Hang in there with me. I promise things pick up again soon!
The moment Cap left the room, Daisy flung the knife onto the bed in disgust, as if she had been burned by the thing. She could not bear to be so close to the object that had aided her crime, even if this knife and the one used to kill Thornton were not one-in-the-same. As she walked to the door to lock it, she heard the sounds of the saloon wafting up to the secluded bedroom. There were shouts and whistles; the scraping of chairs across the floor; the clinking of glasses with every now and again the sound of one shattering. Daisy felt her composure waver with each raucous noise, part of her happy for the solitude that Cap had afforded her. She did not have the energy to retain her outer shell.
Daisy walked to the desk where the washbasin stood, idly running her fingers through one of the many lit candles in the room. She did not feel the flame. Peering down into the murky water of the bowl, Daisy was unable to see the small and faded flowers on the bottom of the chipped porcelain. The room was too dark to properly see much of anything, and the water reminded Daisy of a small pond at night. Absently, the image brought forth the depths of Cap's good eye.
She splashed her face with the water and violently scrubbed at her skin until her reflection in the mirror above the basin was raw and red. She did the same to her hands, finding a coarse bar of soap beside the bowl that scratched and parched. Daisy felt better after these ablutions, and even considered going down to the saloon to see about a bath and a fire. But she remembered Cap's explicate demands, and as events stood, Daisy was in no mood to argue with him. She was still having difficulty justifying her existence, let alone her desire to bathe.
The floorboards creaked under Daisy's feet as she meandered over to the broad bed, twice the size of the one she shared with her younger siblings at home. Daisy thought that she saw small bugs crawling over the quilts and pillows, but she knew these images were just a trick of her exhaustion. Her mind began to wander towards the things that must have happened in this bed, of the sins committed nightly, and she almost smiled at the notion of sharing the space with many of God's wayward herd. She relished that notion more so than the memory of her family home and the small sounds her brothers and sisters made as they slept. She did not think that she deserved those memories.
As Daisy crawled into bed on top of the blankets, exposed to the bite in the air, she kicked the knife to the floor, hearing the metal sing as it smacked the ground. Daisy was certain that she would be unable to sleep in such a place, especially without the immediate protection of Cap. As it were, she fell asleep in seconds, her body given over to the unrelenting fatigue.
X X X
Daisy slept more soundly than she ever had in her entire life, waking to the new day feeling wholesome and full. She stretched languidly across the bed, her arm falling over the emptiness on the other side. In a moment she was up on her feet, her eyes wildly searching the room. The sun was pouring in through the window and Cap had not returned. Daisy began to frantically pace, her restful pleasure now altered to feverish anxiety. The sunlight caught the metallic glint of the discarded knife resting on the floor, and Daisy made in instant decision. She grabbed the weapon in her fist and went to the door. I'll just have to find him, Daisy thought to herself as she undid the lock. I owe him that much.
Daisy swung open the door and made to purposefully stomp out, but her feet connected with something solid, sending her sprawling face first. She tumbled over the object, losing herself in a tangle of limbs and curse words, some hers, some not.
"What the Hell do you think you're doin'?" Daisy pulled herself up on all fours, her eyes meeting those of Cap's. He sat huddled on the ground, his face as gray as a ghost's.
"Cap?" Daisy said smally. "What are you doin' out here?"
"What does it look like I'm doin', Daisy?" Cap replied shortly, and Daisy studied him for a moment before pulling herself to her feet. She looked down on him as if he were a petulant child.
"You…slept out here?" her voice came out in an unbelieving whisper, and Cap's gaze faltered. He looked away down the hall, his jaw jutting out in a small bid at defiance.
"I didn't want to disturb you," Cap said quietly, and Daisy felt her heart swell towards him. She wanted to reach down to him; to pull him to his feet and hug him and kiss him and thank him for being so stubbornly sweet.
"You didn't have to do that," she said with the tiniest bit of embarrassment. She had slept peacefully in a giant bed, relishing the extra space, while Cap had tossed and turned on the ground.
"It's fine, Daisy," he said as he unfolded himself and came to his feet. He towered over Daisy once more, and she felt inexplicably safe within the realm of his body. "I'm used to it."
Daisy weighed his words, drinking in his eyes and face. He looked tired, that was true, but not as entirely exhausted as he had the night before. His cuts and bruises, while still prominent and painful to look upon, were cleaned and bandaged. Suddenly Daisy realized that perhaps Cap truly was used to these conditions, of shifting his everyday necessities to the rough atmosphere of the wilderness, both real and man-made. Daisy began to ponder the sort of life that Cap lead as a male in this grand old feud of theirs, but her imagination was obliterated by his soft voice.
"You hungry?" he asked, and Daisy's stomach grumbled in response. Ordinarily, Daisy would be ashamed of such a physical reaction, but she was too famished to care. And when she saw the slow smile spread across Cap's face, she felt at ease with her primal urge.
"Is that answer enough for you?" she said playfully, and Cap laughed.
"Come on," he replied, placing one hand on the small of her back to guide her towards the stairs. "Let's find some food."
As the two walked silently down the grand staircase, their bodies more aware of one another than their minds, Daisy again surveyed the room, trying to remember what it looked like the night before. The walls were still the same shade of blood red, but the yellow of the sun spilled in from a multitude of large windows, forbidding any color save the one of day. The tables and chairs seemed almost clean and respectable in these early hours, though there remained a smattering of saloon girls periodically perched on the empty furniture. Cap and Daisy passed a pretty redhead who smiled at Cap knowingly.
"Hi there, Cap," the girl cooed, and Daisy turned to find Cap's face burning a violent red. He quickly ushered Daisy towards the open door.
"Friend of yours?" Daisy asked with a laugh. She had been struck momentarily jealous by the redhead's gaze, but Daisy knew the way that most young men operated, especially with so many brothers around her. More often than not, a saloon girl was just a saloon girl.
"I have no idea what you're referrin' to," Cap answered nonchalantly, and the two walked out into the bright white of morning, the day washing away the sins of night.
X X X
They found food in a more respectable establishment than the saloon, both so ravenous with hunger that hardly any words were exchanged during the course of the meal. Daisy wanted to address the issues at hand; to discuss future plans; to discover where Cap had gone last night. But she could do little more than devour the platefuls of breakfast goods that were placed before her. Bacon, bread, eggs, all charred around the edges to a delicious black. By the end of the culinary adventure, both parties were thoroughly sated, their toes curling up towards their bellies in delight.
Daisy longed to stay out and about in the town for as long as possible. She had never been to this place, and a new setting was always an appealing prospect to such an inquisitive girl. But really Daisy most enjoyed the normalcy of the sunny day; of the way people went about their daily lives, oblivious to the criminals in their midst. Such a notion comforted Daisy, if only momentarily. Unfortunately, Cap did not share her wonder, and he eagerly escorted Daisy back to their room at the saloon, even as she ferociously protested the move.
"Just for a bit, Cap," Daisy pleaded as they entered the room. "I can't stay cooped up in here for the whole day." Cap shut the door behind himself and looked Daisy up and down, his jaw clenched in something akin to frustration.
"Don't try me right now, Daisy," Cap warned, walking to the washbasin to splash the old water on his face. "I'm not in the mood," he said to his tired reflection.
"I'm not tryin' to try you, Cap," Daisy said, perplexed by his swift alteration in mood. "But honestly, what am I supposed to do in this room for the whole damn day…"
"You've got quite the mouth on you, huh?" Cap interrupted, his back towards her. Daisy's jaw snapped shut as she studied Cap's broad back. His coat was thoroughly worn and dusty, as was the hat that he hadn't removed since Daisy found him waiting for her in the clearing. She thought that maybe he felt safe within his getup, as if it were a disguise. She noted the bulge of a gun on his hip.
"That's what you get from growin' up with so many brothers," she answered quietly, and Cap turned to her, his ghost eye shining bright in the sun so that she could decipher the pupil underneath.
"You can't go outside," Cap stated firmly, like a teacher punishing a student. He crossed over to the bed where he had left his saddlebags and began to dig through them, seemingly ensuring that everything was in its place. Daisy had considered foraging through the pockets that she had spent the night sleeping next to, but she couldn't and wouldn't do that to Cap. They needed to trust one another.
"Why not?" she asked, and Cap emitted a low moan.
"Because it ain't safe, Daisy," he replied. Daisy could sense Cap's aggravation building, and while some small part of her wanted to leave the topic alone, to afford him a reprieve from the constant worry of the situation, a larger part of her was incapable of being so thoroughly caged.
"What do you mean it ain't safe?" she asked. She saw the way that Cap's whole body tensed as he pulled himself away from his task to stare at her.
"Are you kiddin' me?" he asked incredulously. "There could be fifty men out there lookin' for us right now!" Cap gestured toward the door, and Daisy turned towards it dumbly, half-expecting all fifty of those men to be standing in the threshold.
"I didn't think about that," Daisy conceded, and Cap shook his head, his voice rising with every word.
"Yeah that seems to be your problem, don't it? You don't think!" He was mocking Daisy, condescending to her as if she were no better than Thornton himself. Cap was clutching at the last fraying thread of his sanity, but Daisy was never the sort of girl to be pushed around. It was an innate quality that was often amplified in the presence of Hatfields.
"Don't you dare talk to me like that, Cap Hatfield," her voice matched his, her arms gesticulating angrily. "I ain't gonna apologize for not knowin' the ins-and-outs of runnin' from the law! I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you are so familiar with it." Cap's face screwed up towards Daisy's accusation.
"Goddammit, Daisy, I am tryin' to help you!" His voice cracked in anguish, and all of the self righteous anger drained out of Daisy in an instant.
Cap's shoulders slumped, his face falling limp. His eyes danced across Daisy's face, trying to make sense of her. Daisy turned away, unable to fathom the chagrin in Cap's expression. She caught sight of herself in the silvered mirror on the wall and nearly shrank away from the reflection. Her black hair was matted in some places, wild and frizzy in others. Her eyes were huge and scared, her cheeks flushed a bright red against her pale skin. She had to laugh at the wildness of what she saw.
"Jesus, Cap," she said with a sigh. "Why didn't you tell me I looked like a witch?" Cap was silent for a moment, thrown off by Daisy's quick change in subject.
"'Cause I didn't see nothin' wrong," Cap's voice held a note of pure emotion that sent Daisy's head swiveling towards him. Their eyes locked, all of the events of the past few days transmitted through the space between them. They had to get along for both their sakes.
"I'm sorry," Daisy whispered, and Cap nodded, his eyes never escaping hers.
"I'm sorry, too," he said quietly, stepping towards Daisy to rest his hands on her shoulders. She caught the familiar scent of him, the one she had first found at the dance, the one that had enveloped her during those many hours on the horse. It called to the animal hunger inside of her, raising the hairs on the back of her neck. She thought she smelled cedar, woodchips, the green of moss.
"Just…trust me on this, Daisy," Cap implored, craning his neck to look into her face. "I am just tryin' to figure out what's best for us. Will you let me do that?"
"Yes," Daisy breathed the word, and Cap eased into the relief of her approval.
"Thank you," he said, quickly rubbing her shoulders before letting his hands drop away. Daisy missed the warmth of his touch, even as her brow furrowed towards his actions. He was gathering up a few small belongings from his saddlebags, preparing himself to leave again.
"Now why on Earth do you get to leave when I have to stay here?" she pouted, and Cap's face cracked into a mischievous smile.
"Because if we stayed in the same room for the whole day," Cap explained. "We'd kill each other." Daisy had to agree with the sentiment, even if she didn't enjoy the truth of it.
"Just promise me one thing," Daisy said, and Cap stood up tall and straight in anticipation of her request. "When you get back, we'll talk about…all of this." He studied her for a long minute before nodding his head.
"I promise."