chapter 3 is up. thanks for the reviews, love em'
It wasn't much later when Eleanor was awakened by a sound coming from her own bedroom. Apparently Mr. Cavendish was awake and stumbling through his room. They both shot up in bed when they heard a loud crash, like something shattered to the floor. A string of curses erupted. Eleanor got up from the bed and wrapped herself in a blanket. "where are you going?!" her mother asked, reaching out to take hold on her daughter's night shirt. "I want to see what's going on in there" Eleanor said, pulling herself free and leaving the room, ignoring her mother frantic calling.
Butch had managed to break the water pitcher while he retched in the water basin. There was nothing in his stomach, and the bile burned his throat till his eyes started tearing up. When he heard the door open behind him, he flung around holding out his gun. Eleanor held up her hands. "easy, I'm not armed" she spoke softly, not wanting the others to wake up. He didn't lower his gun. "Git out" he growled. He would have said more if his stomach hadn't intervened and he was forced to turn back to the basin when another spell of dry heaving acted up. She waited till he was done and trying to catch his breath. "what do you need?" she asked. He looked up at her, sweat trickling down his pale face. "ye got any laudanum?" she nodded quickly. "Yes, sure.. I'll get it for you. Lay back down" she instructed and left the room in search for her mother's secret stash of the addictive painkiller.
Laying down was all he could do right now, that and concentrating on his breathing to distract himself from the soaring pain in his abdomen and head. At that point, he thought he was going to die. His body couldn't take much more of this shit. But atleast he wasn't out in the cold desert when he'd draw his last breath. She was back at his side a moment later, showing him a glass of water with laudanum mixed through it. He reached out and gulped it down, ignoring the bitter taste of it.
It would help with the pain, but it wouldn't cure the illness, whatever he had. Within a few moments, he started to look a little more relaxed, his face no longer showing immense pain, his eyes closed. "what happened to you?" she asked softly, sitting down on the side of his bed. "Git out" was his only reply. "You're not going to get better this way. And I would like for you and your gang to leave tomorrow morning" she spoke defiantly, but inhaled sharply when he reached into his belt and pulled out his gun, cocking it and pointing it at her. "I aint gonna ask it twice, gurl" he growled. She turned and left, closing the door behind her. She hadn't noticed the entire gang was awake and gazing at her with a mixture of admiration and fear.
"he didn't shoot ye, did he?" Frank asked, sucking on the little braid of hair. She shook her head and tried to regain her composure. "I gave him.. laudanum for the pain. But that's not going to solve the problem. He needs a doctor" the gang exchanged looks. "yea we tried that. Didn't work. He don't like them doctors" Barret sneered from the couch. "He seemed to like ye enough not to shoot ye on sight, though" Skinny told her, nodding at her. "now why..why would he shoot me? For heaven's sake, I don't carry a gun, or.. or mean any harm. He should pick his battles more carefully next time" she spoke, only just realizing she was standing in front of atleast eight men in her nightgown.
"He gets like this sometimes" Ray suddenly said, rendering them all quiet. "I've known Butch for years. He had the same thing goin' on many years ago. When all of yer mothers were still wiping yer noses, all of you. Something goin' on with his stomach, ah don't know. He shouldn't eat all that shit he eats, probably" he continued. Some of the gang members turned slightly green thinking about Butch' occasional eating habits. "so he'll git better?" Frank peeped. Ray shrugged and nodded. "eventually, took a while though. Think we camped on that same spot for atleast a week before he got strong enough to ride again"
"a week?!" Eleanor protested. "No, you're not staying here for a whole week, you can't" Ray chuckled and looked up at her. "well, I don't think yer the one calling the shots in this one, darlin'. We're not about to drag Butch out of that bed, onto his horse to find another ranch. Yer just goin' to have to live with us for a while. We'll be on our way when he says he's alright to travel" he said. "we don't have enough food to feed you all for another week. No, I want you all out. He can stay" she finally decided, knowing her mother would kill her for this, but right now she had to find a way she could keep the ranch rolling.
The gang looked at Ray, he was the one making the decisions when Butch was out, but none of them felt like sitting around this ranch for a whole week. "ah don't think he'd like that very much" Ray spoke carefully after a moment of contemplation. "who says ye won't turn him in the moment we're gone?" she shook her head and frowned. "he can't go to prison like this, that would be.. inhumane" she said. Whatever the hell that meant, the gang liked her idea. "Frank stays here too" Ray finally said, getting off the floor to get ready to leave. A surprised Frank looked from Ray to the girl and back. "whut? Why me? Ray ah don't want to stay here with Butch!" but the older gang member wouldn't have none of it. "ye stay put and protect yer leader from these here folks, ye hear me? Besides boy, ye slow us down. Best te stay here and we'll be back in a week to pick you two up"
Eleanor tried to give the panicking young man a reassuring smile and stepped aside when Ray opened the door to Butch's room. The outlaw was vast asleep, stretched out on the bed with his coat and boots still on. Only his hat lay on the side table. He went in there to say goodbye, but found he didn't dare to wake him and tell him about the plan. He left the room without words and only gave Eleanor a small nod when he opened the front door to go and get his horse ready, the rest of the gang following him. Only Frank remained, looking quite offended and upset.
Her mother, awakened by the sound of horses getting saddled by a bunch of loud criminals, bustled into the room holding a quilt around her shoulders. "what is going on in here? Where are they going?" Eleanor gazed out of the window, watching the gang take off, whistling and urging their horses as they took off into the distance on breakneck speed. "They're leaving" she said. Her mother looked confused and then noticed Frank sitting on the couch, chewing on his hair. "and why is he still here?" she asked. "He's staying, just like Mr. Cavendish is staying, mother. They'll be back in a week"
Frank got up from the couch, wringing his hands together nervously as he addressed the older woman. "Please don't make me sleep with them horses, ma'm. ahm scared of them rats" he said. Eleanor's mother simply stared at him like he just turned green before turning to her daughter. "you mean to say that animal is still in my house?" Eleanor sighed and nodded, crossing her arms in front of her chest, she was starting to get rather cold. "That animal is very sick, mother. He would die out there. I gave him some of your laudanum, if that's alright" she said. Her mother opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again and pursed her lips instead. "You might have asked my permission to give it to him before actually doing it. What's the point in asking me when you already gave it?" she said angrily. "and you!" she continued, turning to Frank, who gave her a terrified look in return. "I expect you to be on your best behaviour when you're in a house with two ladies, did I make myself clear? Or you'll find yourself locked up in the gear room where we keep the horses' feeding, and there's an awful lot of rats in there, understood?" he nodded frantically and sat back down, making himself as small as possible.
"well I suppose I'll just have to settle with the fact I've got two more mouths to feed the coming week. Cause you people aren't decent enough to negotiate with" mother said, giving Frank a displeasing look that he returned in looking like a boy getting scolded for stealing cookies. He wrung his hands together nervously, not liking it when someone was angry with him. "well, Ma'm. Butch don't eat a lot.. if it matters. He can drink water like a horse though, fill himself right up and all. I tried it myself once, but my tummy started aching" he said, looking sad.
The older woman gave him one last look before turning on her heels and marching off to find some pillows and a blanket for the young criminal. If he was going to occupy the couch, he needed a little more than just that, and she wasn't one to treat guests badly, whether they were criminals or not.
Another moan came from Butch' room and both Frank and Eleanor looked over their shoulders. "ah never saw him like this. Kinda frightening really. Where's yer pa?" Frank asked, looking up at Eleanor. She swallowed thickly, avoiding his eyes. "dead" she said simply. "he got sick, three years now" the young man looked like he was going to say something, but he changed his mind and decided to shut his mouth, that was usually what the rest of the gang preferred in him anyway. "where's your family?" Eleanor asked. He shrugged, shuffling his feet on the wooden floor. "Idaho. But the gang is my family now. Ah wouldn't know what to do without Butch" he confessed, a little embarrassed, looking at the door to Butch' room again.
"well how about finding a decent job and try to be a decent man?" Eleanor said. The young man didn't seem all that violent, just young and sort of ignorant. "ah don't think Butch would like it very much if ah did that. He wouldn't want to be mah friend anymore" was his reply. An unusual friendship she wasn't so sure even existed. Butch didn't seem like the type of man entertaining friendships with people. "is he gonna die?" he asked, looking up at her pleadingly. She bit her bottom lip and sighed, she didn't know if the outlaw would make it. Her father was the strongest man she knew, and he had succumbed to his illness within days. But Frank looked like such a lost boy, she didn't dare slapping him in the face with the truth. "sure he will. I'm sure he survived worse than this. Gunshots and all, right?" she said, trying to smile. He thought for a moment on that one. Did Butch ever got shot? "ah know he fell off his horse once and got right back up! Didn't even have a scratch, no sir!" Frank said proudly, shaking his head and smiling. She chuckled at his antics. "well there you have it. He's a tough guy, he'll be alright"
Her mother returned soon after, handing Frank a few pillows and blankets which he accepted gratefully. "and now no more word from you until you hear that rooster outside" she told him and he nodded frantically. "you too, Elly" she continued, addressing her daughter. Eleanor didn't feel like sleeping anymore. Yet when the rooster finally started announcing morning, she felt herself doze off.
I absolutely adore Frank, can you tell?
