The Outlaw

Chapter Five

"She is as fine as can be expected." she replied. Ethan nodded and then he reached out and laid a gentle hand on Caroline's cheek. Caroline leaned into the comfort and warmth of his touch. "And what about you, darlin'?" His voice seemed to be a little deeper and his dark eyes even darker as he looked at her.

"I'm scared." she admitted. She wasn't sure why she trusted him. Something in his dark eyes told her that he was safe and that he would not harm her. Something in those dark eyes made her heart beat faster and something in his touch made her body fill with heat.

"You asked me something earlier today." he said taking his hand away from her cheek and crossing his arms over his knees. Caroline thought back to when they had spoken.

"Are my sister and I going to die? Is he going to kill us?" Ethan looked into those green eyes and wanted to lie to her. He wanted to tell her a beautiful tale about how all of this would end soon and that she and her sister would both be fine but he couldn't do that. No matter how badly he wanted to lie to ease the fear he saw in her eyes he could not be that cruel. He could not give her false hope.

"Darlin', I can't predict what's gonna happen. I wish I could tell you it's all gonna be fine but I can't. You two have made it this far without any harm coming to either of ya so maybe you'll be okay." he said. "And like I said I'll do what I can."

"He'll kill you for helping us, won't he?" she asked. Ethan shook his head. He was lying by telling her no but he didn't want her worried about him. He had kept his head in the sand for too long worrying about being killed. This woman inspired him to pull his head out of that sand and do something. He would find a way to get her and her sister out of here safely even if he had to die doing it.

They heard footsteps approaching the tent and Ethan quickly laid back down while Caroline pulled off her apron, wet it and began wiping his face down.

The flap was pushed back and Franks looked inside.

"How is he?" he asked. Caroline shrugged.

"It may take hours for the fever to break." she replied keeping her voice free of any emotion. Franks nodded and held out the bowl of broth. Caroline took it. "Tell Mitchell I need my sister in here with me. I need someone to help me keep him cool." she said.

"I'll help." Franks said. Caroline shook her head and slapped his hand away when he tried to touch Ethan's leg. Frank's eyes flashed with anger and he raised his hand to slap her face.

"Hit me and I'll let him die." she warned. "How do you think Mitchell will like that?" Franks lowered his hand. He knew if Ethan died because of him he'd get a bullet between his eyes. When it came to Ethan, Mitchell was very unpredictable. Franks often wondered why Mitchell didn't just kill Ethan and be done with it since the boy obviously couldn't be trusted but he supposed Mitchell felt some loyalty for the boy since he was his son.

"You can't help me Franks. Do you know the first thing about medicine?" she demanded. Franks shook his head. He knew a lot about shooting women though and he hoped when the time came Mitchell let him put the bullet in this one. "Send my sister in. She helped our father just as much as I did."

"I'll go talk to Mitchell." he replied and quickly left the tent.

"I wouldn't have let him hit you." Ethan said once Franks was gone. Caroline smiled down at him and lowered her soaked apron to her lap.

"Me either. I would have grabbed that knife strapped to his leg and cut his guts out." she promised. Ethan's eyes widened in surprise.

"Looks like my dad might bit off more than he can chew with you, darlin'."