It feels as if I've kept people waiting with this chapter too... Sorry... Lulz, what is sparetime?

Alright, time for mushy-mushy again! Keep your insulin close!

*** Chapter Ten : Criminal ***

Bentley was sitting on the cot bed in one of the prison cells, rocking back and forth with his arms wrapped around his knees. Scared was the least you could say that he was; try mortified! He had just been handed over to the authorities by none other than his friends, even Priscilla had allowed the deputies to take him away! Sure, she had winked at him and told him it would be alright, but it was really hard to stay hopeful in a situation like this! As soon as the mayor heard who they had caught, he had stormed out of his office and was now in the sheriffs office, having a loud argument with sheriff Woodrow. His deputy, whom Bentley remembered was called Augustus, was nowhere to be seen.

He could hear what the mayor was shouting about loud and clear; "Just string him up right here an' now, sheriff! That's an order!" Well, the mayor did have his reasons to be upset after all, but to lynch him? Without a trial?! Okay, maybe a trial wouldn't do much for his current situation after all. He was screwed and he knew it!

His only chance now would be if Priscilla and the others would come and save him, but so far it had been over half an hour and he hadn't even heard anything from them yet! He had heard Rango tell her 'we'll manage without him', and what if that's true?! What if they decided to just leave him to his fate here?! He KNEW he should've at least put up a fight when he realized they had been coming for him, but he didn't. Why? Because Priscilla asked him not to.

He rarely questioned her, if ever at all! He just couldn't. He trusted her, and he knew he should trust her even now, yet right now he was seriously starting to wonder if it really was a good idea to allow himself to be taken into custody like that. What if he never saw her again?! What if she never WANTED to see him again?!

He shook his head and clamped his hands over his ears. Of course she wanted to see him again! She and the others were probably busy trying to conjure up a plan for his escape! Yes! Definitely!

He threw another worried look at the door separating the sheriffs office and the corridor-like jailhouse. It reminded him a lot of how the sheriffs office in Dirt was built. He listened to the sheriff and mayor, their voices were now muffled through the door so he couldn't hear exactly what they were talking about, but they seemed to have agreed on something. For some reason, it sent chills down his spine and caused his mouth to dry up and heart to beat faster. When a scraping sound on the outside suddenly were heard, he jolted and let out a short yelp when a face popped up on the other side of the barred window just over his head.

"Relax, Bentley; it's just us!" A familiar voice said and he let out a sigh of relief when he saw that it was just Priscilla looking down at him.

"Prissy!" He exclaimed and stood up on the mattress, gripping the bars with both of his hands and pressed his face against the bars, but then he remembered the two men on the other side of the door and quieted down. "Prissy, y-you're here!" He whispered happily and if he could have fit his nose through the bars, he would have kissed her right there and then!

"Sorry for keepin' ya waitin'" She said and tried to smile, but it turned out sad and askew. She was worried sick, he could tell. "We... We had to make some changes in our plans..."

"We're givin' ya two days to stay alive, B!" Calebs head suddenly popped up beside her and she staggered for a couple of seconds, as if she was about to fall down from something. "There's no way we'll be able to make it with this train! It's already arrived at the station just a couple of minutes ago!"

Priscilla regained her balance and pushed Caleb with her elbow as she appeared in the window again. "We're gonna go aboard this train to fool Call and McCrae into thinkin' that we abandon' ya, but right after the train leaves the station we'll jump off. Instead we're gonna stay hidden 'til we can save ya, an' together take the next train, that leaves in two days." She paused and shot a quick glance at Caleb, standing on the trashcan beside her and at sheriff Rango, who was standing guard. She turned back to Bentley and this time managed to smile. "I told 'em I ain't leavin' without'cha!"

"Ya sure did..." Caleb mumbled and rolled his eyes.

Bentley wished he could at least fit a hand through the bars so he could touch her, but had to settle with just giving her a smile in return. "I-I just hope they won't string me up the first thing in the mornin'..." He said as his smile faded away and looked down at his feet. "Sheriff Woodrow and the mayor are talkin' in the office right now, an' the mayor said he wanna see me dangle as soon as possible..."

Priscilla frowned worriedly and was about to open her mouth, but then they all heard how something scraped against the door and the handle began to move. Caleb hurried to jump down from the trashcan without making as much as a faint scramble, while Priscilla first put a hand on top of one of Bentleys hand and nodded at him. "I'll be back the first thing in the mornin'!" She promised and jumped down and vanished into the alley, along with the other two men she traveled with.

Bentley stood like frozen for a moment, but then he heard the voices getting clearer as the door slowly opened, and hurried to sit down on the cot bed again. Acting as if he hadn't moved an inch from when they left him. A tall blackrat who seemed to be around his thirties stepped inside, carrying a tray with food. As he entered and put the tray down on the floor, Bentley managed to spot the two men in the office, sheriff Woodrow and a big, dark brown bobcat he presumed to be the mayor, just as they shook hands.

The blackrat stood up again, blocking the view through the door, and kicked the tray inside the cell through a small hatch at the bottom of the bars. "Bon apètit, scum!" He hissed and turned around.

"Wait, Frenchy, wh-what did those two say to each other?!" Bentley hurried to say before the rat left, making him come to a stop and arch an eyebrow at the hyena. "What did the mayor and the sheriff agree on?! I oughta know, it's 'bout MY life, innit?"

The rat didn't answer at first, but then a sly smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "You'll just have to wait and see, scum"

Bentley bit down on his lip and slowly walked backwards back to the bed and glanced at the tray with food. Something that looked like oatmeal, a piece of hardtack and a mug of water. "One of you guys spat on this or somethin', right?" He asked and pointed at the tray.

"Maybe, but if you're asking me..." The rat put a hand on the doorhandle and turned to the hyena one last time. "That's a LOT better than what you childmurderers deserve!" And with leaving that last sentence echoing in Bentleys mind, he walked out and slammed the door shut.

Childmurderer... He glanced at the tray before extending his foot and pushed it further away from him. If it's to any consolation, she wasn't the first kid I killed... Okay, maybe I didn't kill her, but I helped... I did my part... He ran a shaking hand through his hair and sat down on the bed again. He pulled his knees up to his chin and wrapped his arms around his legs. "Yeah, I guess I deserve this... My karma sucks, doesn't it?"

…

Priscillas shoulder hurt like hell after the jump from the train, and as they walked to the protected clearing they were going to camp out in, she kept rubbing her shoulder. She must have landed on her scar or something, because it felt almost as if she had gotten shot again. Hopefully, the pain wouldn't last because she really couldn't deal with her shoulder acting up again, not now when Bentleys life might depend on it!

Apart from the annoying, stabbing pain in her shoulder, she also felt a rage simmer below her surface. A rage which awoken earlier that day, just after she left Bentley in the cell, when she and the others had run into Sam, counting a bunch of money as he walked out from the bank. Probably just cashed out the check with Bentleys bounty which he got as a reward.

She hadn't been thinking, she had just marched up to him, pushed people out of her way if necessary, and punched him straight on the jaw. The hit hadn't been enough to knock him out, or even send him flying, but he did stagger and snap his head up in surprise, only to get a bitter frown on his face when he saw who it was that punched him.

"Y-you... YOU ASSHOLE!" Priscilla had shouted at him and lunged her fist at him a second time, but this time he avoided it. "Ya recognized us, didnt'cha?! Ya saw us!"

"Some mud an' a hood ain't gonna be enough to hide the fact that it's Bentley!" Sam had retorted and quickly pocketed his money to avoid losing them.

"But why...? WHY did'cha sell him out?! Ya helped them once, so why sell him out now?!"

"First, he's one of the men who RUINED my life! My life's gone to HELL thanks to Rango an' his men! They killed the only one I ever loved, an' don't tell me that you wouldn't do the same! Second, I need the money! I keep gettin' fired no matter where I work, an' now I gotta work TWO jobs to afford a livin'!" Then he had just stood up straighter and snorted at her. "B'sides, I never liked that big blockhead! I hope they string him up today for what he an' the others did!"

Things had spiraled out quickly from then; Priscilla had with an angered scream, lunged for Sam again and hit, this time her fist caused him to spin around and crash face first on the ground. Then she had started kicking and screaming at him, calling him things like 'coward', 'worm' and 'backstabbing sonnova bitch'. Though she hadn't been at it for very long until she heard Caleb cuss behind her and grab her arm, dragging her away from the young bobcat. She was lucky he did though, because the ruckus had alerted quite a lot of people and they just barely made it to the train before the lawmen showed up and began asking questions.

Now, probably an hour later, she realized how stupid it had been to just attack him in the middle of the street like that, but she couldn't help it. If it hadn't been because of Sam, they would all have been on their way now, and Bentley wouldn't have been sitting in that jail cell now, just waiting for his judgment. But he wouldn't get it. Because they would save him.

She had promised him that she would be back that morning, and so she did. Just as the sun rose, she put on the old blanket they had used to disguise Bentley with and snuck away to town. She managed to make her way unnoticed to the jailhouse and once again had to stand on a pair of trashcans to reach up to the barred window. She peered inside and to her relief she saw that Bentley was still there; he was sitting on the edge of the cot bed, with his face buried in his palms. He didn't seem to have noticed her.

"Bentley?" She asked carefully not to scare him, but he flinched anyway and looked up at her. His face was full of bruises and small wounds, his lip was cracked and a small line of blood was still trailing down from one of the corners of his mouth. He must have been beat up really bad! "B-Bentley?! Who...? Wh-what happened?!" She asked worriedly as he slowly stood up, winced and grabbed the bars with both hands to keep himself on his feet.

"Th-they said they wanted a confession outta me... So they wouldn't have to spend money on a jury..." He winced and looked up at her from underneath his bangs. "I... I already confessed, so I don't think that was what it was all 'bout... It's just that e-everyone in this town... They..." He lowered his head in shame and sighed. "They all real' loved that lil' girl... I knew we shouldn't have killed her, b-but how can you say no to the man ya probably owe yer life to?"

She felt her stomach churn and bit her lip. Her much smaller hand fit through the bars, so she carefully reached inside the cell and placed a hand on his cheek, accidentally brushing against a bruise while doing so. It seemed to hurt a bit, judging from the low hiss of pain he did, but instead of letting her pull her hand back, he put his much larger hand over hers and pressed it against his cheek.

"I..." She started to say, but didn't really know what to say. After all; he HAD been helping Rango to kill that girl, and the citizens of Diego City had the right to punish him, but just abusing him like this? Just for a confession?! Now that was just plain wrong! Sheriff Woodrow and Gus would have a LOT to explain... In lack of finding suiting words, she just gritted her fangs and growled lowly. They would pay for this!

As if he had heard her thoughts, he sighed and rubbed his thumb over her hand. "But it's alright. This ain't the worst..." He said, and the tone in his voice made Priscillas stomach churn once more. "They... They told me... They..." Whatever he was going to say was extremely hard for him, she could tell, but she waited patiently until he managed to collect the guts necessary to say it. "T-they're gonna hang me... T'morrow mornin'..."

She could have sworn she felt the earth rock underneath her, at the same time as she felt Bentleys words hit her like a punch in the gut. She staggered and gripped the bars with her free hand for extra support, just in case. "Wh-what?"

"The entire town will be there to watch... I'it'll be like some sort of god damn festival for them!" He leaned his head into her hand and bit down on his cracked lip. "I... I'm scared, Prissy... I don't wanna leave you!"

Priscilla didn't know what to answer. Her heart was beating heavily in her chest and she felt for just ripping the bars out so Bentley could escape, but she couldn't. She knew she wasn't nearly half as strong enough. If only they had brought Mongo along... He still held her palm pressed against the side of his face, so she could feel the teardrop roll down on the side of her hand, and then follow the outlines of her hand down to her wrist.

"No..." She said lowly and shook her head while wiping the remnants of the tear away with her thumb. "Don't cry, Bentley, please!"

"I-I'm tryin' to..." He sobbed and shook his head, she noticed that his breathing was starting to pick up. "B-but I can't! I-I don't wanna die! I wanna stay with you!" He finally let go of her hand and leaned his head against the barred window, pushing his thick hair through the small bars and it didn't took long until she heard faint, restrained sobs. "I don't wanna go... I wanna get outta here... I wanna stay with you, Prissy!"

"I ain't gonna let 'em hang ya, if that's what you're thinkin'!" She answered without thinking, the words just sort of came out on their own. "I'm gonna get'cha outta here, Bentley, so don't worry! We're gonna figure out a way to save ya! I ain't gonna let anyone take ya away, y'hear me?"

He slowly looked up again and nodded. Only a few tears had made their way down his nose, but he still looked as if he was going to start bawling any second. She gave him a careful, reassuring smile and put her hand back on the side of his head.

"Come closer, will ya?" She said lowly, on the edge of whispering, and as he obeyed, she pushed her much smaller nose in through the bars and managed to lock lips with him.

He seemed surprised at first, but then he returned her kiss and grabbed the bars as he leaned forward in a try to deepen the kiss, but ended up almost pushing her back out instead. She broke away from their somewhat awkward kiss after a while, and tried to keep smiling at him. He seemed a lot less sad and scared now, thankfully, and to stop her from leaving he put a hand over hers again and held it against his cheek.

"As I said; we'll come up with a way to get'cha outta here! I promise!" She slowly began to withdraw her hand, he allowed it to leave his face but wouldn't let go of it.

"A-are ya sure you really can do it? Get me outta here, that is?"

"I have to! I..." She paused and looked at their two joined hands. "I don't want'cha to leave me either... I-I don't think I could even stand the thought of you walkin' up to a noose!" She looked back up at him and smiled again. "So don't even dare to think for a second that I'm gonna abandon you, 'cause I won't! But I... I gotta go now. I don't know how much longer I dare to stay, hell I think I've stayed too long!"

"No you haven't!" He hurried to shake his head. "Y-you can't stay for too long with me! It's physically impossible!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't risk anyone seein' me here, especially not talkin' to you!" She writhed her hand out of his grip and pulled it out through the bars. "I gotta go back to the others, but I promise you I'll be back before it gets dark!"

He gripped the bars and leaned closer to the window. "Please don't leave me here, Prissy!" He begged and shook his head again. "Please, don't..."

"I ain't gonna leave ya, ever!" Without hesitating, she pushed her nose through the bars again and kissed him once more. "I'll be back soon, I promise!" She hurried to jump down from the trashcans and looked up at the window, where she saw him pressing his face against the bars with an abandoned look on his face. "I love ya, Bentley!"

"I... I love ya too, Prissy..." He answered after a while, and kept staring down at her as she scurried down the alley and out on the streets. She was going to return later, she had promised. But as he lied back down on the bed and curled up into fetal position, he couldn't help but to doubt she'd be back in time. Sure, they had said that they were going to hang him the next morning, but you never knew with people who were full of so much hatred as the Diego City townsfolk...

Priscilla hurried to get back into the woods and tried her best to not get noticed. While in the forest, she stopped and supported herself against a tall pine. The news she just heard from Bentley still made her nauseous, and ever since she left, her heart had been hammering madly in her chest. Not because she had just been running, but with fear of what would happen to Bentley; he would be hanged in front of the entire town unless they got him out of there soon!

She spent a few minutes trying to calm herself down before running the rest of the way to their secluded little clearing and didn't waste anymore time telling the guys the news.

"What?! They're gonna hang B?!" Caleb exclaimed.

Sheriff Rango flinched. "S-so soon?!"

Priscilla held back a sob and nodded, then she turned to Rango. "Now, what do we do?" She asked with badly concealed worry.

"We're gettin' him outta there, that's what we're gonna do!" Caleb nodded and glanced first at sheriff Rango, then back at Priscilla. "Did he tell you any specific time for the party?"

"No" She shook her head. "I don't think he knows what time either, he just said in the mornin'..."

"Huh, I guess that makes everything a lot more interestin' then..." The other aye-aye said pondering and rubbed his chin.

Priscilla said down on a nearby stump and threw her arms around herself, listening to the other two and their plans. If they failed and Bentley got strung up tomorrow, she would never forgive herself for taking on the mission. Being absent was better than being dead.

…

The rest of the day they spent planning and spying on the town, until Rango finally hatched an idea. It was crazy, dangerous and the chance of it failing was ridiculously high, but it was their only plan: wait for the next day and just as Bentley would be hung, Priscilla would shoot the ropes off from a nearby roof, and then Rango and Caleb would cause a commotion in the middle of the street, allowing them all to disappear back into the woods, or aboard the train if it were to leave.

Priscilla hated the plan, and there were so much that could, and probably WOULD, go wrong. She knew Bentley would hate it as well, but she and Caleb still left late in the afternoon to tell him. But when they arrived to the jailhouse, Priscilla felt that something was wrong.

She quickly climbed up on the trashcans and peeked inside his cell; empty. Her heart skipped a beat. "H-he ain't here..." She said lowly and tried to catch a glimpse at the other cells, but could see especially well.

"What?!" Caleb stopped being on the lookout for a moment and turned to her with a bewildered face.

"He ain't here!" She repeated and jumped down from the trashcans. She ran to the next barred window and tried to reach for it, but soon gave up and turned to Caleb. "Hey, care to give me a hand here?"

"Nope, I don't care!" He instantly snapped back and shook his head, but after she narrowed her eyes at him, he sighed and put the rifle he was carrying against the wall, joined her underneath the window and put his hands in his lap. "Just make it quick, ya look heavy!" He muttered and leaned his back against the wall to not fall over when she climbed up.

Without answering him, she quickly put a foot in his hands and jumped up to peer through the bars. She looked inside, but still couldn't see him anywhere! Her heart skipped another beat before beginning to hammer in her chest again.

"Can you see him?! You ain't as heavy as you look; you're heavier!"

She shook her head. "N-no! Bentley?!" She dared to call out his name, but didn't get a reply. "Bentley!" She tried again, slightly louder, but still nothing.

She let out a curse and jumped down. Without hesitation, she grabbed the rifle before Caleb could, cocked it and began to make her way around the building to the front door.

"Hey, wh-where are ya goin'?!" Caleb hurried to follow her after wiping his hands on his pants.

"I'm gonna ask Woodrow an' Gus where the hell they've taken Bentley!" She responded without skipping a beat.

"What?! Are you crazy, bitch?! Wait! Don't answer that; I KNOW you're crazy!"

"Then why did'cha ask?"

"B'cause I'm a retard, now hold up a second!" He put a hand on her arm and forced her to stop and turn to him. "Are you really gonna just waltz in there, shove the gun in his face and demand to know where Bentley is?!"

"Pretty much, yeah?"

He was quiet for a while, but then he nodded. "Okay then..." He muttered and followed her the rest of the way. "It's yer funeral..."

She kicked the door open and aimed the rifle at the first person she saw; Bentley. He was standing in front of a desk with his hat in his hands, nervously fumbling with the brim, but when the door was kicked open he flinched, only to crack up in a relieved smile when he saw Priscilla. It took a while for her to register who it was, but when she realized it was Bentley, he was already standing with his arms around her and hugged her tightly.

"Okay, NOW I'm confused..." Caleb frowned and peeked inside the office, and saw sheriff Woodrow sit behind his desk and sign a paper. "WHAT is goin' on here?"

"They're freein' me!" Bentley beamed and looked up from Priscilla. "I think..."

"Call it a parole..." Woodrow said without looking up from the paper he was signing. When he was done, he put the pencil aside and wrapped the paper up in an envelope. "For good behavior"

"What?!" Priscilla exclaimed and pulled away from the hyena, giving the other sheriff a skeptical frown. "Y-you an' Gus are givin' him a parole for good behavior, after barely two days?!"

"Want me to change my mind, Miss?"

"No!" She shook her head and involuntarily hugged Bentley tighter. She instantly got a bad feeling from all this, but tried to ignore it for now.

"Besides, it's only me. Gus ain't 'round" Woodrow handed the letter to Bentley, who carefully took it with a shaking hand.

Priscilla blinked in confusion. Well, she hadn't seen Gus around for days either. "Wh-where is he then?"

"Dead" Was the short answer she got, and the three flinched. "He got shot in the leg an' got toxemia, but that stubborn sonnova gun wouldn't let the doctors amputate". He nodded at the letter in Bentleys hands. "Now, I've told'cha what to do with that. Get outta here b'fore I change my mind!"

Bentley nodded mutely, stuffed the letter in the inner pocket of his coat, along with Priscillas scarf, and put his hat on. He grabbed Priscillas wrist as he hurried to get out of the office, but before she allowed herself to get dragged along she threw a look back at sheriff Woodrow, and the bad feeling washed over her again. She knew she wouldn't get any answers from him, so she made a mental note to ask Bentley what exactly had happened that gave him the parole. And not to mention that letter really tugged at her interest. But right now, she couldn't stop herself from putting an arm around his waist as they made their way back to their hideout.

"Well, ain't this a convenient turn of events!" Caleb nodded in approval as he walked in front of the two lovers. "Turns out ya don't have to play Wilhelm Tell t'morrow, hooker! Disappointed?"

"Far from it!" She laughed and leaned her head against Bentley while they walked. She couldn't with words describe the relief she felt over NOT having to go forth with their original plan!

"Wait, Wilhelm Tell?!" The color drained from Bentleys face as he looked down at her. "Wh-what were ya gonna do?!"

"Oh y'know, shoot the ropes ya were gonna get hanged with, and if that succeeded we were gonna shoot some people on the streets and then run for the hills! The usual!" Caleb answered with a shrug, and chuckled slyly at the audible, nervous gulp Bentley did.

Priscilla rolled her eyes. "He exaggerates a bit, but yeah, that's pretty much what we were gonna do at first"

Bentley gulped again. "Oh..."

…

Later that night, Bentley sat leaned against a tree with Priscilla in his lap, they both had a blanket draped over them. A campfire was burning brightly in front of them and only the crackling of the fire was heard. They were alone, since Caleb and Rango had returned to Diego City to rest the night in beds instead of on the ground. Caleb was getting really sick of it, and Rango said that he were gonna tag along just in case people were still upset that one of Isabelle Lynx' murderers were set free, and wanted to take revenge on his friends. But they were all sure that he'd rather sleep in a bed as well than on the ground right now; despite being a sheriff for thirteen years, he still wasn't used to sleeping in the wild. Neither Bentley nor Priscilla complained though, they always took every opportunity they could to be alone.

She was still curious about the letter Woodrow gave him, but the fact that Woodrow and his men had done so much to Bentley since they arrested him, even going as far as to beat him up to get him to sign a confession, only to later let him go was suspicious to say the least. And after she thought about it, he hadn't even seemed surprised to see that she was still there! Even if she KNEW that he had watched them go aboard the train! She just couldn't shake the feeling that the older sheriff had something dastardly planned, and the more she thought about it, the more worried she got. Eventually, a realization hit her: what if he was out to get the entire gang, and had set Bentley free so that he would lead them to the others?! But what about the letter, what was in it? And what would Bentley do with it?!

"Bentley?" She asked, unable to contain her curiosity anymore. "What's in that letter Woodrow gave ya?"

Bentley, who had been close to falling asleep, shrugged. "I dunno... When he heard that we were headin' t'wards River Town, he told me to get this letter to someone called 'Captain Fortune'..." He frowned and leaned his chin on her head. "Apparently, he's some kind of ex-officer who nowadays owns a tavern in River Town, called Lady Luck or somethin'... Now when I think 'bout it, it was shortly after I told him where we were headed that he decided to let me go. Wonder if that's why he set me free? So I could give the letter to this Cap? But doesn't that seem a bit... Strange?"

She was quiet for a while. "I think he's gonna send someone to follow us t'morrow... I think he's aimin' to capture the entire gang, an' usin' us to lead 'em to Rango an' the others!"

"That makes an awful lot of sense..." He answered after a short moment of silence. "What're we gonna do, Prissy?"

"I dunno... I guess we'll just have to wait an' see..." She answered lowly and rested her head against his chest. A chuckle escaped her lips when she heard his heart racing in his chest. "You're still scared, Bentley?"

"Of course I am! I've been scared shitless all day!" He snorted in reply. "I was s'posed to be hanged t'morrow! I was gonna get executed! I could've sworn I messed my pants when I heard that! I... I was THIS close to leave you, y'know!"

She chuckled again. "An' ya seriously think I'd let'cha leave me like that? That I'd let 'em hang ya?"

He hesitated before slowly shaking his head. "Nah... Maybe not..." He mumbled and wrapped his arms tighter around her waist underneath the thick blanket. "But still, I don't think I'll EVER be able to put this b'hind me!"

"I'll give it a week" She replied without skipping a beat and glanced up at him, smiling. "Then you'll have forgotten all 'bout this! Now, let's get some shuteye, the train leaves t'morrow mornin'"

He nodded and a shudder went through his body. "Yeah, I can't WAIT to get outta this place..."

Me neither!

Meh, I ain't got much to say, see y'all next chappie ;P... Whenever I get the time to finish it *flips the table* !