A Shot in the Dark-Whitey Winn

Chapter One

 "Run. Now!" my father screamed as he pushed a pistol into my hand. 

"Papa, please!" I reached for his hand, hoping to pull him with me away from the chaos. 

"Adeline. Go." his eyes softened as he cocked his rifle, taking one look back at me before running the opposite direction. 

  The whole moment was a blur as I took off sprinting into the streets. Smoke burned my eyes and lungs as gunshots rang out all around me. It took everything in my body not to turn around and look at the slaughter occuring in my town. After the train robbery, the miners had taken a couple of Frank Griffin's men in and he came back for them real quick, with no intention of leaving anyone in Creede alive. 

I kept running until my legs gave out beneath me and I collapsed into the dirt. My heart drummed in my ears as I laid there sobbing only now processing the entirety of what I'd just experienced. My father and brother had both ran into the fight and my mother was lost in the mob. For the first time in my life, I was completely alone and completely lost. Sleep didn't come easy but the cool night air brought me peace, the sounds of crickets and a near by creek slowly lulled me into a restless slumber. 

The next morning I continued walking, aiming to put as much distance between myself and Creede. Clutching my fathers pistol in my hand as if it was my lifeline. I was never much one for guns but Papa taught me how to shoot when I was a young girl. 

"A beautiful lady should always know how to protect herself." he'd say with a smile, handing me the gun to load. We'd spend days shooting. Days. Most of them would result in my whining and begging my father to let me go play with the other girls. I wish I hadn't taken that time together for granted. 

   I spent days wandering the roads, staying off the busy trails in hopes of avoiding all and any people I might come across. My feet were raw and bloodied,my dress tattered and covered in grime. Everything in my body begged for me to stop, sit down and give up. The heat was treacherous and I longed for nothing more than a long bath, a warm meal, and a comofortable bed. But I kept on. I continued like this for awhile longer,  shooting game birds for meals and stopping only for sleep and water but it felt as if there was no end in sight. There was no other place I felt comfortable being, nowhere could ever feel safe again. I knew I couldnt keep walking for much longer, I had no more bullets and no more desire for survival left and how could I? Everything I knew and loved had been burnt to the ground, my whole life had been burnt to the ground.  I wondered what would happen if I were to just stay put how long it would take for something to get me, be it the elements, gunmen, Frank Griffin. So thats exactly what I did. I stopped and sat right down beside the river eventually allowing my body to relax and the exhaustion to set in and slowly I fell into a deep, peaceful sleep. 

I woke several hours later to the sounds of branches snapping in the dark. I reached for my gun pretending to load it praying I wouldn't need to shoot considering I'd used my last bullet on a grouse.

"Who's there?" I  hollered into the night, steadying the pistol out in front of me. The only response was the sound of twigs being crushed under foot. "I said who's there?" I screamed louder. 

"Ma'am? Are you alright?" I spun around quickly aiming the gun into the face of the person behind me. I'm not sure who was more caught off guard but as I stared at the wide eye'd young man a small grin appeared on his face. "Whoa, you can lower your firearm. I ain't here to hurt you. What's your name?" I stared at him, my stare unwavering which only seemed to amuse him more. 

"How about I start? I'm Deputy Whitey Winn."