She was 12. But acted more like 16. . She figured that sometimes happens when you have to grow up fast. Not that her Pa wanted her to grow up fast, but sometimes shit happens and you don't have a choice.
She hardly remembered her Ma. She was there, and then she wasn't. Then it was just her and her Pa. He said her Ma had gone to a better place. Not that hard really. Any place was better than Valentine. But Pa has gone to a better place now too.
Right now any place was better than Valentine jail.
Sheriff Curtis Malloy was a complete bastard she thought. Well at least he was to me, and to my Pa, come to think of it.
He's the one that pulled the lever when they hung her Pa last week.
Pa always said the law was scum. That was the best lesson he ever learned me she thought.
But Sheriff Malloy was the lowest scum.
He said he'd let me go this time after whupping me with his leather belt. But he said if he caught me again, he'd hang me like my Pa.
She didn't think they hung girls. But then her Pa always said she looked a bit like a boy. Pa always said that was an advantage. Not if some bastard Sheriff wants to hang ya it ain't she thought.
So now she was just waiting for the sheriff to cut her loose. Thats unless he decided to give her another whupping first.
The sheriff grabbed the kid by the scruff and chucked her out into the street.
"If I see you back here you little bastard, your gonna swing like your daddy" he said.
Her Pa always said that sometimes its best to say nothin'. So that's exactly what she did.
She looked at her clothes covered in mud and smelling like livestock. Still I can always get more. She thought, I still have Pa's pistol, well I hope so, If its still near the railtrack where I hid it..
She really wanted to spit in the sheriffs eye. She was pretty good at spitting. Like Pa always said, you have to try and do what your good at. For the last 6 moths that was mostly running from the law. Guess they hadn't done that too well. If they had Pa wouldn't be dead and she wouldn't be starving hungry.
Her whole body ached. The whupping she had got from the sheriff hadn't helped. If her Pa had been alive he would have whupped him right back. Or probably she wouldn't have got caught in the first place.
She started to walk to the railtrack, thats where she'd hidden the gun. She was gonna rob someone tomorrow. There were only 6 bullets in the gun, and she didnt have any more. But like her Pa said, you dont always need to use 'em, just have 'em there if needed. She only had 6 though and no money to buy more, so she'd have to be real careful. She'd probably need 'em more to hunt some food. She couldn't try stealing anything else from the store in Valentine, or she'd be in for another whupping, or she'd be joining her Pa in the better place.
She'd seen a camp just a ways past Valentine, watched the wagons roll in a few days before Pa was hung.
She was gonna try and steal some shit, but noticed a guard with a gun. She'd thought about it, and like her Pa always said, they only put a guard on if its valuable enough to steal. She didn't want to get caught again anyway. Her Pa always said keep your wits about you and never get into a fight you can't win. But kick up hell to get out of one.
Might have been why the sheriff whupped her, he wasnt to happy when she kicked him in the shins. Not hard enough though, lesson learnt, she was gonna kick harder next time, cos she just found out its kick or be kicked.
She finally made it to the rail tracks, looked in the ditch under the stone where she'd hid the gun. It was still there. And bullets were still in the chamber too.
Damn she was tired, too tired to hunt, couldn't steal anything from the store either that was too risky.
She could have tried begging, but her Pa always said that begging was the gutter. She thought about robbing the blind guy, he was always asking people for a dollar. Guess he couldn't tell the sheriff who stole it if he couldn't see who it was, she thought.
Tonight she just had to find somewhere warm to sleep. There were some plants up on the plain with berries on. They would have to do for tonight. Tomorrow she was gonna try an rob a wagon. She'd seen them go in to that camp that led up to the cliff. And every so often thay would bring one out and head into town.
She ended up sleeping in a goatshed, and left just as the sun was coming up. Got out before the farmer had a chance to find her. Damn she was hungry. Stomach hurt. Thats cos her stomach was empty. It'd been like that once before when her and her Pa had a bad run of luck. She hid behind a tree with a good view of the road. With a bit of luck there might be a wagon coming out of the camp today. She had her Pa's gun. It looked a bit dirty, but she was only gonna wave it at them to frighten 'em into giving her some money.
As she hid behind a tree she saw a wagon coming out the trees, from the camp, she scanned the road, no one else about, this should be, as her pa would've put it, "a piece of piss".
She pulled the scarf up over her face and ran into the road with her back to the waggon. She had done this loads of times before with her Pa. He always said do it like this, then they couldn't see that your face was covered until it was too late.
She crouched in the road and waited.
"Hey kid are you ok" yelled the old man.
I Just need to wait a bit, she thought.
"What we waiting for Uncle" said a woman
That was good she thought, if there were women, then they usually handed over the goods a bit quicker.
"Theres a kid in the road" he said.
"Are they ok" said the woman
"I don't know" he replied.
Now, she jumped up turned round and yelled
"Give me all your fucking money" she pointed the gun at the old man
"All of it, Right now before I blow your fucking brain out" she yelled.
"We're being robbed" yelled one of the women, shouting into the woods.
Before she could think a man on a horse came down the path where the wagon had appeared from. The horse nearly sent her flying, but not before the rider had grabbed her by the collar.
She turned round an bit him on his leg, she tasted salt. Good she thought that means I've bit him hard enough. The man let go of her and clasped his leg, at the same time screaming at her "You little bastard!"
She had to think fast, she ducked down and ran underneath the horse. It was risky just in case the horse got spooked, but it worked. She dipped her hand into the saddle bag and made a grab for what was in there, then ran like hell into the trees. As she ran her heart started to pound, she felt dizzy, that was because she hadn't eaten for days, probably should have eaten first, too late now.
As she ran, she looked up and saw a man with a rifle. she should have looked where she was going. Her Pa would have called her an Idiot for that mistake. This is gonna end badly, she thought. She was gonna be joining her Pa, sooner than she thought.
She felt something hard hit her face. The rifle butt, she seen that happen to someone else once when she had been out with her pa. She felt the blood running down her face, the last thing she tasted was salt in her mouth. My blood she thought, as she hit the deck.
She woke up wondering if she was dead. Wondering if she would be going to heaven or be burning in the fires of hell. She hoped the sheriff was wrong, cos he had told her she was gonna burn in hell, with her Pa. She opened her eyes, trees, she didnt think there were any trees in hell, at least not green ones anyway. If this was the better place that her Pa was always telling her about, she didn't think much of it, cos her hands were tied behind her back real tight and the ropes were cutting in. On the plus side, only her hands were tied. Big mistake who ever tied her up, she thought. She could just about make out someone walking towards her, a man.I'm fucked if that's the sheriff, she thought, he's gonna hang me for sure.
She felt someone grab her hair, and yanked her head bank.
"what you playing at boy, trying to rob us eh"
He was gruff and had blond straggly hair with a moustache. He smelt of tobacco and leather.
I'm not going down without a fight she thought. What was it her Pa said, kick up hell to get out of one. She wasn't in a better place yet, and she didnt really want to go there this soon. She brought her legs up and with a jack rabbit kick she aimed for the mans balls. Her Pa always said to do that if a man gives you grief.
"Fuck of you bastard" she yelled
he doubled over.
She heard someone laugh. "He got you good"
Now she saw another man coming over.
"Whats your name kid" he said
she got as much spit in her mouth as she could and let fly with it straight in his face.
"And you can fuck off too" she yelled.
"Bloody hell, you filthy little bastard" he yelled, he raised a hand to hit the kid.
She saw what was coming next and closed her eyes.
This is it she thought, I'm gonna be going to the better place now.
She whispered "Sorry Pa"
But the hit didnt come. Next thing she heard was a man saying "Wait...its a girl" the man laughed.
She opened her eyes and saw the man standing over her.
"Well ain't you just a little firebrand" he said.
He looked at the man who she had just spat at. "Bring her over here" he said.
She heard someone else say "watch yourself, she's a biter, she nearly bit through my leg".
The other man who had called her a firebrand was laughing.
She felt herself being picked up, so she started to thrash and kick her legs.
"Leave me alone you fucking pickshit smelling lawmen" she yelled.
"Sorry kid" he said.
She felt a searing pain on her face. That was the last thing she felt and heard.
She woke up, she didnt know how long she'd been out for. She expected to open her eyes and see the inside walls of the Valentine Jail. But she didn't. This wasn't Valentine jail, she was in a tent, laying on a wolf pelt.
She tried to move but her hands were tied above her head, her legs were tired together, and she had a piece of rag in her mouth. That's it she thought. I'm screwed or this is hell.
Her face was throbbing and the pain in her gut was ten times worse.
A man walked over and spoke to her "Now young lady, are you going to behave".
She thought for a moment. She hadn't seen this one. She had options here, she could nod and pretend to me nice, then run as soon as she could. She could nod, and see who these people were. She bet they were the law, so she needed to find out. Or she could try and keep fighting.
She didn't think option 3 was a good idea. She just hoped they weren't gonna try and molest her. Her Pa had warned her about men like that.
She looked at the man and nodded.
The man took the rag out of her mouth.
"what's your name" he asked. She tried to speak but nothing came out. That's it she thought, this is hell and they've taken my voice.
The man smiled and gave her a drink of water.
"lets try that again shall we" he said.
"I ain't tellin' ya" she said
Her Pa always said, never tell the law your name. And she didn't know if these were lawmen or not.
The man looked at her "Ok but no biting or spitting?" she nodded back at him.
"What about untieing me" she said.
The man looked at her. "Well here's the deal" he said."You tell me your name and promise not to try a run, and we'll untie you".
She narrowed her eyes. She didn't think that was much of a deal. Her Pa had always said, whenever things look bad hold out for a better deal.
The man spoke" How about we untie you, give you a bed for the night and some food, but you have to promise no biting, no kicking, no spitting and you wont run and you'll give us your name"
She thought for a minute and licked her lips. "Ok" she said. She figured if she had something to eat, she'd feel stronger and she could try and run off tomorrow.
The man cut the ropes. She rubbed her wrists were the ropes had cut in.
"Well?" he said.
"Casie" she said. Another man walked over and handed her a bowl of stew which she grabbed and started shovelling in her mouth.
"When did you last eat Casie?" he asked.
"Bout 3 days ago" she said, still shovelling food in her mouth.
The two men exchanged glances.
" What about your folks" he said.
She looked at him and wiped her mouth on her sleeve.
"Are you the law?" she said.
Both men Laughed "No Casie, far form it" the first man said.
"you gonna turn me in then" she said "sheriff wants to hang me." She paused. "you got anything else to eat?"
The second man clicked his fingers and someone brought another bowl of stew and gave it to her.
She immediately started shovelling the food in her mouth. Don't know when I'll get another meal, she thought, so I better make the most of it.
The second man looked at her a concerned look on his face. "Why does the sheriff want to hang you?" he said.
She looked up. "Doesn't like me much, didn't like my Pa neither".
She continued shovelling the stew in her mouth. She stopped for a minute and rubbed her jaw.
She looked at the two men. "Did one of you two hit me" she asked. A third man appeared. "No Casie, that would have been me". She looked up and recognised him as the the man on the horse that she'd bitten. "Sorry bout that" she said "guess that makes us even".
The third man looked at the other two and shook his head.
The second man looked at her again "How old are you Casie?" he asked. She narrowed her eyes again."You sure you ain't the law?, you ask questions like the law" she said
The man replied "I promise you Casie, we're not the law".
"Well dont matter much" she said "cos I aint tellin ya, now wheres my bed, that was part of the deal".
"Don't you want to know who we are" asked the first man
"Don't mind" she said "I'm curious to know what your guarding though, with all them armed men about"
The second man looked at her incredulously "why do you want to know, Casie? Are you thinking of trying to rob us again".
She looked him straight in the eye. "Dunno, might, not robbing you wasn't part of the deal".
He looked at the first man and started laughing.
Casie wasn't laughing, she didn't get why they might think being robbed would be funny.
The second man looked at Casie " Well, Casie, my name is Dutch Van Der Linde" He pointed to the first man "This is Hosea Mathews" he then pointed to the man that Casey had bitten "And this is Arthur Morgan".
She just nodded. Looking distinctly unimpressed.
Dutch looked at her "Casie, the reason we have guards is because we're outlaws"
She looked a bit more interested "Bit like my Pa and me then, now where can I sleep." she said.