Make My World Go Black

Chapter Six

Fairly early the next morning, hours before all hell was set to break loose, Faraday made the decision to go fishing, a special trait of his that he hasn't put into good use for a long while. He catches a couple of fish almost right away, and as the sun was slowly starting to rise, he decided not to waste the fish and find someone to dine with him. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Jack Horne's tent not far from the riverside, and so Faraday strings up the fish and trudged his way through the long grass to make it to the burly man's campsite. All the while, he tried calling out his name, but Jack was fast asleep, his hat hiding his face. When Faraday reached him, he kicked his shin.

"Horne!"

The man springs up, his gun being drawn out of thin air and pointed at Faraday from pure surprise, "What the hell?"

"Catfish." Faraday quips while holding up his prize, his grin so wide and happy, like a little boy trying to make a parent proud.

Horne observes the situation, then he lets his guard down as he lowers the gun, "Well, that looks like breakfast."

Faraday laughs while walking around the makeshift fire Horne had created, "Yessir."

"I didn't know whether to shoot ya or shit myself."

Both break out into laughter and quickly get to work on breakfast before the day's big event came into play. Getting the fire started again, Jack took a handful of powder out from his pocket.

"Look, now back away, son."

Horne throws the powder into the fire, causing the flames to spread out and grow a little hotter. "There you go. Oh, this is gonna be nice."

"Yeah, well you got it figured out, out here." Faraday states while laid out, lounging in the grass as he looked around the camp, "I might just move out here with ya."

"Well, I could use the conversation. Haven't had company for a while."

"The great Jack Horne," Faraday announced while deep in thought.

"Mm."

"All those books I read about you never said anything about a family." Faraday rubbed his eye while looking back up at the older man, remembering the conversation that struck the topic of Horne's family from last night.

Horne turned to silence, running the words over in his head before responding, "Well, I lost my family."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"They meant a lot to me..." Horne mumbles while staring at the fire, before looking back at the younger man, voice a little lighter than before, "And I hold them with me." Keeping a weather eye on Faraday's behavior and posture, he follows up with questions of his own, "You? Children? Wife?"

Faraday scratches his beard, avoiding Horne's eyes as he looked about, "I had a mother."

"Yeah?"

"Well, I didn't fall from a horse's ass."

Horne's laugh nearly shakes the ground, enjoying this particular company that made him laugh harder than he's ever laughed before.

"I might have a couple kids." Faraday takes a step further in the joke, but only finds himself laughing.

Jack, on the other hand, had stopped, giving Faraday a warning tone, "Yeah, you were funny up to that point."

Faraday shrugs as a sign that he tried, as they continue to cook their breakfast in silence before Horne spoke up again, "What about you and Miss Crawford?"

The young gambler all but perks up at her name, flashes of last night running through his mind, "What about her?"

"You two appear to be close friends. And after I left the tavern last night... Well, I couldn't help but notice that Matilda was alone with you."