The Outlaw

Chapter Three

Caroline's head was pounding and her muscles were screaming when they finally made camp that night. She had been thrown on her stomach across the saddle of an extra horse while one of the outlaws tied it to his own horse and led it across the dusty planes. They had ridden hard and covered countless miles before finally stopping.

Caroline and Jasmine were sat on the hard ground with their hands and feet bound while the men went about setting up camp. Caroline saw them carry the dark haired stranger into a small tent. He appeared to be unconscious and he was covered in blood and she found herself praying that he was going to be okay since he had seemed like the only half decent man among them all.

She had cried for a long while after leaving the cabin but finally her eyes had gone dry… There were no tears left inside of her to cry. She looked over at Jasmine and saw that her face was dirty and tearstained and her blue eyes were scared and wide as she looked around at the outlaws.

Caroline scooted closer to her and leaned into her shoulder. Jasmine looked at her.

"Are you okay?" Caroline asked softly. "Are you hurt?" Jasmine shook her head. Caroline tensed when she saw Mitchell walking over to them.

"Hello girls." he said his voice sounding much too upbeat and chipper after the terror they had just left behind. Caroline glared at him.

"What is your name?" he asked crouching down and looking at Jasmine. Jasmine just stared at him. "Answer me girl!" he yelled. Jasmine leaned away in fear. Mitchell raised his hand to slap her but Caroline threw her own body in front of her little sister and his hand landed on her cheek instead.

"Get back! I need to teach her a lesson! When I ask a question I expect it to be answered immediately." he roared.

"She can't speak!" Caroline screamed back. "She never has been able to, you monster!"

"Are you telling me she's some kind of retard?" he demanded. Caroline spit in his face and he wiped it away with a chuckle.

"God you are gonna be fun to break aren't you?" he asked. Caroline nearly gagged at the implication in his words. Just then a man came over from the tent they had drug the dark stranger into. He was covered in blood and looked worried.

"Boss, Ethan is going to die if we don't get him to a doc… That bullet is still in there and he's bleeding bad." he said. Mitchell stood up straight and cursed.

"Well we're fresh outta doctors aren't we? I guess the boy will learn a lesson about going against me."

"But we can't just let him die boss. He's the fastest gun we got… 'Cept you of course." he added quickly when he saw the flash of anger in Mitchell's blue eyes.

"What good is he with that gun if he won't use it unless it's in self defense? The boy is spineless!" Mitchell said angrily.

"You would let your own son bleed to death from your bullet?" Caroline demanded from where she was sitting on the ground. Mitchell thought about smacking her for speaking out of turn but then he realized that she probably knew how to sew.

He reached down and grabbed her arm dragging her to her feet as he led her over to the small tent that Ethan was currently bleeding to death inside.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"You are going to nurse my fool headed son back to health. Your first job is to get that damn bullet out of his arm and sew him up." he replied. "You can sew right?" he added. She nodded.

"I need thread and a needle." she said matter-of-factly. "And some whiskey for the wound." Caroline had removed bullets before… She had lost her older brother to a bullet not long ago after doing everything she could to save his life.