Western Trails (closed)

[DeathsKnight]

He rested his arm around her shoulders, "We go buy groceries. Now that you have been seen with me you have little freedom." He gave her a lopsided grin, "It is also the best excuse I can come up with to keep a pretty lady around." He pushed open the door and ran a quick eye over the room, then unbuckled his belt and took it off. It seemed to weigh a ton and he let it drop on to the bed.

"Most likely Sudden had been busy trying to seduce your mare even though he is a gelding. Silly horse. Still love him though." He tossed his hat on to the chair in the corner and fell down on the bed, looking up at the ceiling, the pistol still within easy reach.

 

[heartofcourage]

Penny realized then just how serious the situation was. She had never been restricted in her movements before. She had never seen John so cautious around her. She had never really given much thought to the idea that he was a cold blooded killer.

"Sudden can be sweet on anyone he likes. Perhaps when we find a place to settle down, I can breed my mare and we can start a little farm." Penny said as she followed John onto the bed, her head resting against his shoulder. "A peaceful little space of green. A little house, a little land, a little family."

 

[DeathsKnight]

He smiled, "I like that, but only a small adjustment to that setting. Bigger land. If you want to breed horses they need space and food." He chuckled softly, "Listen to me, a year on a horse ranch and I act like I know horses." He turned his head to look at her, brought his right hand up to slowly explore the soft curve of her jaw, her slender throat, ending up in the tresses of her soft hair, slowly stroking through her hair as he met her eyes and gave her a gentle smile. "You're quite something else."

 

[heartofcourage]

Penny laughed softly as he caressed over her jaw and smoothed his fingers through her hair. She let out a soft sigh as he told her that she was something else.

"And you, cowboy, are the first man who has ever truly made me happy." She said softly, her own hand coming to rest on his cheek. "I forget about my past when I'm with you. I don't have to fear you and I certainly don't have to be someone I'm not when I'm with you."

 

[DeathsKnight]

He cupped her cheek in his hand, suddenly very aware of the calluses from handling weapons, ropes, leather. He loved the soft feel of her skin against his palm, the way she smelled, how her eyes seemed to say everything that she didn't put into words. This was the closest that he had been to anybody and he found that he loved her for it.

"Then I am glad. I don't want you to fear me and act like somebody else. Only time you should fear me is when you point a gun at me intending to make a name for yourself." He chuckled, "But I doubt that you'd do that."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Unless there's a shotgun wedding in Our future I don't think you have anything to worry about, John." Penny said softly, laughter bubbling past her lips at the very though of her demanding that from him.

She watched his eyes intently as he gently stroked her cheek. His hand was rough but incredibly gentle. He had killed men with those hands but he had never once raise them towards her. He treated her with the greatest of love and respect and she could only do the same in return for him.

 

[DeathsKnight]

He chuckled, "Somehow I doubt that we will have to go through a shotgun wedding. Only idiot boys who want to run away from what they have done gets those."

He leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss, then settled back on to the bed, "Now if the lady will excuse me, I do seem to need some rest again. Bloody tiredness." Of course the fact that his hand was touching the grip of his pistol as he nodded off meant that he was tired, but not so tired to let his guard down.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Then you'll have nothing to worry about." Penny murmured before he leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss before he settled back on the bed. "Get some rest. I'll still be here when you wake up."

She watched as he nodded off, his hand still on the grip of his pistol. She knew it was from years of experience that he was watchful of people that wanted to make their names by messing with him. It was her job to take care of him, though. She gently rolled off the bed, retrieving an extra blanket to spread over his slumbering form.

When she returned, she snuggled up against his side, pressing a kiss to his forehead before she let herself get some much needed rest as well.

 

[DeathsKnight]

The far-off cry of an owl woke him, for a moment he lay, looking up at the dark ceiling, wondering at the blanket, then felt Penny's body close to his, her breathing soft and slow, every now and then she gave a soft sigh. He listened, there was a strange hush over the town, but then again the sun was still casting a few rays on the buildings opposite their windows. A horse came trotting passed and with it the noise of town-life and the night life gradually filtered through the silence.

He still did not move, he knew that an owl's cry would not wake him. What did wake him was the fact that something was wrong. And what was wrong was that the owl's mate did not reply. He could feel the well-worn grip of his pistol in his hand, far off a cayote howled, two calls answered the howl and then the owl shrieked again and this time there was a reply. John felt the tension drain away and slowly he allowed himself to slip back into the arms of sleep.

 

[heartofcourage]

Penny woke when it was full dark outside. She could hear the noises of the town floating to them through the windows of the hotel, her sleepy brain slowly processing everything that had happened to her to that point. It was then that her belly rumbled, telling her that they had slept straight through dinner. She wondered if someone would take pity on her in the kitchen of the hotel and make her a small meal that she could share with John when he woke.

Carefully, she pulled herself away from his side, stretching as she continued to wake up. A few moments later after she had her boots on and laced up, she stepped outside of the room and gently closed the door behind her. She would only be gone a few moments, she told herself. Even if he woke up and found her gone, there was no way that he could stay mad at her.

 

[DeathsKnight]

John didn't feel the bed shift, he did not hear the door open and close, he was in one of those dreams where the faces came to him once more. Once again he relived their deaths, their eyes, always the eyes. He had so much blood on his hands, so much blood. He stood ankle deep in a lake of blood, everywhere bodies lay. Dead bodies of the men he had killed, but right in the middle of the lake stood his greatest shame.

The four people stood together, so clear, so real, he could feel the crushing weight of their deaths on his shoulders. He knew that no matter how much he protested that he had never meant to kill them, they were still dead. The little boy was the hardest to look at, his mother just as much. The two young girls was the same, there was no excuses, no defense. He was their death and they would haunt him until he joined this lake of blood.

 

[heartofcourage]

Walking through the hall, she soon made her way to the front counter. A friendly smile was given to the man behind the counter as she found herself standing there in front of him.

"Hi. I hope it's not too much to ask, but my husband and I slept through dinner. Is there a chance that we might be able to get something from the kitchen?" Penny asked him, her stomach rumbling hungrily as she waited for his answer.

 

[DeathsKnight]

The clerk looked Penny over, she sure was something good on the eye. "Well ma'am, the cook's gone home, but I know that there's some meat and bread left over, perhaps even some cheese. We could go have a look." He stepped out from behind the counter and led the way in to the kitchen.

In the wake of their leaving, stealthy steps entered through the unlocked door and silently made their way up the steps. While in the kitchen the clerk helped Penny to put a meal together for two, upstairs steps approached the room, a soft whisper of iron against leather as a pistol got drawn. The door pushed open just a tad, the pistol aimed and the hammer drawn back. A finger starting to tighten on the trigger.

 

[heartofcourage]

Penny smiled at the clerk, thanking him for his help as they got a meal put together from the kitchen left overs. "Can you put this on the tab for my room? I'll come down and pay it first thing in the morning." She said, taking the plate as it was offered to her. "I have to get back up to the room. He's a beast when he's hungry."

 

[DeathsKnight]

"Sure thing ma'am, I do hope it is enough though..."

Anything else he might have wanted to say got cut short by the very distinct thunder of gunfire. But not from outside, it wasn't some drunken cowpoke firing into the air, it wasn't a robbery or getaway. It came from inside the Hotel. Upstairs to be exact. The clerk paused, his jaw refusing to work along with him. His mind seemed frozen and he on managed a weak, "what was that"

 

[heartofcourage]

"Oh, it'll be..." The word fine was cut off by the deafening gunshots that sounded from above them.

Penny gripped the plate tightly, looking at the clerk as he asked her what that was. She knew where the noise had come from, but she had no idea what she would find when she got there. Almost without thinking, she left the plate on the counter and ran for the stairs. She wasn't quiet as she ran up them, praying to anyone that would hear her that John would be alright.

 

[DeathsKnight]

There was a body slumped in the doorway, it was too dark to make out who it was. A figure came rushing to the door, almost falling over the body. John only lowered his pistol when he recognized Penny, he was still a bit sleep befuddled, had no real idea where he was, but he knew her and if she was there, it was all fine.

Automatically he reloaded his pistol and only then paused to light a lamp. He half dreaded to see the young cowboy, but it wasn't, instead it was a complete stranger with the hardened features of an outlaw. John looked up at Penny, "You alright?"

 

[heartofcourage]

Penny's heart was in her throat as she could see the form of a body slumped in the door way. Please don't be him, she kept telling herself over and over again. Please don't be, John. It was as she was thinking that, he appeared. His pistol was up and ready, but he instantly lowered it when he made out her form.

"I'm fine." She said softly as she stepped over the dead man and made her way to his side, wrapping her arms around his belly to hold him tightly. "I was downstairs with the clerk getting something to eat. We heard the gunshot."

 

[DeathsKnight]

He pressed his lips to the top of her brow, "It's fine, I'm glad you weren't here." The clerk finally made his way to the doorway, the fact that nobody else had come out, told John volumes of how troubled the travellers in this area were. "You'd best get the Sheriff, that looks like one of the Drumm boys." The clerk didn't need much to get going and John looked down at Penny, "Let's go downstairs, you don't have to stay here looking at a dead man."

He buckled on his gunbelt and holstered the pistol, pulled on his boots and ushered her downstairs, "I was far away in that dream, didn't hear or feel you leave, but the sound of metal against leather and the cocking of a hammer woke me instantly. Bad habits saved me this time."

 

[heartofcourage]

"John, I'm so sorry I left you." Penny said softly as he ushered her away from the room and downstairs. "I know you told me not to."

It wasn't like she could have stopped anything if she had been there with him. It still made her feel guilty to know that she had broken her own promise to him when he needed her.

Their meal was still sitting on the counter of the hotel and she went to pick it up, offering him the sandwich that had been made. "It's not much, but you need to eat something if you want to keep healing."

 

[DeathsKnight]

"No it was a good thing that you had left." He took the sandwich and took a bite, chewing thoughtfully before swallowing. "His bullet would have struck you." He looked at her, "Three shots, one his, two mine. His bullet struck the bed as I rolled off, first one hit the door, the next hit him in the chest." He gave her a slight smile and nudged her with his shoulder, "Looking out for me seems to be a good thing after all."

 

[heartofcourage]

Penny was stunned as he so calmly told her that the bullet would have hit her if she had still been in the bed. It frightened her slightly, but John seemed very at ease that everything had turned out the way that it had.

"Do you think there will be others?" She asked him, the idea of eating her sandwich suddenly sounding unappealing. "Should we be worried?"

 

[DeathsKnight]

"I know there's other, but if they came in with him is another question." He ate a few more bites of the sandwich, "We will have to wait and hear what the Sheriff has to say, perhaps he will know more." He gave a soft laugh, "Funny thing is, he's got a bounty on his head, strange that he'd risk coming into town." He looked at Penny and placed an arm around her shoulders, "You should have something to eat."

The clerk and Sheriff came into the foyer just as John finished his sandwich. The Sheriff went upstairs with the clerk, still nobody have come out of their rooms. A few minutes later the Sheriff and clerk returned, "Yup it's one of the Drumm boys, funny, didn't know that they were around." John took a deep breath and glanced at Penny, "That could spell trouble."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I don't think I could eat now. My stomach is all bunched up in knots." Penny admitted as he looped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close as the Sheriff and the clerk came back into the foyer.

"I'm really sorry for all of this." She said to the clerk, listening as they announced who had been the man to enter their room to try and kill them. "Do you know them?"

 

[DeathsKnight]

He nodded, "Yes and where one goes, the others are not far behind. Remember when I told you that we'd have to move fast? If the rest of the gang hears that I shot their brother, they'd come gunning for me." The Sheriff moved closer to the two of them, "And why is that? Who are you?"

John turned to face the Sheriff, "I am John Denver." He could see the shock in the man's eyes, those same eyes flicked to Penelope, then a small frown came to the brow, not much of a frown, but there all the same. John knew what the man was thinking, "I'm taking her home to her folks, she had a run-in with a fiend of a man." Well it wasn't a lie, it was the truth, just not the whole truth.

"Well it's clear that the man tried to murder you Mr Denver, I think that it would be wise if you got cracking soon, if the Drumms gets wind of this..." His words was not a threat, just the truth and John knew this. He nodded, "We just need provisions, then we can leave." His words received a nod and the Sheriff left, John turned to Penny and gave her a smile, "Come, let's have a drink, that will loosen that knots and you will be able to eat." The clerk was about to say something, then decided it wise not to as John led Penny to the bar. Of course there was no barman, but the drinks stood out, so John got two glasses and poured each of them a shot of whiskey. He took a seat next to Penny.