Innocence and the Outlaw

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chance heard his sister cry out from his spot behind the rock and it took every ounce of self control he had to keep himself from running into the camp with his gun blazing.

He saw that Chase didn't have quite the control he had. The Indian burst from the shadows, materializing from nothing and moving faster than a panther through the darkness, ending the cabin guards life before he even had a chance to realize his life was in danger.

Chance had lost sight of Chase once the Indian had entered the cabin and that had left Chance sitting behind the rock feeling as if he was doing nothing but twiddling his thumbs.

He sat and twiddled said thumbs until suddenly a naked man, bleeding profusely from his side came charging out of the cabin. Chance nearly dropped his gun in his shock as he recognized Tobias and realized that the man had been in that cabin with his sister.

Tobias quickly found cover behind a wagon and it wasn't until his voice yelled out in the night,

"We ain't alone boys!" that Chance realized he should have shot Tobias as he'd run across the camp. The only defense Chance had of his lapse in judgment was that he'd been plumb shocked. It wasn't every single day that a man saw a buck naked Indian, covered in blood and running in the firelight.

But as men began running out of tents and firing shots toward the cabin, Chance quickly recovered. He heard his father's Sharps rifle firing as well and each shot his father fired seemed to find its mark. Chance knew his father was good with that rifle. Paul had sniped off many a coyote from a distance while protecting his cattle and other livestock.

Chance quickly began firing shots of his own, determined to keep the men from storming the cabin where his sister and Chase were taking cover.

***

"How many of these men are there?" Leah demanded as she and Chase took turns firing out the window.

"A lot." Chase replied. He had moved a big heavy shelf in front of the door to keep anyone from coming in that way and now it was just a waiting game, though he and Leah were quickly running out of bullets.

"Chase look at that." Leah exclaimed with excitement. Chase shook his head and raised his brow at her. She was the damndest woman he had ever met. Innocent and childlike one moment, an argumentative brat another moment, and then excited over a gunfight in the next.

Chase followed her gaze out the window and saw what had her excited. A large group of men had clearly decided they had no interest in dying for their new boss and they were currently on horseback and galloping across the river and away from the flying bullets as quickly as they could.

"Tobias is foolish. He thought he could pull some inexperienced men from saloons, offer them money and instantly have their loyalty." Chase said with irritation.

"Where is Tobias? I haven't seen him since he ran out." Leah said as she and Chase moved away from the window to reload their guns from the dwindling supply of ammunition Chase had in a sack tied to his waist.

"I cut him deeply. He is busy bleeding to death."

"You don't look happy about that." Chase's jaw tightened as his eyes hardened but he did not respond. He was not happy about the thought of Tobias dying while he was stuck in this cabin. He wanted to be looking in Tobias's eyes as the man's life slipped out of him. He wanted to have his knife deep in the mans throat as his heart beat out it's last few pumps of blood and life.