The Outlaw

Chapter Eight

They rode north hard for a week barely stopping long enough to eat or sleep. Ethan knew he was pushing the two of them too hard but he had to get as much distance between them and his father as he could before they took any kind of break.

He was proud of the fact that though he could tell Caroline and Jasmine were both completely exhausted neither of them said or did anything in complaint. They rose when he told them too in the morning and they rode until he told them to stop. He still couldn't quite believe he had gotten them out without being caught. He hadn't told Caroline but he'd ran into trouble when he'd went back in town.

Crenshaw had seen him and was about to shout a warning but Ethan had grabbed the man and slit his throat before he could make a sound. That was the first time Ethan had ever murdered someone who wasn't trying to kill him and Ethan wondered if it was a bad sign that he wasn't more bothered by it. His only thought was that if he got caught they'd find Caroline and Jasmine and he couldn't' let that happen.

Ethan knew his father and his men had to be chasing them. Thankfully Ethan was real good at hiding a trail and evading capture. That was something you learned real quick when you were a bank robbing outlaw. And thankfully his dad and the men he had left weren't very good at tracking… That was not an important skill in their line of work.

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It was early morning and they'd been riding for a week when Caroline saw the small town coming into view. She looked over at Ethan questioningly. She knew he'd been avoiding all towns thus far and wondered why they were riding straight toward this one.

"I don't know about you, darlin', but I'm getting a bit smelly." Ethan replied to her unspoken question. "That and I figure the horses could use a good rub down and a night in a cozy stable."

"What about Mitchell?" Caroline asked.

"We'll be alright stopping for the day." he promised. "Have a little faith in me, darlin'."

"I would trust you with my life, Ethan." Caroline replied matter-of-factly. "I know you'll keep us safe." Ethan looked at Jasmine who smiled trustingly at him as well and prayed to God that their trust was not misplaced.

They rode into town and Ethan put the horses up at the stable and got them a room at the hotel. Caroline didn't ask him where he got the money. She figured she didn't want to know. If she had asked him Ethan would have told her that he was using the money from the bank robberies he, his father and his fathers men had committed before coming to her farm. Ethan knew he shouldn't use it and he had no intention of ever robbing another bank but he'd darn near gotten killed getting it and since he was using it for the good cause of rescuing Caroline and Jasmine he figured it was okay.

"You ladies take ya a bath." Ethan said after the tub had been filled with hot water. "I'm gonna head down and get us some more supplies."

"Ethan…." Caroline started but then she bit her lip and stopped. She wanted to talk to him about them.. If there was a them. They hadn't kissed or really touched in the week they'd been riding. They hadn't spoken much either except for small talk and Caroline wondered if maybe she had just imagined it when she had seen something in his eyes as he'd looked at her before.

"Getcha a bath, darlin'." Ethan said again and then he walked out. He pulled his hat down as he walked out onto the sunny dusty street and blew out a long breath.

He loved that woman. No doubt about it in his mind but he knew there was no way she could feel the same. He was an outlaw. A bank robber and now a murderer. Not a man that deserved a woman like her. He walked over to the general store and made a list of what he wanted with the store keep. Then he walked out and the dressmakers shop caught his eye.