The Fire Within a Ninjago Cowboy

Chapter 23 - Tuesday at Midday

Chapter 23 - Tuesday at Midday

Shortly before noon, Morro stopped the horses for a water break in a shady spot behind an outcropping of rock.

He dismounted but kept Sam on his horse. Her head was draped with a blanket he had put on her to keep off the intense rays of the sun.

Sam's eyes, filled with contempt for him, peered over the kerchief which had been put over her mouth before dawn.

Her eyes are definitely deep blue like Emma's, he thought.

Morro attended to his horse. Then he got out his canteen and took several big swallows of refreshing water.

He fished through his packed belongings for the canteens he had specially reserved for his captives. Selecting one, he reached up and handed it to Sam. She was able to grasp it, though her wrists were bound. He pulled down her kerchief below her chin, and without saying a word, she took several deep gulps.

That's right, my dear, Morro thought to himself as he smiled. Drink up.

When she finished drinking the amount she wanted, he took the canteen from her and put it back in its place in his knapsack.

Kai had remained inert all this time, but now it was time to wake him up. Morro slid him off Bansha's horse none too gently, jarring him awake, and propped him sitting up against the rock outcropping.

"We're taking a break. I'm getting you some water," Morro tersely explained.

"Thanks," Kai responded, equally terse.

Morro returned to the packed belongings. As he did so, Kai's eyes met Sam's. She smiled at him. Kai thought she looked just as beautiful now, with a dirty blanket draped over her head, as she did when he first saw her, all gussied up in her fancy turquoise saloon dress.

Both of their faces registered confusion when Morro unexpectedly climbed back on his horse.

"This is where the trail ends for you, cowboy," Morro explained. "I've let you play with Sam long enough. Now I'm staking my claim to her."

"What?!" Sam exclaimed. "Our agreement was that I'd give you my money and you'd leave Kai and me alone!"

"It was, my dear, but you made the mistake of trusting me."

"You double-crosser!" Kai hissed.

Morro tossed a knife and a canteen at Kai's feet.

"Use the knife to cut yourself free, but I don't know how far you'll be able to travel after I do this."

He took out his gun, aimed it at the head of Bansha's horse, and pulled the trigger.

Kai's jaw dropped. Sam screamed.

"As for the canteen, you should know I put the rest of the potion in it. So I'm not totally heartless. That way you won't be fully aware of your death."

"Bastard!" Kai shouted.

"How can you just leave him here to die?" Sam wailed. She wriggled violently to get off the horse but Morro held tightly onto her.

"Oh, I forgot one thing," he said. The sound of the cock of his gun made her pause her thrashing.

Morro aimed at Kai's foot and let a bullet fly.

Kai gasped in pain.

"Kai!" Sam screamed.

"Farewell, cowboy!" As Morro turned his horse around to leave, he noticed the look on Kai's face, a mixture of disbelief, anger, and fear. Garmadon gave me that same look right before...

As Morro and Sam galloped away, she screamed "Nooooo!"

She started to use her head to butt him, but all of a sudden she felt dizzy.

"Just so you know, my dear, I put some of the potion in your canteen, too."

Kai sat and watched them disappear in the distance while tears of frustration - as well as tears of pain - welled in his eyes. The desert was quiet as the weight of his predicament sank in.

He examined his injury. Thankfully the bullet did not go through the middle of his foot - it grazed the side, taking some shoe leather with it. The wound was bleeding a bit, however, so he would need to bind it up with a cloth.

Before that, however, he needed to free his ankles. As he took the knife in between his bound hands and began to saw through the ropes, Kai considered the options one had when one was stranded with an injured foot in the middle of a hot desert with limited water that was tainted. It didn't help that he had left his hat at the church on Sunday, so he had no hat to protect him from the sun. He'd have to sling his coat over his head.

Kai tried not to let despair grow inside him, but it was difficult.

A glint of sun reflected off something shiny on the ground. When Kai had finally freed his ankles, he hobbled over to it.

One of Sam's hairpins lay on the dry ground. He picked it up and clutched it tightly in his hand.

He vowed he would find his woman. And when he found her captor, he would make him wish he'd never been born.