Charlotte slowly sat down, thinking of what she had done wrong this was remembering the time when she got caught, kissing on Tolbert McCoy. She thought back;
Sure, her brothers where never easy on her but that's just what they do. Her mother was never one for her sarcasm and her father was never one for her swearing and general display of affection to any guy she saw.
But this particular guy, is Tolbert McCoy. Known for being an annoyance and nothing but stupidity. She crossed a line that was never meant to be crossed. Today she was caught, crossing that line by not only her eldest brothers but her mother, her father and Randall McCoy. Her eldest brother, Alan Joseph, had hauled her out of their faster than a pig on a Sunday.
But it's my fourteenth birthday, she thought to herself. She sat up as her door opened, her father walked through it with an unreadable expression. Her brothers filled the room, taking up empty chairs and empty pieces of the floor. Her mother, as usual, was fixing dinner.
"What were you thinking?" Her father asked. "She wasn't pa." Said Dale, one of her brothers.
"Did I ask you Dale? No, I did not, nor do I think so." He turned back to Charlotte. "Answer me. Why did you kiss Tolbert McCoy?"
Charlotte looked up. "No reason." Her father looked at her. "No reason? Well obviously there was or is one because he was practically all over you."
"Pa, it was nothing. Not anything to big." She said. Her father looked at her with a solid expression. "Not anything big? Did he touch you, make you say that? Did he hurt you?"
Charlotte rolled her eyes. ''No pa. Not like he was my first kiss or nothing."
"What? Who was then?"
"William Hatfield."
All of a sudden her mother shouted. "Charles, it's dinner time!"
Charles, Charlotte's father, looked at her. "This ain't over and you sure as hell don't get to make excuses." Her father left as did her brothers.
"Bye Dale, Alan Joseph, Christopherson, Christian, Anderson, Patrick, Carson, William, Kenneth, Zachariah, Johnathan, Nathan, David and Samuel." All fourteen of her brothers hummed a goodbye and Samuel closed the door.
She closed her eyes and shoved that memory deep into her mind. She thought of the time when she was four, she broke a bunch of chicken eggs and got spanked once for every egg she broke. How when she was five she shot a revolver, for the first time and hit the target right in the middle, in which her father bought her a roll of black ribbon to symbolize the fact that, when she fired it, she hit a bird and they had it for dinner. Or how when she was seven she got laughed at by McCoy boys for having two different colored eyes. How they laughed about and sang to a very horrible tune.
"Blue eye, green eye, she should only have one eye. Two eyes, blue and green, stupid and scrawny."
How when she was nine and she almost severely injured herself, with the same revolver she once shot so well.
But this was worse, she had made a pass at Johnse Hatfield. And that was terrible. Her mother had scolded her, and yelled. Her father just sat mumbling about her, and what to do.
She is a Quinn, enemy to Hatfields, McCoys and Fitch's.
She tapped her feet against the ground, her brother, Alan Joseph, walked in a took her by her arm. "You need to get your rifle. We got some Hatfields on our land."
She nodded quickly and grabbed her rifle, following him out the door and to the front. Her father slowly opened the door.
"Can we help you Anderson?" He yelled out the door to Devil Anse.
"My son wants to speak with your daughter, Charles. I do not wish him to nor her to speak with him nor see him, but yet he has thrown tantrums and does not wish to give up until he can speak with her."
Charles looked at Charlotte. "Go get on a dress little lady."
Charlotte looked at him. "What?!"
Charles grabbed her arm, "Go get on a dress! I want these people off my land, and I ain't wastin' bullets to get 'em off! Now go!" She groaned and stomped to her room, getting everything necessary, on. She stood still at the door.
Devil Anse was now speaking with Charles on the porch. "He is in the town." Charles nodded. "I want two of your boys to go with her and four of mine as well."
"Charles, my boy can be trusted." Devil Anse said slightly agitated.
Charles nodded and spoke louder. "I know he can, but I'm not sure I can trust my daughter."
Devil Anse nodded.
"Alan Jospeh, David, Christian, and Samuel. Saddle up your horses, as well as Charlotte's and go with her to meet Johnse."
"Pa, she's sixteen, she can-"
"Go with her you mush-head!" He said while shouting at Christian.
He looked at him. "Fine, but don't expect us to come back with her."
The Hatfields suddenly stepped back, Christian stood up, looking at Charles.
'What did you say boy?" Charles asked.
"I expect Johnse and her to be quite comfortable with each other."
Charles slapped Christian upside the head and pointed at his horse. "Go!"
They saddled up the horses and sat, waiting for Charlotte.
She walked out and stood next to Alan Joseph.
"Cap, Jim, go with." They nodded.
"You need help up?" Alan asked Charlotte.
She looked at her quite tall jet black horse. She put her revolver in the saddle holster and climbed up. "I'm good." She said.
Soon, she looked at her father. "We'll be back soon pa."
Jim Vance, on his horse, went in front of her as did her brothers.
Cap on the other hand was next to her. "How have you been, Ally?" He nicknamed her that because of her eyes. It was supposed to annoy her.
"Look, get over my eyes, would you? You have no business makin' up names for girls you don't even have the maturity to know."
Cap looked at her and rolled his eyes. "Yah." He said as his horse broke out into a gallop. She narrowed her eyes. "So that's how you settle things Hatfield? Then so be it." She steadied her horse, as Cap looked back at her grinning. She raised the reigns and shouted. "Yah!" He horse kicked up on his hind legs, neighed and broke out into a fast gallop. Sending Alan and her other brothers after her.
Cap continued to try and race pass her but her horse, was just too fast. "C'mon Crow." She whispered to her horse. "Just a little farther."
Crow let out a sudden loud and exasperated neigh, stopped and turned around, running the other way, pass Cap, Jim and her brothers. Charlotte let out a gasp. "Crow! What happened!?" She yelled as he barrelled back the way they came. She heard gun shots and turned her head, Crow turned back because a certain family, the Fitch's had been hidden, and she heard a yell. "Christian!"
More gun shots. Johnse Hatfield came out of nowhere, on his horse, barrelling pass her. Then Jim Vance and no Cap.
'Whoa!'' She yelled. Her horse stopped and turned back, breathing out and breathing in quickly. She turned him around and saw Cap with his horse in a small opening in some rocks, almost a cave but it was practically hidden. She looked at him, loading his gun, she picked up her revolver and moved Crow towards her brothers. Alan was standing, holding his rifle, Christian was on the ground and so was Sam and David. She blinked back tears and trotted over, holding her revolver up she shot down a Fitch in a tree. She shot down one by Christian and two by David. Soon, as she got off of her horse, the Fitch's had ran back and she was on the ground looking at them.
"Daryl. Kurt. Peter. Spaniard. Lemon and Jeffrey."
She put their guns and ammo in the sack she always carried and got some rope.
She tied her brothers to their horses while wiping away tears. Johnse came back and stood by her. "I wanted to ask you something." He said while taking the rope from her and helping.
"What?" She asked while wiping her eyes.
"Would you mind being my girlfriend?"
She looked at him. "I could kiss you, hug you and flirt but in no world would I be your girlfriend just to get my heart broken." She said and sniffled.
Cap chuckled a little. "Bad move Johnse."
Johnse sighed. "Well, thanks for going out to try and talk to me." He got up on his horse and rode away.
Charlotte nodded and watched Alan tie Samuel, Christian and David's horses to his's.
Alan rode off and waved 'Bye'. "Cap, please bring her home. I gotta watch these horses."
Cap nodded and waved bye to Alan Joseph.
Cap and Charlotte rode along side each other. ''What's your real whole name?" He asked suddenly.
"Charlotte Sarahfin Dixon Calpurnina Tate Quinn. Charlotte after my grandma, Sarahfin after my auntie, Dixon after my pa, Calpurnina Tate after my Momma. and of course Quinn is my last name."
He whistled. "That is a long name."
"It's better than the shit my brother's got."
He stared at her after hearing the curse word come from the girl who he'd never expected to swear.
They soon arrived at her house and she hopped off her horse, her mother was crying over her passed away brothers and ran to hug Charlotte. She hug her tightly and petted her hair. "Oh my baby girl. My only baby girl, I thought you's dead. Oh sweet pea of mine. I shouldn't have let you go." She cried silently as Charlotte patted her back, slowly and gently pushing her back as the Hatfield's rode away but Cap stayed put.
Charlotte's mom thanked him and started hugging her other her sons.
Charlotte looked at Cap. "Hey mom, I'll be back around evening. I'm gonna go hunting." Her mom shook her head but Charlotte got on her horse anyway.. Devil Anse raised an eyebrow. "Cap... Go with her. I hate you Quinn's but that don't mean you need to lose your daughter's life." Devil Anse rode away and Cap looked at her.
"C'mon."
She grinned slightly and took her rifle from Dale. "We''ll be back soon."
Then they rode off towards the woods.
