Make My World Go Black

Chapter Sixteen

Even though Faraday thoroughly enjoyed seeing Matilda in a dress, his legs always felt weak when he watched her in an environment she was comfortable with. Wearing her now fully cleaned-of-blood pants, shirt, hat, and vest, the Irishwoman was letting Ranger ride her around the small livery stable again, giving the animal all of her trust as a way of gaining his in return.

Already, Ranger looked much healthier compared to when he was first given to Matilda. Once he was less skittish around her, the young woman would scrub him clean every day until his skin willed itself to heal around his wounds on either side of him. She had fed him quite a bit more apples and bales of hay, too as he definitely looked a lot stronger around the legs. Once she deemed him safe to be around others, she had even let some of the children come around to groom and braid his mane. Hell, Matilda had treated this animal so well that Ranger would no doubt kill for her if it ever came down to that, and Faraday even voiced this to her once.

"If he takes a page out of your own stallion's book, then I'm blaming you," she eyed him with a devilish smirk.

And now, he watched as Ranger began to buck gleefully, Matilda hanging onto the saddle for dear life but smiling nonetheless. She looked over at Faraday and shouted over the horse's scream of excitement, "Open the gate."

Faraday eyed her and the horse carefully, "Are you sure...?"

"Faraday, I will invite you to take Jack out to ride with us if you open that gate this instant!"

The playful grin he returns at the deal is all too pleasing to watch form in Matilda's eyes as her gambler goes to unlock the gate. The second it opens, wide and welcoming, Tilda gently kicks Ranger's newly strong flanks and the beast takes off. Screaming and laughing in delight, the woman and her horse take off down the town's main road, heading for freedom. Joshua quickly reacts by letting out a high-pitched whistle and in response, Jack comes galloping out of the stables. Faraday skillfully waits until the perfect moment to grab hold and swing himself onto the back of his stallion just as Jack ran past him, and soon enough they were racing after Matilda and Ranger. Some of the people of La Belle had to quickly move out of the way as they raced by, others watch from the sidelines in awe at the beautiful scenery. Faraday could faintly hear Red Harvest howling with exhilaration when the Indian noticed that Ranger and Matilda were back on their feet and Goodnight laughed harmoniously while watching the pair ride out of town on their horses from his rocking chair outside the hotel.  

Once they were gone, vanished within seconds from the magic of horsepower, Goodnight settled back down for a smoke while Billy silently sharpens his knives from his spot on the floor of the porch just beside Goody's leg. Before long, Chisolm and Vasquez walked out of the hotel with befuddled expressions.

"What's all that ruckus about?" Sam asked.

Goodnight chuckled, "You missed the show. It appears as though Miss Crawford's new stallion is fully healed and ready to ride. She and Faraday had just raced out of town."

"And Faraday's devil of a horse didn't run anyone over in the confusion?" Chisolm furrowed his eyebrows with concern, "I know you said Teddy Q must have softened the animal up, but I thought you were exaggerating."

"Oh, believe me, Jack did, in fact, drove some of the poor people of La Belle to move out of the way before they met some unfortunate fate, but at least he didn't kill 'em."

Billy snorts without looking up from his knives, "We better be leaving soon before these people decide we're a nuisance."

"Billy has a point," Sam hums, "These women might even drive us out of town if Jack ends up crashing into a child."

"You mean squishing, jefe," Vas rolled his eyes while Sam narrows his gaze at him.

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