Little Sharpshooter

Little Sharpshooter Chap 22

In the morning Trevor smiled when he woke with Randy huddled close to his chest. Bronson was already up. Trevor ran his fingers through her hair and kissed the top of her head hoping Bronson wouldn’t hear anything.

Randy rubbed her eyes and smiled sleepily at him. It would never get old how his heart would skip a beat when she smiled. The feelings he had for her swelled in his chest. She always needed him most when they were alone. He was overwhelmed with how much he loved her. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her good morning. She responded by pressing her lips hard into his and moved her body closer.

“All right you two.” Bronson pulled the tarp off the rope. Trevor shaded his eyes as the sunlight bore into them. Randy rolled away and got up in a hurry. Trevor glared at Bronson when he saw Randy’s face flush. Bronson didn’t notice. He chuckled as he rolled up his bedroll and then folded the tarp to get ready to leave.

Trevor shivered, hugging his knees with his bedroll wrapped around him. “We don’t have a fire this mornin’ either?”

“No. I thought about startin’ one but we really need to be goin’. We’ll warm up once we head out.”  Bronson untied the rope from the trees and coiled it in his hands. A slow smile spread across his face as he made the loop bigger. He tapped Trevor’s leg and pointed at Randy where she was cinching up her saddle. Bronson swung the rope around his head. Once she stepped away to get her saddle bags, he threw the lasso and tightened it around Randy’s chest and arms.

“Hey!” Randy scowled at Bronson, trying to pull off the rope. Bronson pulled the rope tighter to bring her closer to him.

“Knock it off.” Randy tripped, her bad her leg gave out, and she fell. She pulled the rope off, threw it at Bronson, and turned away, rubbing her leg.

Trevor was on his feet and he gave Bronson a shove. “Her leg is still bad ya know.” He kneeled beside Randy. She turned her face away from him and wiped her cheeks. Trevor diverted his attention to her leg since she was embarrassed, lifting her skirt to her knees to look her leg over. He couldn’t do much other than rub it gently.

“I’m fine,” Randy said and then sniffed, using Trevor’s shoulder to help her get back on her feet. Her limp was much worse than it had been.

Bronson grumbled as he finished adjusting his saddlebags on his horse and tied the tarp down behind his saddle. “Come on you two. We need to get a move on.”

The trail meandered higher into the hills. Bronson pushed the pace like he had the day before.

“Bronson, I don’t think the horses can keep this up all day,” Randy yelled once Al was by Bronson’s side.

“I’m sure we won’t be doin’ this all day. I’m tryin’ to get ahead before the storms roll in this afternoon.” Bronson didn’t let up.

Trevor was sore from the day before. He’d never ridden a horse so hard for so long. It was obvious it wasn’t about to get any better. Bronson stopped once they got to a stream. It was barely ankle deep but the horses were eager to stop for a drink. Thankfully Bronson let them rest.

 Trevor walked his achy legs up and down the soggy mud bank along the stream.

Randy sat on a boulder and stretched out her legs, massaging her injured leg. She was quiet but she usually was since they had been traveling with Bronson. Trevor caught the look of contempt she gave Bronson. He didn’t notice, in fact Bronson never paid attention to her unless he wanted her to perform.

Trevor stopped and folded his arms. He’d gone along with the whole thing thinking Bronson wanted to help take care of Randy. For the moment he was since they were working hard to stay ahead of Clyde. That was if Clyde was going to bother to go after them. But there was some other reason Bronson was doing it. Trevor remembered the exhilarated look on Bronson’s face when he started the first show with Randy. When it was over, he eyed all the notes in his hand hungrily. But what confused Trevor the most was that he gave most of it to Randy to hold on to. Bronson hadn’t asked for it back as far as he knew. But there was plenty of whiskey before they left Sliver City. Bronson always had money in the stores and paid for their meals and his own room in the boarding house.