Taking A Trip With An Outlaw

Chapter 14 - Guns, horses and lawmen

Chapter Fourteen – Guns, Horses and Lawmen

Liam woke a while after the incident what he figured to be the night before. He was tied to a post, his head was banging, he was groggy and his mouth felt like sandpaper.

He was beside himself with worry at the thought of Grace arriving to see him like this. He knew that Grace would come for him, but deep down he hoped that she would see logically and if she did come, then she at least wouldn’t come on her own.

He knew it was unlikely though. Grace was hot-headed and would believe literally whatever had been written on that damn piece of paper. But at least he’d kept her safe for that extra time.

If she did show up then he had to make sure that he could get out of the bindings to help her, to make sure that they bastard Longly didn’t touch a hair on her head.

Longly was getting old, and it showed. His men were leading a raid without him, they were riding just to a nearby town to go and kill a family who had harboured ‘outlaws’. Reformed outlaws he’d said were worse that outlaws themselves. He believed that if they were able to see the consequences to leave that life then they had to be punished for starting it to begin with. His weird sense of justice had Liam seething with anger.

The thought of Freya had run through his head at that moment. She had been killed because of the life that he had had before her. She was innocent, yet she was punished because of the life he had been forced into before he’d met her?

What got him further burning with anger was that Grace’s family had been punished. Innocent children had been killed; Grace had been abused and raped just for having a father that was an outlaw.

Liam twisted his bindings feeling the rope gradually becoming loose.

There were only 3 other men here with Longly and he knew that the men on the raid had no attachments to this man, they only followed orders so that their own families were safe from the monster of a man that now stood before him.

His greasy, wispy, blonde hair was pushed over into a comb over and his hands rested on his oversized stomach. His little beady eyes stared at Liam as he smirked showing his rotten, slimy, yellowing teeth.

Travis, the man from the time he had been taken from Grace came to whisper something in his ear which caused Longly to beam.

“Well Mr Grange, I think it’s time we meet the person that we’ve all been waiting for. What do ya say?”

He laughed as Grace came storming into the camp riding Muck, her piercing blue eyes full of anger and fight.

Liam’s heart fell as he saw her defiance plastered across her face. She had come alone. She had come for him and now she was in danger.

“My sweet Miss Bradshaw” Longly sneered as Liam growled at the tone in his voice. “How are you my child?”

Grace spat at him as she jumped off her horse and made note of the 2 men stood in the shadows near Longly, she couldn’t do anything irrational without consequence, and she’d very much like to get her and Liam out of this alive.

“What a lovely surprise for you to come home my dear!” Longly cried staling towards Grace with his arms open wide as he gestured for a hug.

Liam struggled against the ropes as Grace showed the distaste for Longly on her face before stepping away from him and replying. “I’m not here for pleasantries Longly, I want to know why you wanted me to come here to you!”

Longly faltered in his step at the anger in her voice “No need to be hostile young Grace. Why must you hate me so?”

Grace growled at Longly “You bastard, you dare ask me why I can’t stand to hear your voice? Why the sight of you makes my skin crawl? Let me tell you my dear old man, maybe it’s because you murdered my entire family. My brother and my sisters, my mother and my father? Or maybe it’s because you lied to me and made me believe that you were there to save me when you had killed them? Or maybe it’s because you abused me and raped me every night until I got away? Ever thought of those as reasons enough  for me to hate you Sheriff Longly?’

Longly smiled as he looked at Grace “I’m glad to see that I hold such positive memories for you Miss Bradshaw.” His voice dropped in tone as the sneer was clearly evident.

“How dare you!” Grace screeched as she went to jump towards him. Quickly, Longly turned to Liam and held a gun to him.

“Step closer and I’ll kill him Grace. And if you shoot me, my men have been told to shoot you and then kill your man too.”

Grace stood still as she took in the situation.

“You never were a lawman Longly. You always believed you were but you were no better than a murdering outlaw. You took the law into your own hands and twisted it into your dark fantasy.” Grace yelled as her hand flickered above her gun on her side.

At the same time Liam had finally managed to untie the ropes and as he caught Grace’s eye he nodded towards her and thanked the men who had tied him up for being so stupid to take his word for not having any guns on him.

Pulling the gun from his side as Longly’s attention was diverted he quickly shot at Travis, killing him instantly.

Longly pulled the trigger as Liam did too, firing a shot through Harry’s chest as the bullet from Longly reached Liam and he fell to the ground from the impact. As the shock wore thin he looked to see the wound on his shoulder bleeding profusely and his Grace straddling Longly as her hands tightened around his neck, his face flickering through the shades of red, purple and blue as his fingers scrabbled and scratched against Grace’s unwavering strength.

As Longly’s hands fell limply to the side and the breath exited from his body, Grace breathed heavily whilst looking at Liam. She had killed her fear. The man who had haunted her dreams for many years, and she had killed him.

As she looked towards Liam and saw the wound on his shoulder, Grace sighed with relief. She knew Liam was going to be fine.

As Liam looked lovingly at Grace, and Grace looking at Liam neither of them noticed the man making his way into the light from the shadows with the gun held out pointing at the woman who had killed his father.