𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 | 𝐒𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐄 𝐀𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐑 𝐗 𝐎𝐂

𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐔𝐀𝐋

I was covered in hot sticky blood. It damped my clothes and ruined my new saddle.

I rode into our homestead. Rosa was there singing as she picked strawberries. She looked beautiful. She wore a red skirt with a sleeveless white shirt. Her short black hair was in two braids. Strands of hair fell down to her face. Her dark skin shined in the sunlight.

"Angel de amor..." I heard her sing with a low hum. "tu passion no la compren-" Rosa stopped as she spotted me. Her thick eyebrows furrowed. "Sadie?"

"Hey..." I smiled as I rode to our hitching post.

"What the hell did you do?" She stood up with the basket of strawberries in her hand.

I dismounted my horse as Rosa gave me a confused look. "You can't just... you can't just be riding around like that, moron."

"I got some good money." I breathed out and she shook her head disappointingly. "You fool..." Rosa approached me. "Que estabas pensando?" She whispered and I laughed. I actually knew what she meant. "Hey, I know what that means." I said surprised. Being around her made me pick up the Spanish language.

"Yeah?" Rosa questioned as she guided me to a chair on the porch. "Yeah." I sat down and sighed deeply. "You got a cigarette?"

"No." She answered and I chuckled.

Rosa was a liar; a good one at that. But she could never fool me. "Yeah, you do."

Rosa sighed and reached into her pocket. She handed me a cigarette and then proceeded to lit it for me.

I inhaled the smoke and sighed.

"We have to get you washed up." Rosa said. "Before you start to smell."

"Like a bath?" I asked and she laughed. "Hell no. We're rinsing you off first. You are not getting my bathtub stained with blood."

"So..." I backed up a little and Rosa nodded. "Water hose, cowgirl." Her high raspy voice went low.

"God." I groaned.

After rinsing off with the hose, Rosa ran me a warm bath. I really didn't deserve her gentleness.

Rosa scrubbed my hair with shampoo. It was the expensive honey one she loved so much. "So what happened?" Rosa asked.

"Well, I had a bounty for some stupid thief. Little did I know that the bastard ran with a gang. I had to take those sons of bitches out..." I chuckled. "I got paid extra for it though."

"A gang?" Rosa scoffed. "Sadie." She stopped scrubbing and put her soap covered hands on my bare shoulders. "Do you have any idea how wrong that could've gone?"

"Well, it didn't." I said. "Am alive, aren't I?"

"You know, you give me a lot of shit for smoking cigarettes, but this is far more dangerous." She told me. "At least mine'll be a slow death."

"Hey," I sat up and turned to her. "I ain't getting killed. And you ain't slowly dying."

I looked at her face. Her downward eyes always looked so tired. Beaver Hollow had left permanent bags under her eyes. I saw her lip twitch a little. "How are you so sure?"

"Rosa, honey," I cupped her face in my hands. "We'll be fine. This world... it's becoming more civilized anyway. There's less threat everyday. Okay?"

She looked as if she were thinking about it.

"Okay..." Rosa nodded.

"Okay." I leaned in and kissed her. "See? There's already one less gang of killers out there."

"Okay..." She laughed not being able to contain her smile. "Just turn back around so I can wash your hair."

"Yes, ma'am." I chuckled as I turned back around, leaning my head on the tub. "We'll be alright, Rosa." I said and I heard a small breathy laugh. "We will."

"So..." I made conversation. "Mary came by this morning?" I questioned.

"Yup."

"Ya'll friends yet?" I asked as Rosa slowly poured water onto my hair. "She's actually not that bad."

"Really?" I chuckled and Rosa hummed as she ran her fingers through my wet hair. "Yeah, she's actually nice. I can see why Arthur liked her."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked and she laughed.

"Nothing, you fool." She laughed as she poured more water on my head. "I don't know why you get jealous, Sadie. I would never look another woman's way." Rosa said. "And Mary's just sweet. Maybe she'll make a good friend.

"Good." I nodded with a softer tone. "You deserve good friends."

After washing off, one thing led to another, and Rosa and I began drinking on our porch. I loved living with her.

"So, what did you do today?" I asked Rosa as I pet Copper who was laying down by my feet.

"Well, after Mary left, I paid town a visit. Drank with an old man. Then, I robbed him a few." Rosa said and I laughed. "Oh, really?"

Rosa was hilarious to me. While I was gone doing some bounties, she was out doing god knows what? Most days, i'd find her cheating her way through poker down at the train station. Some days she'd go out hunting, others she'd visit friends.

"Yup." Rosa nodded with a laugh. "I couldn't help it." She sighed. "Then, later, I came home and started picking them strawberries."

"Then what happened?" I joked.

"Then some idiot covered in blood decided to ride in all casual like." Rosa said and I smiled. "Yeah..."

Rosa had far too much patience with me. I was always a lot to handle. Even with Jake, I gave him a hard time. I didn't make it easy to love me. I never did. I couldn't understand why or how they managed to love me so much. I was a bad person; even when I wasn't a killer.

I watched as a man rode slowly past our homestead. He was most likely going into town. He gave us a hard stare.

I chuckled lightly. "The hell was that? Someone's in a bad mood." I took a sip of my beer.

"You think people know?" Rosa immediately questioned and I looked over at her confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean..." She began. "I always feel like someone knows. Like every hard look I get is one of privy. Like they know."

I stayed silent for a moment. This stuff weirdly bothered Rosa more than me. "I-" I finally shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe...would you care?"

She nodded. "I think a part of me would. The part that always wanted to be liked." Rosa shrugged. "And what if- What if they do something? There's people out there who would do terrible things."

"Well, we could fight those bastards off." I said. "We have each other. We could take down an army, cowgirl."

Rosa smiled softly. "Sure."