The Outlaw

Chapter Five

They made camp that night in a small dusty canyon. Mitchell set two armed lookouts up on the canyon ridge to keep an eye out for the posse though Caroline had heard men talking earlier in the day and they seemed to believe the posse had already given up and turned around. It seemed that most people were too afraid of Mitchell Thompson and his men to chase them very far.

Caroline and Jasmine were sitting on the hard ground with their hands bound and the dusty sunset shining on their faces. Caroline thought about the way her mother and father had always enjoyed sitting and watching the sunset together and felt a sharp pain in her chest. Jasmine laid her head on her shoulder and Caroline pushed her pain aside and smiled down at the girls bright blue eyes. Her face was dirty and her blond hair was a mess of tangles and Caroline knew she looked the same.

"I'm going to get us out of this." Caroline promised. "Just as soon as I can." Jasmine nodded and patted her sisters leg. She looked in front of them and her blue eyes widened in fear. Caroline followed her gaze and saw Mitchell and Franks walking toward them.

"Ethan's took a bad turn. Bullocks says he thinks it's fever cuz he's talking out of his head and won't wake up. Do you know what to do for that?" Mitchell asked. Mitchell knew that he should have learned what to do in these kind of situations but normally after he shot someone he just had to dig a hole to put them in…. Not nurse them back to health.

"My father was a doctor before you killed him. He taught me a lot." Caroline replied as she and Jasmine rose to their feet. Mitchell nodded.

"Just tell Frank's what you need and he'll get it for you." he said. Then he grabbed onto Jasmine's arm and pulled her toward him. Caroline glared at him but made no move to stop him. She didn't want him to hurt Jasmine.

"Jasmine and I will have ourselves a nice little chat while you're busy." he added as he led the girl away. Caroline looked over at Franks. Franks was not much taller than she was, perhaps five feet eight inches or so. He had a thick red beard and mustache and his eyes were nearly black and always squinted so tightly they were nearly closed. He spit out a long stream of tobacco onto the dust and looked down at her.

"What do you need for him?" he asked.

"I need water and rags to cool him with." she said. "And when Crenshaw has that soup ready you be sure to send some of the broth for him to eat." Franks clearly did not like having a woman tell him what to do but liked the idea of going against Mitchell's wishes more. He gave a quick nod and walked away grabbing a bucket and walking over to the small pond to fill it up.

"You can use that pretty little apron for rags." he said matter-of-factly when he walked back over and handed her the bucket. "And I'll bring some broth when it's ready." Caroline nodded and then walked quickly to the tent that Franks told her Ethan was in. She walked into the tent and saw him lying there with his eyes closed while he mumbled incoherently.

Caroline knelt beside him and laid a gentle hand to his forehead only to find that he was cool to the touch. She looked down at his mouth and saw the edges of his lips pulling back in a grin.

"Did they buy it?" he asked quietly. Caroline nearly laughed and it surprised her that, given her current situation, she could do something like laugh.

"Can I ask why you pretended to be out of your mind with fever?" she whispered. He opened his eyes and smiled.

"Because I knew they'd send you in here and I wanted to be able to talk to you." he replied. Caroline shook her head.

"He won't like that much." she said. Ethan rolled his eyes as he sat up.

"Well then we won't tell him will we?" he asked. "How is your sister?"