To Tame the Wild: a Red Dead Redemption fan fiction

Chapter 6 - A Shot of Reality

"Marston, would you quit yawning and wake up already? That's the tenth time you've done that and it's not even nine o'clock!"

From behind the viewing glass of his binoculars, Jack frowned and said, "It's not my fault that bastard horse thief kept me up all night bitchin' and yellin' like some damn screech owl. Who the hell puts someone that fuckin' loud right beside my cell and expects me to get some sleep?"

"Me, that's who," Maddie replied and flicked the end of Gypsy's reins at his arm.

"Ow!" he exclaimed as the leather slapped his bicep. He flinched in the saddle, causing the Dark Horse beneath him to pin back his ears. "Damn it, Maddie! What the hell was that for?"

She grinned devilishly at him and gathered up the reins again. "I'm helping you wake up."

"With pain?"

"Yup," she giggled and flicked the reins at him again, this time smacking his thigh.

"Stop that!"

"Is it waking you up?" she teased.

"It's pissing me off is what it's doing!"

"Good! Then my job here is done."

"Great! Then go back to the ranch and leave me be, ya rotten bitch."

She smiled coyly at him. "Oh, you only wish, princess. I can't just leave you here with the herd and expect you to know what you're doing. Besides, have you already forgotten why we're out here in the first place?" She loosened her grip on the reins and gave her horse her head.

Jack sighed angrily as he looked back into his binoculars and scanned the wide-open plains, his gaze passing over the backs of thirty cattle that were grazing fifty yards before them. He and Maddie sat atop their horses beneath a large tree, shading themselves and giving their mounts a rest as they settled in for the long day that was to come.

"I haven't forgotten, damn it."

"Good. Just keep a sharp eye out for those cattle rustlers. No doubt they'll be here sometime during the day."

"I know, I know," Jack grumbled and continued his vigilance over the cattle. He recalled earlier that morning around seven o-clock when Bonnie came up to them and stated there were cattle rustlers about stealing from neighboring ranchers. She ordered them to drive the cattle out to pasture, with the help of three other ranch hands, and keep their guns at the ready and their eyes sharp for any signs of the thieves.

"You see anything yet?"

"No, and if you keep asking me that every five minutes, things probably won't change!" The binoculars slipped from his grasp and slammed against his chest; he was thankful for the neck strap that kept the bulky thing from falling onto his groin.

Maddie jutted out her bottom lip and tucked in her chin, looking at him like a parent would to a child. "Does someone need a nap?"

"No," he shot back as he scowled over at her, "someone needs to SHUT UP!" His booming retort spooked both horses from their half-awake state, making their riders gather the reins and tense up in preparation for their mounts to jink about. When the horses did nothing more but flinch in place, Maddie and Jack relaxed and glared at each other.

"Would you calm the hell down, Marston?" she demanded as she tugged down on her hat. The wind began to pick up slightly, causing her hair to flow behind her. "If you keep your antics up, you'll scare the cattle into a stampede, and that's something I'd rather not deal with today. We've already got enough on our plates with the threat of the cattle rustlers."