Dodge bit back his shock as Cassidy held her hand out, full of clumps of emerald grass, for Miles who happily took the grass without complaining and without biting her; Misty stood next to Cassidy and nudged her nose into her owner's shoulder for her share. Cassidy chuckled silently, making Dodge’s heart skip a beat momentarily, but obliged and let Misty eat the rest.
“I thought he was a biter,” Ade spoke, eyeing the blonde girl who was now plucking up more grass as the horses seemed to only eat if they were hand-fed.
Ade and the other three had joined Dodge and Cassidy shortly after midafternoon before the group made their way slowly to a small spot just outside of a tiny town, Thomas instantly dragged Wayne to the local church to repent both their sins, and Mateo flopped onto a mattress of grass before
Dodge turned his body sideways and faced Cassidy, who laid on her unwounded side facing him, as he spoke of his murder, that goddess beauty fizzling out for a haunted look. “It happened years ago, actually…”“So did mine,”Together the two laid on a patch of grass, saddle blanket over the tops of themselves that left their legs to fight off the cold; fall was coming quicker than expected. Even though their chests were mere inches apart, their faces too, they did not touch one another - only Dodge knew how Cassidy had curled into his warmth as she slept earlier in the night. Only Dodge knew how he pulled her closer, drowning himself in her lilac scented perfume, and sought comfort in someone's arms.“I was just fourteen when this man came
“Name.” Thomas sighed, watching as his best friend paced back and forth as the others started to pack up the campsite, Mateo having just a little too much fun stomping the fire out; Dodge let his eyes watch the two friends closely in discretion. “We need a name, Cass.”She chuckled dryly, resting her thumb underneath her chin. “A name would be smart if I knew it, but sadly I couldn’t ask the man as he grabbed me years ago,”Thomas tightened his fists at his side, thinking back to Cassidy’s past. “But does Mr.Moore know the name? He must if he was close to this kil-"“I’ll ask.” Cassidy stopped Thomas’ words short and faced him, turning her body and ignoring the thumping pain in her side; Thom
Wayne was so drunk off his ass that he thought he was back home, sharing tea with his mother, that both Mateo and Ade agreed to play along; Wayne was drunkenly paying for both food and drink, so why not take him up on the offer?“ ‘Careful kiddo,” Ade warned Mateo as the more than familiar cigar smoke filtered through the air, watching as the young boy had started to sneak glances towards a specific saloon girl; her curves impossibly tight due to her corset, long chestnut hair curled, and her natural beauty breathless. “Women like her don’t catch feelin’s,”Mateo smirked, watching as the saloon girl danced between the crowded tables from where him and his two companions sat near the very back, most people ignoring their presence. His eyes flickered away from the beauty for a momen
Thomas threw Mateo another shirt as the others were currently being washed among all of their other clothes and combing his wet and now clean hair back; Mateo quickly shoved his head through the shirt hole, tucking the tail into his pants, and rushed to put on his boots before rushing back down the stairs of the saloon. Men had gathered themselves into a poor excuse of a line, all waiting to see if they had the magical answer that was the key to Cassidy’s body though with Dodge standing beside her sitted self made most squirm in their bones - he was Death incarnated.Cassidy, on the other hand, loved the way men had lined up, offering her any information that they deemed worthy only to fall short to the girls expectations, and even though disappointment flooded her veins at the lack of knowledge of her father's murder -other things included- but if all else failed, he’d find
“I never thought I’d see the day that you’re scared of someone,” Dodge said, listening to Ruby’s retreating steps and hollers of drunken men, and moved closer to the standing Cassidy.“I’m… I’m not scared of Silas,” Cassidy retaliated, her eyes focused on her bare feet.“Then why you shakin’ in your bones?” Dodge cracked a rare, small smile and chuckle.Cassidy released her own dry chuckle, plucking her gloves off and discarding them somewhere in the room; she’d stolen the dress and accessories from the closet down the hall and more than glad it fit. “Mr.Moor-”“Please,” Dodge stopped her mi
Misty nipped at still hungover Wayne, who was just trying to pick himself up off the stable floor, and he cursed at the mare with a swat; Ade chuckled as he finished grooming Miles, giving each horse he had groomed an apple as both a distraction and reward.“Dodge and the Viper are gonna check out a farmstead ten miles north of here,” Ade informed, cleaning his hands in one of the water buckets. “You can join ‘em if you want, but they leavin’ in twenty.”Wayne opened his mouth, ready to respond, but instead of words, bile escaped his lips and onto the dried hay beneath his boots; stopping for only a minute to continue throwing up and finally after a few moments, Wayne caught his breath, downed a handful of water from a bucket, then spoke.
Dodge leaned back in his seat, the wood creaking out from underneath his weight, and watched as a brown haired man eyed his goddess, darkness glinting in his ice blue eyes; Dodge then turned his attention to Cassidy who hardly moved an inch, as if this man's voice had casted a curse over her beautiful self to stay frozen.“Silas,” Thomas spoke first weakly, breaking the table’s silence and encouraging Dodge’s confusion to come to a sudden halt and become replaced by enmity; tucking his shaking left hand away in case this ‘Silas’ liked to pinpoint weaknesses.Cassidy didn’t dare glance up, trying to pull that familiar fake confidence out of thin air when everything inside her screamed to run, hide, and vanish off the face of this ruined planet, nor did she glance up when Dodge stood.
Ruby was correct in every aspect, except one.A deep washout laid a mile out from the farmstead on the west side, disguised by long golden prairie grass and blended in so well with the otherwise flat ground that when Dodge was busy casting hand signals to Mateo, he had fallen face first into the sudden sandy dirt with a thump, almost choking on his tobacco chew in the process.Mateo laughed so loudly from where he crept through the tall grass lowly for only a second before clasping both his hands over his lips to force the laughter back down, both for the fear of getting caught by whoever may be in the farmstead and also for the fear that Dodge might rip his head off to avoid self embarrassment.Coughing lowly to rid the sandy dust which now housed itself in Dodge&rsqu
Thomas couldn’t keep his eyes off of the cross made up of plain oak wood that was planted into the ground, fresh dirt piled and showed that death could come at anytime, that thought alone; he fisted his blood laced handkerchief that was housed in his pocket, ignoring the goosebumps that painted his skin.Being close to God had its ups and downs, not everyone could possibly understand and Thomas knew that everyone had their own beliefs, but… There were a few times he doubted God and had paid the price for it, though staring down to the fresh grave made those times zip past him.“Did ya know the poor bastard?” A familiar voice drew Thomas from his thoughts, yanking him back down to earth and he huffed a sigh as he turned around to face Ruby.Today, her hair was pulled back into a loose braid and her clothes the most modest Thomas had ever seen on her figure, surprising him, and she smiled knowingly before speaking.“Just ‘cuz I’m some whore don’t mean I gotta dress like one Tom,” She sn
“You stubborn ass!” Dodge pushed the plate of food closer with a glare, the force making the last season grapes roll slightly and almost over the end of the plate.“You foul mouth carcass!” She spat right back with a rough cough and huffed, her arms crossing over her linen shirt covered chest before wincing in pain and those blue eyes of hers trained on the window outside with a permanent scowl etched onto that pale face.“Eat.” Dodge pushed, having enough of Cassidy’s stubborn attitude.Last night was enough to send him off the deep end, scared that when she fell asleep in the early hours of this morning that she might not wake back up, and when Mateo returned late last night, she only smiled softly; Dodge wasn’t used to
He froze as he saw her, dropping both saddle tact without a care, and rushed forward, falling on his knees to the side of the small bed, and took her pale hand; she was cold. Almost as cold as ice up north during winter and he was surprised her pale lips weren’t blue… Her face was calm unlike her usual sarcastic-don’t-give-a-care-in-the-world expression, blonde locks of beauty crowning her head, and those blue gems closed. What the hell-“Her side,” Mateo grunted out and it was just then Dodge looked down and saw her corset had been cut open, breasts on display, but Dodge didn’t pay any attention to them; instead he focused on the ever deepening crimson colored shirt that Mateo pressed into her side.“Shit.” He spat.
Dodge couldn’t help but stare…How had this happened so quickly?Everything had just happened so damn quickly.Cassidy’s once beautiful blush pink dress with lace ruffles now ripped, her corset showing boldly and stained with crimson, curls undone and scattered, and only her skirt seemed roughly intact; was he too late? He could’ve- No, wanted to prevent this, but he was too late.“Dodge-” Cassidy’s voice could hardly be heard against the silence of the night; it held a softness Dodge wasn’t used to on anyone and he could compare
And arm candy, she was.After Cassody was shown around to the town's people, who only listened and admired her thanks to Silas' looming threat and waving pistol, she was finally relieved from her heeled boot covered feet as Silas pushed her down into one of the front row wooden chairs.It squeaked from age or the heavy pale pink fabric that clung to Cassidy much to her dismay, or perhaps it was both; she didn't care, in fact her thoughts were only trained on three things: her friends, the deal, and if the two would clash against each other.She already knew the answer.Dodge spent all day watching his goddess from afar, only pausing to get cleaned up and take a very unrestful nap when Mateo practically f
“Did I say beer?” Silas spat, clicking the hammer of his pistol back and letting it carelessly aim at the poor bartender; the short, fat, and bald man sweating profusely as he stuttered an apology and Cassidy held back her grimace.The saloon had open doors, probably to let the storm from last night be aired out from the vicinity, and people made them scarce when Silas showed his scarred face; no one wanted to end up dead like the three innocents from just three days ago and Cassidy had made sure to pay her price in self inflicted pain for their souls though nothing could compare to the hurt those innocents families - her wrists and thighs spelled out ‘sorry’ like spilled etches of needle shaped traces.“One whiskey,” The bartender slide a shot glass in front of Silas who just sighed, p
Cold water droplets cascaded down her ivory breasts, pausing at the rosy buds before falling ever so delicately upon her thighs like how honey might drip down a slate of marble only to fall short of itself, becoming something that represented sweetness but tasted like stone; ripples echoed into the water that was losing its temperature every waking second.Time had become nonexistent for Cassidy ever since she had sacrificed herself to rid the Earthly scum known as Silas, seconds become minutes, minutes were hours, and hours felt like days… But she had made a deal, one she had to stick with. She pondered about Mateo, hoping the young boy would forgive her since she vanished without a word, about Thomas and imagined how worried he probably was, about Ade and if he was safe on his new job, about drunken Wayne and if he was head deep in a barrel of beer, and
Thomas knew God would do what he thought best as the Earth is God's own to control, so he put all his trust and hope into prayers, confession, and the handheld cross he always kept in his pocket for comfort.Cassidy was trouble, Thomas knew it, but she was his best friend and basically only friend. He knew she would come back to Dodge City in a few days, not fearing too much for the Viper as sometimes she would up and disappear for days at a time before returning as if nothing happened because more often than not, nothing ever did happen.If that strange Dodge Moore didn't approve of Thomas' methods - so be it. Who was he to judge the way Thomas went about life and why did Dodge think he knew Cassidy
Cassidy was only sure about a few things in life…Like, for example, one needs food and drink to survive, Kansas has the very best sunsets, people are often sweet to the face and rude to the back, guns can be both good and bad, and she knew for sure that whiskey was best enjoyed with steak.But one thing she didn’t understand was how ignorant someone could be when they were drunk on arrogance.Words really could make an impact apparently.“Hand me ‘nother, Cody,” Silas drunkenly slurred, moving his hand quickly enough that the piss colored liquid swirled up and over the edge only to land onto the wooden floor boards of some run down saloon, but no one said anything to the n