The Outlaw

Chapter Twelve

Ethan groaned and raised his hand to touch his head. He could feel the bandage wrapped around it and he thought back to the last thing he remembered. The last thing he remembered was seeing Caroline's face full of hurt and love as he had told her he loved her and she had squeezed that trigger.

Ethan opened his eyes and realized he was inside a tiny shack. He was lying on a small hard bed and there was a fire in the fireplace across from him with a kettle of what smelled like venison stew cooking. Ethan felt his mouth water at the smell and he wondered how long it had been since he'd eaten.

Then he wondered what the hell he was doing still alive. Caroline had had that gun aimed right at his head. He had heard the sound of the shot and then everything had gone black. He tried to sit up but found that he could not and he collapsed back down on the bed feeling as if knives were being rammed between his ribs.

"I wouldn't try to move just yet kid." he heard a voice say from across the one room shack. His eyes flew to the man quickly and he instinctively reached for his gun belt only to find he was naked beneath the wool blanket he was covered with.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded finding that his words barely came out louder than a whisper and his throat burned with the effort of talking. The man, who was wearing clothes made of what looked like deer hide and had a big bushy blond beard and thin blond hair that was wild and tangled around his face, walked over to him with a cup in his hands.

"Drink ya some water before you try to talk. You've been laying in that bed for a whole week." Ethan's eyes widened with surprise even as he took the cup and drank deeply letting the cool water soothe his dry throat.

"You found me?" he asked. The man nodded and smiled, revealing a mouth full of rotten teeth with quite a few missing.

"Yep. You were pretty beat all to hell to, kid. Looked like somebody wanted you dead." Ethan nodded.

"Yeah, somebody did." he replied.

"Me and Annabelle found you out there and brought ya back here. Looked like somebody tried to shoot ya in the head but it just grazed ya and knocked ya out I guess. You were beat pretty bad too. Couple of bruised ribs maybe a couple cracked. The damn fever about took ya but since you're awake now I reckon you'll be okay."

Ethan pulled the blanket down to his hips so he could look at his chest and realized just how bad he looked. His ribs were indeed bruised bad and he was covered in cuts and welts from his fathers whip. He could remember the way Caroline had screamed every time the whip had fallen across him almost as if she could feel the pain herself. Now she and Jasmine were alone with his father and had been for a week. He felt his heart break at the thought of what his father was putting them through.

"Here's ya some soup." the man said bringing him a wooden bowl full of the delicious smelling stuff. He sat in on a small table beside the bed and helped Ethan into a sitting position leaned against the wall. Ethan grabbed the soup from him and happily began eating.

"Annabelle make this?" he asked remembering that that was who the man had said was with him when he'd been found. The man laughed as if what Ethan had just said was the funniest thing he'd ever heard and Ethan wondered if maybe this man was a little crazy.

"No not Annabelle. The old lady don't cook too good." he replied. "My names Grayson by the way." he added.

"Ethan. Where is Annabelle?" he asked.

"Out in the barn. She stays out there most of the time." Grayson replied. Ethan raised his brow. This man made his woman stay out in the barn?

"Really?" he asked. The man nodded.