The Outlaw

Chapter Eighteen

Ethan waited until the only sound in the camp was the crackling of the fire and the steady breathing of the sleeping outlaws. He rose from his bedroll looking very much like a ghost as he moved silently in the shadows. He pulled back Caroline's tent flap and found her waiting for him. He motioned for her and she stepped out into the darkness. She looked up at the starlit sky and sent up a silent prayer that they would make it out of this moonlit canyon alive. Ethan walked her over to a rock on the edge of camp and made her sit behind it.

"I love you, darlin'." he whispered gently. "You better keep your pretty ass behind this rock and you don't come out no matter what. Do you hear me? If something happens to me then you stay here and you shoot any of them sons of bitches that come around here after you."

"I won't let you die again." Caroline argued. Ethan pulled the bandana from his face and kissed her quickly.

"You heard me, darlin'." he warned and then without another word he walked away.

Ethan glanced up on the ridgeline and saw Grayson crouched and watching him. Grayson threw his hand up and Ethan acknowledged the motion with a nod. Ethan moved through the shadows as silent as the night itself and pulled his knife as he neared Tommy's sleeping form on his bedroll.

He crouched beside Tommy and threw his hand over his mouth. Tommy's eyes flew open and widened in surprise when he recognized Ethan but before he could fight back Ethan slid his large skinning knife along his throat and Tommy's eyes slowly rolled back in his head as his blood pooled around them on the ground.

Ethan moved to the next bedroll and glared down at Doomer's sleeping body. Doomer was responsible for some of the bruises covering Caroline's body. He would love to make this bastards death slow but he didn't have time for that. He crouched down and clamped Doomer's mouth closed before quickly sliding his bloody knife across his throat. He moved away from Doomer quickly to move to the next man.

Blue was next. Ethan moved silently and quickly toward him but as he lowered his hand toward Blue's mouth, Blue's brown eyes flew open and he grabbed his arm and flipped him over before jumping up and straddling him. Ethan was pinned to the ground beneath Blue. He fought against him but the damn Mexican was stronger than he was and he couldn't budge him.

"I told Mitchell you had come back from the dead. You're a ghost! Eres un fantasma!" Blue snarled.

"I ain't a ghost, you jackass. You all just didn't kill me good enough the first time." Ethan said calmly.

"What the hell is going on?" Mitchell demanded as he stared at Blue's back. He couldn't see who Blue was holding down.

"Franks, Doomer, Tommy! Get over here!" Mitchell yelled. Franks rose quickly from his bedroll and ran over to Mitchell but Doomer and Tommy remained motionless.

"They are dead, boss." Blue said. "This ghost killed them."

"What the hell you talking about you damn crazy ass?" Franks demanded. Blue reached down to Ethan's guns and removed them both from his gun belt and threw them into the shadows and he removed his second knife from his belt and squeezed Ethan's wrist of the hand that was holding the bloody knife tightly until Ethan was forced to drop it.

Blue pulled his own revolver and jerked Ethan to his feet keeping the gun pressed into his side.

"Who the hell is that?" Mitchell demanded. "I can't see his face in them shadows… Bring him over here closer to the fire."

Ethan kept his face looking down at the ground so that it was still hidden even in the firelight.

"Kid?" Franks asked. Ethan brought his face up and saw both Mitchell and Franks take a step back in their shock as they recognized him.