Shadows Peak |✔

Chapter 13: Casey

Casey woke up to the sun shining through the window, hitting his face. Raising his hand to block it, he rolled over, onto his back. Stretching off his sleep, he let out a yawn. But, then he suddenly remembered he wasn't alone.

Sitting up, he looked on the floor next to him, the blanket still there, but no girl.

Where did she go?

As if answering his question, Sydney walked out the bathroom, still in his shirt.

"Oh!" she said, startled to see him awake. "Did I wake you?" she asked as she started to fold her blanket up.

"What? Uh, no. I just...woke up," Casey said, rubbing his eyes. He stole glances at her when she wasn't looking, taking in her appearance as if for the first time.

Wow. I definitely don't regret giving her my shirt.

Casey already knew she was a pretty girl, but seeing her so fresh and clean really amplified it. She was much prettier than most of the girls in LeHorn.

As he looked her over, he noticed a couple of bruises on her thighs and a gnarly gash on her leg. A leg that, until now, she wasn't able to walk on.

"What happened to your leg?" he asked.

Sydney placed the folded blanket on the edge of the bed, keeping her gaze on it. Casey could tell she didn't want to answer him.

"Okay, well, where are you from?"

Again, she seemed to squirm at his questions.

"How did you get so beat up? Did someone attack your village or something?"

Casey was trying his best to be patient, but the curiosity was eating away at him.

"I don't really want to think about that day," Sydney said, her voice soft and hush.

Of course she wouldn't want to talk about that. She was just crying last night, and now I'm interrogating her.

Casey was brought out of his thoughts when he realized she was standing right infront of him, something glistening in her hands. The sudden closeness made him uncomfortable. He still wasn't sure if he could trust her. But, she was very beautiful and injured, so he let his guard down more than he usually would.

"Here. I don't have anything else to give to repay you for last night," Sydney said, gesturing for him to take the two spitchels from her.

"No way," Casey said, getting up and walking away from her. "You need that more than I do."

Not waiting for a possible rebuttal, he went into the bathroom and threw on his slightly damp shirt from yesterday. When he came out, Sydney was sitting on the bed.

"Oh, no. I forgot I was even wearing your shirt. Hang on and I'll-"

"I'm just stepping out for a moment. You can give it back to me when I get back," he said, ending her frazzled state.

Casey could tell she was still on edge, guarded, but was trying to be polite. She must sincerely feel bad about pointing her gun at me. Trying to figure her out, Casey came up with a theory that she ran away from a trafficker. She's certainly pretty enough to be taken. If so, they definitely are trying to find her.

Leaving her behind in his room, Casey headed toward the vendors, determined to find something for Noah. Since he didn't have to pay for his room, he had some extra money to spend.

While Casey was looking at some wooden carvings, he heard a horse and buggy coming down the road. Moving out of the way, he recognized Gordon as the one driving it. The man was older, probably in his late fifties, and he had blue, almost grey eyes. His hair was long enough to wear in a ponytail, and blonde with streaks of white.

"Hey, boy! How did you enjoy your stay last night?" Gordon shouted as he got out of his buggy.

"It was nice," Casey answered, walking over to help him load the boxes he was reaching for.

"Mmhmm, I'm sure it was," he said, winking an eye at Casey before laughing.

Casey knew what he was insinuating happened last night between him and Sydney, and he couldn't be further from the truth. But, he didn't bother correcting him. Gordon had already moved onto something else, and he didn't see the need to go over his night with him.

"So, what's up with all these boxes? You moving to another town or something?" Casey asked, grabbing another box.

"Ha, maybe one day. But, no. I'm taking these materials over to the inn I started up in Lakeland. We're almost ready to open."

"Lakeland?! That's pretty close to Shadows Peak," Casey said, concerned. "You expect to get good business up there?"

"You'd be surprised how often people travel there, boy," Gordon said, smiling at Casey.

"Well, when do you head out? Maybe I can catch a lift from you to LeHorn since it's on the way," Casey added in, hoping to avoid the walk back to his home.

"Ha! You're a real slick one, you know that!?" Gordon laughed, before getting serious. "But listen, boy. I'm an honest man, I work hard, however, I don't do anything for free. You'd owe me a favor, just as I owed Marcus. Nothing absurd, but you'd owe me. That sound good to you?"

"Yeah, yeah, no problem," Casey said, shaking Gordon's hand.

"Well, alright then. I'm leaving at noon. That's about two hours from now. You meet me at the pub and we'll leave from there at that time, or I'm leaving without you. I have a few things to get squared away before then."

Casey nodded, thinking of what else he wanted to do before leaving Yorke. He decided he would stick to finding something for Noah and then go back to the inn to pack up.

When he got back, the room was quiet. It's too quiet. Looking around, Casey spotted his black t-shirt folded up with two spitchels laying on top of it.

Walking further in, the only thing in the room that wasn't his was Sydney's crutch.

She left?

He tried to think of where she would have gone, but stopped himself. He was leaving in less than an hour and had to pack up. He had no time to worry about her. He did what he could, but it was time he went home.

Since Casey arrived at the pub early, he decided to order some bar-fries to take with him.

"Here you go, Casey," the friendly barwoman, Maria, said as she handed him his order. "I didn't see you leave last night. I can't say I wasn't disappointed."

"Yeah, well since I'm leaving today, I'd say I missed out on a fun time," he said, giving her a warm grin.

"Oh you did, trust me," she teased. "But, if you let me know when you're back in town, I'm sure we could get to know each other better."

"Maybe," Casey said as he got up to leave.

Once he was out, Casey could see Gordon pulling up in his buggy. His black and brown horses slowing down, coming to a complete stop a few feet in front of him.

"You ready to go, boy?" Gordon called out from his seat.

"Yeah. Let's go."