Wanted

#3 | A Change of Heart

"Come again?" Curtis inquired. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead and temples, surely from the fire, he thought. Sly straightened himself and took a deep breath.

"I want to join you," Sly repeated. He raised his hands slightly—Curtis flinched at the gesture. "I know we've been at each other's throats these past few days," he said.

"No," Curtis interjected. "You've been at my throat. I didn't want any trouble in Sunnyville, and I sure didn't want anything to do with you in Coyote Run."

"Okay, okay," Sly admitted. "Listen, it's my job as a Ranger to deal with Outlaws, such as yourself. But, hey, I've had a change of heart. I swear, see?" Sly slowly drew his seven-shot revolvers from their holsters, making it obvious that his fingers were off the triggers, and laid them at his feet. He took a step over the guns as Curtis lowered his weapon, and met the Outlaw at his fire.

Curtis instructed Mabel to retrieve Sly's revolvers as the Outlaw and Ranger sat across from each other with the fire between them. Mabel hesitated.

"You want me to pick up the guns?" she confirmed. "Those are fully loaded weapons, right?"

"You bet your little heinie they are," Sly stated. "The hammers aren't pulled, though, if it makes you feel better." Mabel inched her way closer to the firearms and collected them. Curtis fumbled in his satchel for some of the rations he purchased at Coyote Run and handed one to Mabel.

"You wanna join me?" Curtis asked. "I assume you mean travel with me and work together in some way."

"That's right," Sly said. Curtis thought for a moment and took a bite of his prepacked meal.

"Yeah, okay," he mumbled. "Yeah, I guess you can tag along." Mabel's jaw dropped.

"Woah, woah, woah," she exclaimed, quite confused. "You just said this guy's been tryin' to kill you these last few days. I saw him pursuin' you myself! Now yer just gonna let him tag along with us?"

Not like I wanted you either, Curtis thought. "I've been backstabbed and double crossed enough times to know when someone's hidin' somethin'. I can tell Sly's bein' genuine. He's done huntin' this cowboy." He took another bite of his food.

Mabel eyed Sly across the fire. Her attention darted back to Curtis. "But wait a minute!" she barked. "You were reluctant to take me on as a subordinate—There she goes with the big words again, Curtis thought—but you're willin' to take on your former enemy so easily?"

Curtis sighed. "Look, I figure if I already have you around, I might as well make a band of it. I won't get to be alone from now on anyway."

Sly's expression was also one of surprise. "I honestly thought it would take more convincing, too. I mean, I had a whole explanation for why I wanted to team up and everything!" He almost sounded disappointed that he didn't get to explain.

"We have all night," Curtis said, tossing a ration to Sly. "What's your grand plan, Ranger?"

"Well," Sly started, "I have a couple of ideas in mind. I still plan to reestablish myself as a big shot, preferably in the Big City. So, I figured I could ride along with you and bag any other Outlaws we might face on our journey."

Our journey, Curtis thought with an internal chuckle.

"I figured you wouldn't care about anyone else going to jail. Outlaws don't really care for one another most of the time, right?"