Katherine "Kissin' Kate" Barlow (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ikissdhimbck) wrote2009-11-25 03:42 pm
ikissdhimbck) wrote2009-11-25 03:42 pm
Entry tags:
Victoria County, Texas, 1888 -- OOM for Ben Wade (part 2)
[following this:]
It was a breathtaking sunrise. Kate slept through part of it, waking when the sky was already on fire, pink clouds melting into a violet haze at the horizon. She rose up and gave Ben his coat back, shaking off the chill in her bones and the fog across her mind from not enough solid rest.
The morning routine set them in opposite directions at first, as they quietly attempt to wake themselves up for the ride into town. "Baths" need to be taken (in other words, they need to walk down to the river and splash freezing water on themselves), fires rebuilt, food prepared, and trail coffee is a definite must.
Kate leaves Ben to his own devices, wandering off to see what sort of game she can rustle up.
Moments later, gunfire breaks the serenity of the desert morning.
.
It was a breathtaking sunrise. Kate slept through part of it, waking when the sky was already on fire, pink clouds melting into a violet haze at the horizon. She rose up and gave Ben his coat back, shaking off the chill in her bones and the fog across her mind from not enough solid rest.
The morning routine set them in opposite directions at first, as they quietly attempt to wake themselves up for the ride into town. "Baths" need to be taken (in other words, they need to walk down to the river and splash freezing water on themselves), fires rebuilt, food prepared, and trail coffee is a definite must.
Kate leaves Ben to his own devices, wandering off to see what sort of game she can rustle up.
Moments later, gunfire breaks the serenity of the desert morning.
.
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He turns his attention to the horizon and nods.
"Go right ahead -- I'll start cookin'."
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The campsite is close enough that she can hear louder noises from the riverside, though most of Ben's movements are hushed by the murmur of water passing by. It's comforting, in a way, now that her mind is in another world.
'He give you a clean bill of health?'
(The cold water is anything but comforting; she yelps as she steps in.)
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(She is still wearing her boots, however, and her hair is still wet.)
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(It is.)
Satisfied, he pops the meat into his mouth, hissing slightly and somehow managing not to blister his tongue.
Gesturing for Kate to take a seat, he assembles a biscuit sandwich for her, handing it over carefully so no fingers get burned.
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"How is it?"
She takes the proffered seat after depositing her things back at her bags, and eyes the sandwich before taking it into her hands.
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Wounded expression firmly in place, he assembles his own breakfast sandwich.
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"Don't give me that. I remember the last time I put you in a kitchen."
She waits for the meat to cool enough to take a bite.
It's not bad.
(She could do better.)
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Once half his own makeshift sandwich is gone, "So, tell me about Cuero."
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She doesn't even make it halfway through her own biscuit sandwich before she tires of eating.
"Never actually been there, myself. Know it's got a station, though. Lots of folk in Green Lake do business up there now and again."
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"What's the biggest industry, cattle or cotton? Or is it rougher around the edges, minin' and hard laborers?"
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She offers over what's left of her breakfast, if he wants it.
"Sure they got themselves a gin, last I heard. Even a factory or two. Think they do parts, for the rail and such."
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"More'n one bank, then?"
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"Lemme wash up and I'll be ready to pack up -- sounds like we'll have some financial matters to attend to when we hit town."
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"Whatever you say, Tucker darling."
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