Chapter 1 #3
And failed miserably almost daily. Of course, that wasn’t all his fault.
Daisy was hard to impress and rarely came out of her house.
She was a recluse, but that didn’t stop him from trying, so when Violet asked him to escort her to Butte, he jumped at the chance.
He just never expected things to turn out so wrong.
Nor did he imagine they’d be running through the darkened forest in the wilds of Montana to escape bandits he hoped were no longer following them.
It was getting darker now, the light so dim it was hard to see.
When Daisy stumbled every other step, he stopped running.
He looked back the way they had come and tried to still his panting breath to listen for anyone following them.
He heard nothing but the usual sounds one found in the forest and breathed a sigh of relief when he realized they’d outrun them.
Daisy was staring through the trees with a blank stare.
She still looked frightened, and he knew she was.
He couldn’t imagine how terrifying that entire ordeal had been for her.
Her limbs were still shaking, but he’d erase her fear if it was the last thing he did.
He got her attention and pointed to the ground before saying, “We can rest here for the night.”
Her eyes widened. “Here?” She looked around the forest.
He did the same. It wasn’t ideal, but they had no other choice.
He found a large tree and scraped the twigs away from its base before turning back to look at her.
When he caught her eyes, he said, “Sleeping outside isn’t so bad.
” She raised an eyebrow at him. He chuckled.
“Okay, granted it's better when you have supplies to make it more comfortable, but it's dry, and it's not too cold.”
He wasn’t sure how much of that she understood, but he hadn’t lied.
The air was chilled, but he’d slept through worse.
Autumn was sneaking into Montana, and the snows were so unpredictable this time of year.
He just hoped tonight wasn’t the night they came barreling through.
“Come on,” he said, motioning to the tree. “It won’t be bad. I promise.”
She didn’t look as if she believed him, but settled next to the tree.
He wanted nothing more than to sit beside her and wrap an arm around her to keep her warm, but being so bold might give her the wrong impression.
If he didn’t fear the bandits seeing it, he’d build her a fire, but knew it would be stupid given the situation.
He still had the gun in his hand, he noticed, and tucked it into the inner pocket of his coat before choosing a smaller tree in front of where Daisy sat and eased himself to the ground, groaning as his sore ribs protested the movement. She was staring at him when he looked back up. “What?”
She nodded to him with her head. “Did you have that gun the whole time?”
“No.” He shook his head. “When they started pulling you away, one bandit headed toward the stagecoach drivers and shot them both. I jumped him and took his gun.” He spoke the words slowly, enunciating them clearly as he’d seen Violet and Rose do when they spoke to her, but wasn’t sure how much she’d understood.
He left out the part where he’d shot the bastard he’d taken the gun from before turning to rescue her.
It didn’t take long for the last of the light to fade, but the moon was full and cast a silvery glow on the forest around them, making it easier to see.
Daisy’s head turned to look into the trees, and he did the same.
Small sounds of wildlife as they scurried along the ground were a constant buzz.
The fear that the bandits had followed them was still there, and he knew that’s what Daisy was looking for.
He touched her foot with the toe of his boot to get her attention and to take her mind away from the bandits, he asked, “Are you excited about going to Boston?”
It took his saying it a few more times in the waning light before her eyes widened. “That’s what you ask me after what just happened?”
He laughed. “It's called a distraction.”
“Oh.”
He grinned. “So…are you?”
She let out a breath and shook her head. “No. If I had my way, I’d stay in Silver Falls.”
“Why?”
“It’s my home.”
“Well, yeah, but where’s your sense of adventure?
” He grinned and crossed his feet a the ankles.
“I’d travel the entire world if I could.
See foreign lands. Immerse myself in other cultures.
” Taking off his hat, he laid it on the ground beside him before running his hands through his hair.
“I met a Chinese man in Texas once. The stories he used to tell about where he came from made it seem almost magical. I’m sure it's not, but I’d still like to see it. ”
She was squinting as if trying to make out every word he said and knew she hadn’t caught them all. But when she said, “My grandfather is from Scotland,” he realized she’d caught enough to know what he’d been telling her.
He grinned again. “Yeah, his accent gives it away.” She yawned, covering her mouth with her hand. He looked back the way they’d come, seeing that nothing was moving before catching her eye again. “Get some sleep. I’ll keep watch and wake you if we need to run again.”
She looked hesitant to do so but pulled her knees in long moments later, wrapping her cloak tighter around her body before laying her head on her knees and closing her eyes.
It was hard to take his own off of her then.
She looked like a sleeping angel in the filtered moonlight shining through the trees.
The conversation with Violet before they left Elkin came back to mind.
She knew he liked Daisy, and he couldn't help but grin when he remembered her telling him to use his time wisely. He’d agreed to do just that in what little he’d have with her, but it looked as if fate had other plans.
The meager hours he thought he’d have with her had doubled now, so he’d use their misfortune to his advantage and try his damnedest to make her fall in love with him.
He wasn’t sure what would happen once they made it to Butte.
He hadn’t seen her train ticket, so he wasn’t sure when the train left.
All he’d been told was to escort her there.
Thinking of the train ticket, he swore under his breath.
She had nothing on her but the clothes on her back.
Her luggage had been rifled through, her reticule taken by the bandits, which meant, more than likely, her train ticket was either on the side of the road or taken by the bandits.
Should they double back and look for it?
The sharp crack of a twig breaking made him sit upright. He reached into the inner pocket of his coat, his hand wrapping around the pistol grip as he scanned the forest. A shadowy figure moved nearby. He eased the gun from his coat pocket, pulling the hammer back before getting to his feet.
A man stepped from behind the trees a hundred yards away. Clay lifted the pistol, aiming it at his head before saying, “That’s close enough.”