Victoria County, Texas, 1888 -- OOM for Ben Wade

[ikissdhimbck]

[following this:]


The door dropped them off out in the middle of nowhere -- right were Kate was, the last time she'd been 'home.' When she'd left Green Lake after confronting Trout, she'd ridden north with little thought in mind other than putting some distance between the Walker estate and herself. If she had any point of reference, she might have known this put her right in the middle of the 44 Ranch, but there was nothing to see for miles but brush and scrub and river water and dirt.

She and Ben had mounted up and kept going north, following the river until nightfall. Their ride had been somewhat reserved, quiet, and somber. The both of them had a lot to think about, after the morning's events back in Milliways.

Setting up camp was also a quiet affair, punctuated by brief discussions of where they should tie the horses, who should build the fire, what they should cook and eat -- anything they could think of that didn't touch on the subject of Doc, or the limp in Kate's step.

Ben took first watch following supper, offering to also take the third. But after he woke Kate for her turn at second watch, she was up, and didn't bother waking him when the time came around for him to take over. Her eyes were on the horizon, and the clear night sky overhead.

She had missed her Texas sky.

.

Comments

[almosthonorable]

A nod, and he's quiet, the muted crackle of the fire audible in the silence.

[ikissdhimbck]

The silence affords her time to think, but she still isn't sure what to say to him.

Her eyes fall to her knees.

[almosthonorable]

At length, "I ever tell you my daddy got killed over a shot of whiskey?"

[ikissdhimbck]

She isn't sure what to make of this, at first.

She glances at him from the corner of her eye, and shakes her head.

"You ain't told me much."

Most of their earlier conversations revolved around teasing flirtations about her job, her students, and her spiced peaches. After that... well. Conversation got real strained, real fast.

Ben's life, besides the "outlawin'," is a bit of a mystery to her.

[almosthonorable]

A one-shouldered shrug.

"Ain't much to tell. Happened when I was a pup."

[ikissdhimbck]

"Your mama raised you by herself?"

[almosthonorable]

"Nope -- been on my own since I was eight."

He smiles a little, thinking about that train station and that Bible on his lap, and reaches for the flask tucked inside his jacket pocket.

"Made my way to Dodge City, raised myself up right -- "

A huff of a laugh.

"Or wrong, dependin' on who you ask, I reckon."

[ikissdhimbck]

"Oh, Ben."

It's not said with so much scolding or sorrow as it is quiet recognition. She always knew it; he only confirmed it.

She shakes her head a little, trying to imagine it, before she realizes she doesn't want to.

"Folks in the bar don't know what it's like out here."

[almosthonorable]

"No Bennin' me, now -- it was what it was. I don't know what would've happened any different, so I'm not sorry for it."

He takes a pull from his flask and offers it to Kate.

"People in the bar've got hard times behind their own doors, I'd imagine."

[ikissdhimbck]

She considers the offer carefully before reaching out and taking the flask from him.

"I'd wager they do, but in my experience there ain't too many people who understand what it's like t'live in a world where folk get shot over whiskey."

She takes a long draught, wincing against the burn, and hands the flask back.

"Or kissin' the wrong person."

She could mean Sam, or Doc, or both, at this point.

[almosthonorable]

"Dunno if any time's all that safe, from what I've heard from some of 'em around the bar."

Another slow swallow of whiskey.

"And besides," he says, chortling under his breath, "knowin' my daddy, he deserved that bullet and then some."

[ikissdhimbck]

"You take after your mama then, huh?"

It's a gentle taunt, accompanied by a very slight quirk of her mouth.

[almosthonorable]

He offers the flask again as he shakes his head.

"But even bad men love their mamas."

[ikissdhimbck]

"Mm," she comments noncommittally, accepting the flask once again.

A moment of quiet drinking passes between them before she ventures to speak.



"Y'know, with my daddy gone, Doc dead, and me not able t'go back to Green Lake ever again, I really don't got nothin' out here, do I?"

She breathes a sharp, humorless laugh, as her eyes scan the horizon.

[almosthonorable]

"I don't think that's true. You got plenty of work, assumin' you want it."

[ikissdhimbck]

"Well, as long as I have work," she says, a dry chuckle mixed in with the words.

At least it does give her something to focus on.

"Guess it'll make it easier bein' on the run. There won't be nothin' behind me to miss."

[almosthonorable]

He caps the flask and pockets it.

"It gets easier, the longer you do it."

A beat.

"Well, easier to keep your eyes on what's ahead instead of behind, anyway."

[ikissdhimbck]

"I reckon."

Her eyes are back on the limitless borders of sky. It's mostly flat in these parts, and the heavens stretch on for miles.

(She may be looking for her morning star.)







"I never did do 'im right."

She was just trying to fix that, for once in her life. She really was.

[almosthonorable]

He doesn't turn his head, but his eyes slide to her.

He's a good listener; it's easy to forget that, with all the sarcasm and one-liners.

[ikissdhimbck]

Her cheeks are rosy from the whiskey. Her metabolism changed over the winter, what with everything going on, so even that little bit of drink has her feeling hazy around the edges.



"Funny how y'don't realize just how much you love somethin' 'til it's gone. You'd think by now I'd've learned my lesson."

Her eyes are unfocused, and she sets her chin down on her knees, huddling for warmth. It's late (early), and the desert can get chilly without the sun beating down.

"Now it's too late. I can't never tell him the things I should'a when he was still listenin'."

[almosthonorable]

He's whiskey-warm -- and even if he wasn't, he's still a gentleman.

Wordlessly, he shrugs out of his coat and drapes it around her thin shoulders.

[ikissdhimbck]

She swims in it.



"I'm sorry, Ben."

She plucks the hemlines up in her small hands and pulls the fabric around her legs like a tent.

"I"m sorry I didn't keep my promise to you."

[almosthonorable]

"What promise?"

[ikissdhimbck]

"That we was gonna be safe."

[almosthonorable]

"Well."

A pause.

"Seems like Salazar had somethin' to say about that."

He's not being glib or unkind, just honest.