Outlaw - Born & Bred

Chapter 2: A Good Horse

Casie was shown to the bed, where she had been tied. She touched the wolf-pelt. It was soft, and warm. She sat on the bed, and looked through the tent opening. The three men were standing there, looking in the tent.

She got up, and closed the tent flap. "Perverts!" She said, loud enough for them to hear.

She laid down on the bed. This is risky, she thought, but she was exhausted. She couldn't remember the last time she had slept in a real bed. Let alone gone to bed, with a full belly. She smelt her clothes. She still smelt of Goat shit, she thought. But she'd smelt worse than that in the last 6 months, so she laid down, and was asleep in a matter of minutes.

Outside the tent, Arthur Morgan sat around the table, with Dutch Van Der Linde, and Hosea Matthews. They all exchanged looks on hearing her last comment, from inside the tent.

Arthur shook his head, "she sure is a piece of work, that one."

Dutch laughed, "she ain't a great deal different than you were at that age, as I recall."

Arthur frowned. "I sure as hell didn't go around biting peoples legs, and kicking people in the balls." He chuckled. "Was worth getting bitten, just to see Micah's face when he got kicked, he sure as hell wasn't expecting that."

Hosea glanced at the tent. "Poor kid, reckon she's had a rough ride. But she's one tough cookie."

Arthur looked at Dutch. "You don't reckon her dad was an O'Driscoll do ya? She said he was an outlaw."

Dutch glanced at the tent. "I doubt it, sounds like her father was on his own, just trying to keep his kid fed. Colm O'Driscoll was never one to let kids tag along." He said.

"And we are?" Asked Arthur.

Dutch looked at him. "You know what I always say, we shoot those as need shooting, save those as need saving, and feed 'em as need feeding. If you ask me that kid needs saving, and feeding. The question is, does she want to be saved?"

Hosea looked at Dutch, "I've a feeling the answer to that is no."

Casie woke with a start. Remembering the events of the previous day, she ran her fingers across her cheek. Yep, she was definitely going to have a shiner. She still had some blood crusts on her nose, which she rubbed off, with her sleeve.

She was still convinced they were the law. Well, they wouldn't say if they were. They were probably bounty hunters, or something. What an idiot she'd been, letting slip her, and her Pa were outlaws. The bastard sheriff in Valentine may hate her, but she was pretty sure that there was a bounty on her, and her Pa's head in West Elizabeth. After they stole those horses in Strawberry, a couple of months ago. That's a point she thought, didn't matter if they were outlaws, or law-men, they would still have horses. She could steal a horse, and be away before anyone caught her. Would serve 'em right, the perverts, for tieing her up, and then peering in the tent, when they thought she would be sleeping. She should count her lucky stars, she didn't get molested in the night.

If she stole a horse, she could sell it to pay for a new revolver, since these arse-wipes had probably nicked her Pa's gun. That's the thing she was most annoyed about, losing her Pa's gun. Its the only thing of his she had. Well apart from the ring on the chain around her neck. That had belonged to her Ma, but as her Pa had given it, in the first place, she figured it was kind of like having something of his.

Casie quietly crept to the tent flap, and opened it, to peek out. The sun was only just rising, it looked pretty quiet. She crept across the camp, to where the horses were hitched. Being careful not to spook 'em. She looked down the path, she couldn't see a guard. It was now, or never. She looked at all the horses. That white one was nice, it would fetch a good price, even if it had no papers, she reckoned she might be able to get twenty dollars for it. That would get her a gun, some bullets, and probably a hot meal.