𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐧𝐭 ~ 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐝

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧

The next morning Laurie was sitting on the fence of the small horse pen, watching a few of the guys play baseball as Artax stood by her, gently nuzzling her with a nicker. His brown eyes were still the softest and kindest looking things Laurie had ever laid her eyes on, she believed that this horse truly understood her, knew how she was feeling. Her arm was feeling better, it just hurt a lot whenever she moved it a certain way and she needed to change the bandage every now and then, but she was okay, mostly.

A gunshot sounded from the top of the hill, catching everyone's attention and causing Laurie to jump and fall backwards, falling right in front of Artax with a grunt as all the guys rushed over to the fence, grabbing their own rifles before taking aim at a few riders trotting down the hill. Billy made sure he was deliberately standing in front of Laurie to make sure she was shielded from any crossfire if this was an attack.

"Jesse, it's me, Baker!," one of the riders called as he and his buddy came trotting over on their horses, Laurie immediately identified both of the horses as mustangs.

"Hold your fire, hold your fire!," Jesse demanded, making everyone lower their guns as Laurie climbed back over the fence. She was curious as to what was going on but she was also wary, she didn't know these unfamiliar men. Jesse walked over to the man as he and his friends pulled their horses to a stop. "Fellas, allow me to introduce you to a very old friend of mine, Frank Baker."

Artax pinned his ears as he snorted, pawing at the ground from the pn, he clearly didn't like this Frank Baker guy, and if Artax didn't trust somebody, Laurie didn't either. The teenager stuck close to Billy, eying Frank like a spooked doe.

"Sure am happy to see all of you. Me and Jesse go back a while," Frank said, "Always talked about going into business together. That's why I'm here." His eyes landed on Laurie. "Didn't know you guys were accepting runt girls now, too."

Laurie looked at the ground. Great, another person in my life to call me that, the young teenager thought. Billy shot Frank a look, oh, if only looks could kill. Frank seemed to completely ignore Billy's glare and he continued to speak, "We have an opportunity for you boys, and girl, opportunity to make a great deal of money, as well as have some fun."

Frank sat up from his horse as his little business offer continued. "You know, I know you need to quit this place. I read the papers. And I also think that you need the money to put some meat on that kid's bones, too." His gaze averted to Billy, who was standing next to Laurie and often looking at her to check in and see if she was okay. "I understand that you've got William Bonney here with you."

"Yeah, I'm here," Billy confirmed, looking back at Frank. "And that 'runt' as you call her has a name, it's Laurie."

Frank tied his reins to his saddle horn and dismounted, removing his riding gloves as he slowly approached Billy, who instinctively tucked Laurie behind him, keeping his blue eyes trained on Frank.

"It sure is a real pleasure to meet you," Frank said as he shook hands with Billy, "We've all heard a lot about you. It's my understanding that the kid behind you has been your travel buddy."

Billy didn't say anything as Jesse glanced over at the interaction and Laurie could tell he wasn't really happy. But she couldn't figure out why exactly he seemed upset. Her train of thought was interrupted, however, after Jesse suggested that they go inside. However, Laurie didn't follow, instead, she turned back to where Artax stood. The young stud seemed antsy, snorting and pawing at the ground, pretty much chomping at the non-existent bit in his mouth. Something was really bothering the quarter horse, Laurie wasn't sure what it was, but whatever it was, it was something bad.