing his hat as she stood up.

"You don't tell me what to do, boy," Bob shot back, taking a swig of his beer. "Now everyone thinks that you're something special. You ain't special. And neither is that runt you seem to have made friends with. I ain't never seen anything special about you, and there ain't nothing special about the runt either. She's just another body to bury."

That last comment really pissed Billy off, especially because he knew how much those kinds of comments affected Laurie, she wasn't just another body to bury. "All right, then let's fight it out." Billy drew his gun from the holster at his waist and Bob groaned, shaking his head.

"I ain't fighting you with a gun," Bob said simply, taking another sip of his drink. Billy glared at the man, undoing his gun belt and tossing it to the side. Laurie could tell he was drunk as a skunk right now, which was probably why he was acting more defensive and impulsive than usual.

"Then lets fight with our fucking fists like men," Billy replied.

Bob smirked as he stood up, also tossing his gun belt to the side as he approached Billy. "I'll beat your ass any day."

Jesse and the few other guys that were still awake started cheering for Billy after Bob threw the first punch, decking Billy square in the nose. Laurie slid down from the tree and approached the fight, the tear stains on her face were all too visible but she didn't care. Billy grabbed Bob, slamming him into a wooden pole a few times before throwing him over the table. Laurie knew better than to intervene in fights like this, so all she could do was watch as the men all cheered in Billy's favor. The fight continued as they fell into the empty barn where the rest of the guys were going at it with the girls.

Billy had Bob pinned as he threw a few more punches into the man's face, hitting him hard, making sure he felt the pain nice and clear.

"Get the fuck up, Olinger, get the fuck up. You wanna talk shit and bully a child behind her back?," Billy hissed, hitting Bob one more time before Jesse went over, breaking up the fight as he held Billy's arm into the air, smiling as he announced Billy the winner of the fight. Everyone cheered and clapped, all except for Laurie, of course she was happy someone had stood up for her, but when she caught sight of her Ma in bed with one of the guys, she just shook her head and left.

Billy noticed this ad pulled his arm away and followed the upset teenager outside. He watched as Laurie picked up a random bottle of whiskey, chugging the rest of the contents before throwing it at a tree, smashing it into tiny pieces as she yelled in frustration. The outlaw felt his heart break for the girl, he had never seen her upset like this before. He walked over to her, gently grabbing her shoulders in a firm grip and making her face him, his face was soft and full of worry.

"Laurie, kid, what's got you so upset?," he asked, wiping the fresh tears from the young girl's face.

"Because it turns out my mama left because I'm nothing but a burden to her," Laurie snapped, hiccuping as tears dripped down her face. "How could I have been so fucking stupid to think she would actually be happy to see me? I mean, who am I kidding? She chose to leave me, and yet I still fucking believed we would have a reunion and..."

Laurie was a mess, she was rambling by now, not making much sense but Billy got the gist of what she was saying and it broke him upon hearing that Laurie found out her Ma wanted nothing to do with her. The outlaw pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back as he tried to soothe the sobbing child in his arms.

God she really is just a kid, a scared and lonely child, he thought to himself as he allowed her to cry on his shoulder.

Laurie didn't deserve this, and he knew that.

But did Laurie know that?