Abby and the Outlaws

It wasn't like a normal comin', neither. It was somethin' more. It was the pleasure of the hard cock slidin' in and out, but more than that, it was just the pleasure of breathin', of bein' alive. I was so damn happy that I started to laugh.

"Am I doin' this right?" Luke asked, between pants of breath.

"You're doin' great," I moaned.

"Good, because I think somethin's gonna..."

Somethin' sure did. He slammed into me hard, three, four times, goin' "Oh, oh, oh, oh," and shakin' all over.

He flopped down on top of me, and I did a little more shakin' myself.

We rested up for a minute, then I pushed him off me.

"Now you know why people like fuckin' so much?" I asked him as he pulled up his pants.

"I reckon I do."

"Good. You follow along with me when they get back here, and there will be plenty more fuckin' to come."

"You promise?"

It took a minute for me to answer. "Yeah, I do," I said. But would he betray his own brother for me? There's a limit to just how good pussy can be.

We sat and didn't say much while we waited. The light was growin' weaker. It had to be at least five o'clock.

Finally, I heard splashin'. One horse, at least, was wadin' up the bank of the creek.

It was just one horse. Watchin' through the branches, I could make out the lone rider in the dim light under the willow. There was a large bundle across the horse's back behind him.

The rider climbed down from the saddle. When he began to lower the bundle, I could make out that it was another man, who moaned loudly as he was set to the ground.

I gestured to Luke to wait, in case the third man was comin'. We watched the rider bustle around and gather up enough firewood to get a small blaze goin'. When he had it lit, he pulled the other fella near to it.

That's when I gave Luke the signal and we stepped out from the deadfall. We walked, as quiet as a pair of church mice, over to the fire and pointed our guns at the two men.

Ethan looked up from his seat on the log. When he saw me standin' there pointin' a pistol at him his eyes got as big as supper plates.

"Surprised to see me, honey?" I asked him.

All he could muster was, "What the hell?"

Luke let out a moan. I glanced over at him. He was lookin' down at the wounded man. It was his brother.

Keepin' my gun trained on Ethan, I looked down at Clem. His pants were soaked with blood from the waist down. He was still alive, but it didn't look like by much. He was mumblin' but from the blurry look in his eyes I couldn't tell whether he had any idea of what he was seein' or where he was.

I said to Ethan, "It sure looks like you done fucked up. Didn't get nothin' for your troubles did you?"

"For your information, we got a right good haul." His voice grew bitter. "Me and the boys done our part. But we counted on a distraction to make our getaway, and no distraction occurred."

"Excuse me, are you expectin' I'll apologize for not gettin' hanged?"

"Well, no. But what happened?"

"They did hang me, just like you planned." I tilted my head back and pointed to the rope burns on my neck. "I'm an avenging angel now, come lookin' for you."

"I ain't blamin' you, Abby. But I got some words for Pappy and the boy."

"Well if you want to talk to Pappy," I said, "I can put a hole in your head and then the two of you will be all set to converse."

"Pappy's dead?"

"He's as dead as Stonewall Jackson."

"You shot him?"

"I shot him," Luke said.

"Why'd you go and do that?"

"Well, I never did like him much."

I was starting to really take a likin' to that fella.

"So, what happened at the bank?" I asked Ethan.

"The robbery went just fine. But as we was comin' out, a whole passel of cowpokes from the Circle A was walkin' in. All hell broke loose." He pouted. "They wouldn't have been goin' to the bank if there'd been a lynchin' down the street."

"So the cowboys shot Sarge and Clem? How many of them did you all shoot?"

"Sarge shot two of 'em I think. I know one went down for good. Can't be sure about the other. Clem was firin' all over the place. Don't know if he hit anybody."

"How'd you get out without harm?" Luke asked.

"I reckon that they didn't hit me because Sarge was so big he blocked their shots."

"In other words, you hid behind him," I said.

"That ain't the way it was..."

"With the loot."

"Well, I did have my hands full when the shootin' started."

"So you say you got a good haul?"

Ethan actually smiled. "I ain't had a chance to count at it all up but looks to be upwards of five thousand dollars".

"Then I guess you consider the endeavor a success."

He shrugged. "I admit we took some casualties."

"So Sarge is dead and Clem don't look likely to see the sunrise. I don't reckon you'd have squared up with Pappy and Luke. Probably tell them you didn't get nothin'."

"You can't blame a man for good fortune."

"Problem is though, fellas like you, they come into a bit of a fortune they end up givin' it all to whores."

He shook his head. "Now you know I ain't that kind..."

I took a step forward and pushed the muzzle of the gun right up against the side of his head.

"But you are, honey," I told him, "You are givin' it all to a whore."

For once he didn't have nothin' to say.

I tapped the gun barrel on the top of his head. "Now, take off your gun belt and give it to Luke."

He started to unbuckle the belt.

"Careful now," I said, "Don't make me nervous. Elsewise, I might blow your head off. Or maybe your big old pecker."

He dropped the gunbelt behind his back. Luke picked it up and buckled it on.

"Go check his saddlebags," I told him.

Luke went to Ethan's horse, bein' careful not to step too close to where his brother lay dyin'. He looked in one of the saddlebags, and pulled out a canvas sack.

"That the money?" I asked.

He looked inside. "Yep."

"Check the other one. See if there's more."

Sure enough there was a second sack in the other saddlebag.

"Anything else in there we could use? Any food or anything?"

"No but I got a satchel full of biscuits in my saddlebag," Luke said.

I nudged Ethan's shoulder with the gun. "You know, I might just marry that boy."

To Luke I said, "Has he got any rope there?"

"Yep."

"Bring it over, we got to tie him up."

"Aw, Abby, you ain't got to do that," Ethan whined. "Why can't the three of us partner up?"

I didn't have the intention to shoot him, but when he said that, I was sorely tempted to do so. Shoot him not just for bein' a backstabbin' ingrate, but shoot him as a payback to every bastard who ever slapped me around or shorted my pay.

Luke got the rope and took a few steps toward where Ethan sat, but when Clem moaned loudly, he hesitated.

"He's gonna die, ain't he?" he asked.

"Shot clean through the guts, son," Ethan said, "Seems likely he will."

Luke gazed down at his brother with a contemplative expression, then came to my side. He handed Pappy's pistol to me, and I dropped it in my pocket.

When he went to tie up Ethan, I said, "Hold up a minute."

To Ethan, I said, "I want you to take off your clothes."

"What? I ain't doin' that."

"Do you believe I killed Roy Henderson?"

He made a scoffin' sound, then said, "I'm thinkin' it more likely than I did before."

"I know you saw me knock that deputies skull in."

"I did see that."

"So, what makes you think I won't do you in? I got more grievance against you than either of them."

He stared at me with defiance, but he kicked off his boots then stood up and stripped himself naked.

"Sit back down," I said.

"Oh Abby, I don't wanna sit naked in the dirt."

"Would you rather lay naked in the dirt with a couple of bullets in you?"

"Don't just tie his hands," I told Luke, "Tie his feet, too."

While he was bein' tied, Ethan looked up at me and said, "I still don't see no reason the three of us can't let bygones be bygones."

"Why, the reason is, we're gonna be in California spendin' that money and you're gonna be in the Shoshone jail, waitin' to climb the gallows."

"They ain't gonna hang me!" He sounded truly surprised. "I ain't killed nobody!"

"Neither did I. Seems they ain't that particular, as long as they hang somebody."

I picked up Ethan's boots and tossed them on the fire.

"Abby!" he shouted, "Why'd you do that?"

"Just in case the posse don't find you, and you manage to get loose, I'm just gonna slow down any attempt to try to come after us. Beside, I don't want you to catch a chill, sittin' there buck naked," I said as I added the rest of his clothes to the flames. His hat was sittin' on the ground next to them. I picked it up and put it on.

Clem roused some, and tried to sit up. "Water," he croaked with a weak voice. Luke was starin' at him.

"Luke, why don't you go get the horses," I said.

When he was gone I walked over to Clem."No point to givin' you water," I said, "It will just come back out the hole in your belly."

"You ought to put him out of his misery," Ethan said.

I considered that for a moment, then Clem muttered, "Shoulda shot you in the cunt at first sight."

I lost all interest in mercy right then. He could get the slow death he had earned.

"That probably would have been a good idea, I admit." I tugged his boots off and threw them in the fire next to Ethan's.

Luke came back down the hill leading our horses. He tethered Ethan's horse to his own.

"Let's keep these fellas warm," I told him, "Help me gather up some more firewood."

We built that fire into a roarin' blaze. Some of the wood was still green, and it gave off a lot of smoke.

"Abby, goddamn it, if there's a posse out there, they'll see that smoke five miles away."

"You're right. We best skedaddle." I climbed onto my horse.

Clem moaned and said, "Luke, don't leave me here. You're my brother."

Luke stood above him. I didn't know what he might do.

"You ain't never treated me like it," he said. He turned his back on Clem and mounted his horse.

"Abby," Ethan said, sounding like he might cry, "Please...I don't want them to hang me."

"Well, I do understand that feeling," I said. "But maybe you'll get lucky and they'll just send you to prison. You'll make a lot of friends there."

He kept callin' my name as we rode out from under the willow and splashed into the creek. The smoke from our bonfire was billowin' high into the sky. Even though it was nigh on to dusk, I was certain that Ethan was right, it could be seen for miles. Luke and I needed to get away without wastin' any more time.

"You know which way is east?" I asked him.

"If we're going to California, we need to go west."

"We ain't goin' to California," I told him.

A grin come across his face. "You told Ethan that so's he would tell the posse and they'd go west lookin' for us."

"Well, ain't nobody lookin' for you, no how. But you're correct."

We rode up the creek until we got out from under the clouds of smoke and could get a good enough look at the sky to ascertain where the sun was settin'. Then we made haste in the opposed direction.

A couple miles upstream we come upon a washout on the left bank where some flash flood had created an opening through the trees. We rode up the exposed ground and in a matter of minutes, emerged from the woods on to the open prairie.

The sun was gone and I wasn't sure how Luke knew we were still headin' east, but he seemed confident, and I reckoned I couldn't do no better anyway.

With naught but starlight to show our path, we moved slower than I'd have liked. But once the moon rose, we made good time. Luke had the idea to switch between the three horses, so as to even out the burden of carryin' a rider, and allow them to go further without restin'. My opinion of him continued to improve. The horses didn't seem to tire, and we kept on the move until the moon dropped below the horizon, and it grew too dark to continue.

We found a small stream, by sound more than sight, and Luke tied the horses to a tangle of sagebrush, where they could reach the water.

We each ate a couple of biscuits from Luke's supply, then made a bed in the tall grass, usin' our saddles for pillows and my slicker for a blanket. There was a chill in the air, and we snugged close together for warmth until we fell asleep.

We didn't doze long. When I woke up there was just a rumor of light on the horizon, but Luke already had two of the horses saddled, ready to move out. After a breakfast of hard biscuit and creek water, he saddled my horse, and we were ready to get goin'.

We headed toward the risin' sun. It was still low in the sky when we spotted figures in the distance. Before long, they became clearer, a line of horsemen, movin' in single file to the north of our path.

"Appears to be a band of Sioux," Luke said.

"How far away are they?"

"Distances are tricky out here, but I'd judge close to a mile."

"Are we in trouble?"

"They don't seem to be payin' us any mind at all."

They were movin' in a direction away from us. I watched them until they vanished into the distance.

"I thought they was all gone," I said.

Luke shook his head. "They was here a-fore us, I reckon they'll still be here one day after we're gone."

We travelled without seein' another soul until late in the afternoon, when we come upon a river. It was slow and muddy and looked to be about fifty yards wide. Luke sat and contemplated for a minute.

"I'm guessing this here is the Rogers River," he said.

He pointed to the north. "You see where it gets hilly up there on the other side? Right about where the hills begin there's a place called John's Ford. It's a good crossin', and there's a tradin' post. I reckon we can pick up some food and supplies."

It sounded like a good idea to me. We rode in that direction for the next hour. On the far side of the river there were some high bluffs, but the land we rode through rose and fell in gentle rolls. The riverbank was lined with thicker and thicker groves of trees. We passed by a big willow and I wondered if Ethan was still sittin' naked by the embers of that fire or if the posse had reeled him in.

We topped a hill and saw a small collection of buildings a half mile or so ahead. It didn't rise to bein' a town. Just the tradin' post, a stable and corral, a couple of sheds and a privy. There were two horses in the corral and wisps of smoke rose from the post's chimney, but I saw no other signs of human habitation. I took that for good.

I fetched one of the canvas sacks from my saddlebag and dug inside. I gave Luke a few dollars to get us some food and whatever else he thought we might find of use on the trail. "If they have lady's garments," I told him, "I could use a new dress. This one is tattered and torn and smells like a dead mule."

"You ain't comin' with me?"

"No, you go in alone, I'll hide out in these trees. Come back and meet me here. They ain't lookin' for you, but they're likely still lookin' for me."

He nodded that he understood and rode down to the ford.

Now, you might think that would be a moment of truth for me. There I was, near what could pass for civilization, with all that money in those bags, sittin' all alone. True, it would be plum dangerous for me to just ride off and take my chances by myself, but I reckon that's a risk many might entertain.

But God's truth is, it didn't occur to me. I rode into the trees and patiently waited for Luke to come back.

It didn't take him long. I came out of my hidin' place to meet him.

"I got money left over," he said, holdin' out his hand.

"Why, honey, keep it. Half the money is yours."

From the look on his face I was wonderin' if his previous partners had ever given him any consideration at all.

He had bought a slab of bacon, a fry pan to cook it in and a half dozen cans of beans. He'd even thought to buy a couple of tin plates and spoons.

I was surprised that he was able to purchase a blue gingham dress that looked pretty close to a good fit. It weren't something I would wear in ordinary circumstances, but in the moment, it was just fine. Best of all, he'd gotten two warm wool blankets.

I could see he was right proud of himself and I praised him on a job well done.

In addition, he was right about the river crossin'. The water wasn't but three feet deep at its highest and we easily reached the other side. Once crossed, we only rode about a mile before we stopped and made camp in a small stand of box elder trees.

We reckoned we'd gone far enough that it would be safe to build a fire. He had bought some matches as well, and it weren't long before we were warm and dry and that bacon was frying in the pan. I don't know that anything ever smelled so good.

Luke used his knife to open a can of beans, which he set next to the fire to warm. I enjoyed that supper of bacon and beans as much as any meal I'd ever had.

When we finished eatin', Luke went to his horse and dug in the saddlebag. He come back holdin' another tin can.

He stood over me, shufflin' from foot to foot. "I asked the fella at the trading post if there is something that I could buy that was sweet," he said, "and he told me I should get these. And I just... well... I wanted to get somethin' special for you."

"That's really nice of you, Luke."

He handed me the can and I looked at the label. "Georgia peaches," I said, "Did you ever have them?"

He shook his head. "Never heard of 'em until he showed me the can. He said they was good."

"Open it, please," I said, handin' it back to him. He got out his knife, carefully cut the top off the can, then gave it back to me.

I took a segment of peach and popped it in my mouth. Lord, it was delicious.

"That's so good," I told him, "here, try some." But when I held the can out to him, he shook his head.

"They're for you."

"If they're mine, I can do what I want with them, and I want to share them with you."

He took a piece, and when he tasted it, his eyes lit up. "Why, I never did taste anythin' like that before," he said.

"I think you're goin' to learn about a lot of new things when we get to Chicago."

"Is that where we're goin'?"

"Yep."

"What's in Chicago?"

"Everything you can imagine."

We shared the rest of the peaches and then took turns sippin' the juice from the can. I thought, this is a man that deserves to get himself some pussy, or at least get his pecker sucked real good, but I was just too exhausted from the long day's travel to oblige. I suppose I could've pleased him quickly, but in my mind, a poor fuck is worse than no fuck at all.

We made a snug bed together with our new blankets and kissed a while, then slept in each others arms.

We were so tuckered that by the time we woke in the mornin' and got movin', the sun was above the hills. There were a few other travelers about, but we kept our distance. We passed a couple farmsteads and at one, Luke rode up to the house and bought a half dozen fresh eggs to have with our bacon for supper.

"She wouldn't sell me no chicken," he grumbled, but I was happy with the eggs.

That night Luke did get himself some more pussy. In fact, he got a good lesson in fuckin' and I will say he was an eager pupil and a quick learner.

Before we crossed the river, we'd been travelin' in country Luke knew to some extent, havin' roamed the territory with his brother and various shady comrades over the years. Now we were not sure of any geography and could do no more than maintain our eastward course.

Days went by, we kept ridin'. Even when it rained the whole day, we hunkered our shoulders down and kept movin'. The land we crossed was changin'. It was greener, the grass was full and tall. Trees were more common and water more plentiful.

We come upon a burnt out farmhouse. Even though the folks was gone, the apple trees they had planted remained, and we filled our bellies and our saddlebags. The next day, Luke's horse flushed a hare. He drew fast and shot it, so we ate well that night.