Chapter 24
It took a while, but as time passed, Deadshot started opening up more and more to Rider.
At first, the big bounty hunter didn’t say much, but once Rider got him talking, things changed.
He still wasn’t much of a conversationalist, but every once in a while, he did tell Rider stories.
Rider had started losing track of how long they had been on their journey to find his mother and sister.
The days had started blurring into each other, and the nights were getting colder.
Deadshot had assured him that he was not giving up, but sometimes it was difficult to stay positive.
Rider was extremely thankful to Deadshot for agreeing to help him because he had soon come to realize that finding Quincy was not an easy undertaking.
They were still going from one town to the next, trying to find clues or any information that would point them in the right direction.
So far, nobody had seen or heard from Quincy or his gang.
Of course, there had been raids and attacks in some of the towns, but they had no way of pinning them to Quincy’s gang.
There were many other outlaws, after all.
Despite the horrible reason for their journey, it wasn’t all bad.
Rider had learned a lot from Deadshot. He had learned things he never would have learned working on the range, and for that, he was grateful.
“That’s good!” Deadshot called. “Now you just need to do it faster.”
Deadshot was right. He was still struggling to get the move precise and forced at the same time.
He was lucky to have such a magnificent horse like Atlas.
Rider loved his other horses, especially Butter, but he had never met a horse as intelligent as Atlas before.
The only other horse he had seen that was able to do the tricks that Atlas was learning was Bullseye.
Deadshot had trained his horse, and now he was helping Rider to train Atlas.
Rider made his way back to where Deadshot was standing. To anybody else, the big bounty hunter would look scary, but to Rider, he had become somewhat of a safe haven. Being out in the wild was terrifying at times, but with Deadshot at his side, Rider did not feel as lonely or scared.
“Let’s try again,” Deadshot instructed. “This time, push your legs tighter around his body. You have to make sure that he understands you want him to go fast.”
Rider nodded in agreement, knowing that Deadshot was right. “I’ll get it this time.”
Following Deadshot’s instruction, Rider steered Atlas forward.
At first, they moved at a trot, and then they sped up to a gallop.
The horse was extremely fast and powerful.
Now came the difficult part. He had to get Atlas to move in a zigzag formation while keeping his speed.
First, he pulled the reins left, then right.
The horse moved quickly without losing speed.
They were doing it. Rider needed to keep his focus, though.
Squeezing his legs tighter around the big horse, he pulled a little harder on the reins, making sure that the animal understood exactly what was expected of him.
Atlas responded perfectly, and soon enough, they were doing tight zigzag patterns just like Deadshot and Bullseye.
Rider felt so proud of Atlas and a little proud of himself as well.
The first time he saw Deadshot do the trick, he wasn’t sure if he would ever be able to, but training with Deadshot had shown him that he was capable of doing a lot more than he thought.
When he reached the end of the clearing, Rider brought Atlas to a slow trot and then turned them around. Heading back to Deadshot, he could not wipe the smile from his face. “Did you see that?” he asked excitedly.
“Sure did,” Deadshot replied, and Rider could swear that the man sounded proud.
“I doubt that any bullets would hit us if we rode like that,” Rider stated, although he really did not want to find out.
Deadshot raised an eyebrow. “Confidence is great, but never be overconfident, or you might put yourself in danger.”
Rider got down from Atlas and walked over to where they were going to make the fire for the night. He had already collected the wood, so he started piling the sticks on top of each other. “Has that ever happened to you?” he asked.
Deadshot walked over to where he was busy building the fire and sat down on his bedroll.
He shook his head. “No, not really. I trained from a young age and knew that it was important to always be prepared. It’s not always possible to know what situation you will be thrown into, especially if you’re chasing outlaws.
But if you have the right training and you trust yourself, you’ll be able to manage in the moment. ”
“You seem pretty confident to me,” Rider pointed out.
Deadshot shrugged. “Like I said, there’s nothing wrong with being confident . . . just don’t think you are untouchable.”
“Have you ever been shot?” Rider asked. He had seen Deadshot getting dressed before and noticed all the scars on his body. He didn’t dare stare, though, and wasn’t sure how the bounty hunter came to have so many.
“Many times,” Deadshot chuckled.
Rider’s eyes grew big. “How many is many?” he asked, unable to keep his curiosity in check.
“Well, I’ve been shot at many times, but they only hit me five times.”
Rider sucked in his breath, not quite believing what he had just heard. “How are you even still alive?”
“I have good reflexes,” Deadshot replied. “Only got hit badly once. A slug got me right in the chest.”
“Add the other four times?” Rider asked.
“Just scratches. Took some flesh and skin, but nothing important.”
Rider didn’t even want to imagine how badly it would hurt getting shot. He was still amazed by how casually Deadshot spoke about such things. It was almost as if he wasn’t even human. “It must have hurt,” Rider pointed out.
“Of course,” Deadshot agreed, “but to me, pain is a reminder that I’m still alive.”
That was one way to think about it. On the other hand, Rider simply thought that pain was excruciating and would much rather avoid it altogether.
“You’re strange,” Rider said before he could stop himself.
For a second, he was worried that Deadshot would get angry, but then the big man started laughing.
“I’ve been called much worse things than that.”
Rider smiled, feeling relieved. “I’m almost too scared to ask.”
“Wouldn’t want to repeat those words, anyway,” Deadshot stated, still laughing.
It was nice talking and laughing like that with Deadshot.
When he was laughing, he didn’t come across as so scary.
In fact, Rider was sure there was a much softer side to the bounty hunter that he simply hid from everybody else.
They laughed and joked while they prepared their food, and when they were done eating, they had some coffee and watched the stars.
Rider had always loved looking up at the sky and wondering what lay beyond what he could see.
Apparently, Deadshot had that same fascination, and together, they discussed the constellations and everything they didn’t know about space.
That night, Rider slept well. He still missed his bed, but he had gotten used to sleeping outside. The first while was scary, but with Deadshot by his side, things didn’t seem as daunting.
The next morning, they woke up early again.
Rider had only slept late a couple of times, and those were on days when it was raining.
Deadshot was very much a morning person and believed that they had to be ready to start their day at the first rays of sunlight.
That was another thing that Rider had gotten used to.
He still didn’t particularly like it, but he understood that they had to use all the time they had available to them.
The plan was to go to another small town. They had been to so many towns that Rider had forgotten most of their names. Maybe one day he would return to them and visit instead of simply passing through.
For now, he only had one concern, and that was finding information about Quincy and his gang.
The town was still a good few miles away, but Deadshot had said that they should reach it by that afternoon.
Rider really hoped that they would learn something useful there because he was starting to feel hopeless.
Deadshot was trying to keep Rider positive, but he knew that time was running out for his sister and mother. If they were still alive, he had to find them.