The next morning, Elisabeth woke soundly with a weight no longer present on her chest.
She'd never been one for talking but... somehow telling Beau made her feel more relieved.
Walker was still asleep with his arm over her side, preventing her from moving.
All she could do was listen to the sounds of his breathing as the bunkhouse began to awake.
She laid still in Walker's bunk, glancing up as she saw Beau.
He was already dressed, but not for work.
And there was a primal gleam of determination in his amber eyes.
She watched him walk out of the bunkhouse, noting his long strides and lack of farewell to anyone.
Walker groaned and shifted a bit, indicating that he had just awoken.
Elisabeth used his disoriented state to her advantage and slipped out of his bunk, gathering clothes to dress herself.
"Thought you weren't supposed to be workin' today. Since the C-Section thing is still healing." Walker grumbled.
"It's just low-man stuff, baby." She answered as she pulled her jeans up.
"Feed, cleaning tack. Y'know."
"Mhm..." Walker looked her up and down before glancing about the bunkhouse, almost as if he was searching for something or someone.
"What is it?" She asked him, watching as his head turned.
"Lookin' for what's his face." He replied.
"Oh." Her response was short, knowing that even mentioning Beau's name or if she'd seen him would set Walker off.
"Guess he left early." Walker huffed, climbing out of bed.
Elisabeth nodded curtly before pulling her boots on and huffing.
"I'll see you at supper." She murmured.
Walker nodded and gave her a quick kiss.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
And with that, she ducked out of the bunkhouse and headed down to the barn.
She occupied herself with minuscule chores, though none of them could quite scratch the itch for adrenaline deep in her bones.
Elisabeth slipped into Lady's stall, deciding to sit with her old mare for a while.
"I just don't know what to do." She huffed, brushing a hand across her hair as she sat down in the shavings next to the palomino mare.
"I love Walker... I really do. But I don't know how much more I can take."
The mare simply swished her tail, her ears flicking to the sides.
"And I'm talking to a horse. I'm fuckin' crazy."
*~*~*~*~*
Unbeknownst to the rest of the bunkhouse crew, all aside from Rip, Beau was working on a special task.
Hunting, as one might put it.
And he was hunting the men that had tried to have Elisabeth killed.
Punches were thrown, curses were shared and bruises were made but Beau managed to find the de facto leader of the whole group.
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Yellowstone
FanfictionBeing practically raised by the Duttons seems like a dream for some. But Elisabeth had it rough. Her dad was a runaway and her mom was never around. When she turned 12, she found work all the way up in Montana at the Yellowstone Ranch. Not only did...
