The Outlaws Daughter

Chapter 13

It was easy to wake well before the men did, dawn peeked through the curtains and she hurried to get up. Tiptoeing across the room, Sabrina quietly opened the door and slipped out, cautious not to wake soon to be hungover men. Wondering down the hall, she flinched when a door to her right open wide and Caleb stepped out.

"I thought you would still be asleep." Caleb remarked as he did up his belt.

"I didn't think you had the virility to be out all night." Sabrina said coldly in return.

"You are a hard woman to drown my feelings out for." He said with a shrug.

She scowled in disgust at that. "Do you think I should be flattered?" She asked in annoyance.

"I wasn't thinking about what you were feeling." Caleb admitted as he closed the door behind him. "Are you jealous that I wasn't with you last night?" He asked her.

"I am confused, one moment you tell me that you want to marry me, or run away with me and be by my side forever...and when I deny you, you drown yourself in saloon girls." She explained to him. "Maybe I was right to deny you if you're affection is something you just hand out to anyone willing." Sabrina said seriously.

"Sabrina, don't play this game. You cannot deny me and then get mad at me for trying to forget my feelings about you." Caleb scoffed at her.

"I can do whatever I want." Sabrina said with a huff as she continued outside, eager to get away from Caleb and search for the outhouse.

"Are you and Caleb fighting?" Ben asked her as he helped her into the saddle of her horse, her side ached instantly and she put her hand their to ease the pain.

"It doesn't matter." She said seriously as she exhaled slowly.

"If you say so." Ben remarked before going to his own horse.

"Do you want me to shoot Caleb? I'll do it if that makes you feel better." Jesse turned to her.

She rolled her eyes at that, "Uncle, don't be foolish." She told him in dismay.

"It was just a suggestion." He said with a chuckle before spurring his horse forward.

She glanced over at Caleb, his expression was serious as he looked ahead. Nudging her own horse forward, she kept pace with the others despite the pain that ached from her side.

"Are you alright?" Jacob asked her, frowning with worry as he studied her face.

"Yes, I'm fine." She answered with a slight smile.

"Let us know if you start to hurt too much." He said seriously, "The last thing we want is for your wound to get infected." He added. Infection is not something she wanted to suffer with, so she made sure to clean her stitches each night and wash the bandages in boiling water.

"You've been rather quiet, Uncle." Sabrina remarked as she rolled out her bedroll, noticing over the last few days that Jesse hadn't seemed like his usual self.

He smirked slightly at her, "I ah...lost the money...at the saloon." He admitted with a defeated sigh.

She shook her head in disbelief, "How the men haven't rioted against you...I will never know." She mused as she sunk down onto her bed.

"We are getting rather tired of it." Ben told her as he set a pot of water on the fire. "Although, Jesse says that we have a job to do after you are on the train." He explained.

"Oh?" Sabrina looked to Jesse at that. "Do I even want to know?" She asked him.

Jesse chuckled, "Don't worry about it." He said before falling quiet.