Liberty sat and chewed quietly as she watched Cole and Frank stumble
downstairs. Cole had a bottle of whiskey half downed and Frank was
polishing his rifle, which reminded Liberty that she hadn't polished hers
in two days. Quickly she checked for her holsters and pulled out one of her
guns. She looked around for a cloth and finally decided to just use a
corner of her shirt to shine up her guns. Colin smiled.
"Those guns make you feel safe don't they Liberty?" he said quietly. Liberty looked up.
"Whaddya mean 'they make me feel safe'?"
"I'm just saying that I've known you for a long time Libby. With and without your guns, and to me and most of everyone who knows you without your guns, your really a shy, daddy's girl that missed her father." Colin said simply as he reached out and took one of Liberty's hands. Liberty sighed and looked at the table,
"Colin, you're right I guess, but its not just that they make me feel safe, its that they brought me closer to my dad, in more ways than one." She replied cocking her head to the window where her father was talking to Cole.
"You must have been really scared when he left." Colin said softly. Liberty looked up and a light shimmer of tears could be seen floating at the corner of her eyes. Liberty gasped and wiped them away quickly.
"What Liberty? Whats wrong?" Colin asked concernedly.
"I promised myself I wouldn't cry. I had to be strong for my dad. I haven't cried since Dad left three years ago."
Colin pursed smile turned up a bit.
"You must be hurting awful bad." He said quietly. Liberty nodded wiping the on coming tears. He shifted around the table to comfort her. Liberty sighed and folded her arms and rested her head in them on the table. Colin put an arm around her and just held her.
* * *
Jesse looked in the window and a small frown hitched up his face.
"What the matter Jesse?" asked Frank. Frank looked in the window and smiled. "I was wondering," he laughed.
"Whats so funny Mr. Shakespeare?" Jesse asked
"Nothing, its just your actually acting like a normal man who sees his life's reason for living cozying up to another. That same look on your face was the one you wore whenever Cole said something about Zee." Frank stopped mid sentence. Jesse looked at him strange.
"Whats going on Frank?" Jesse asked. "You and Cole have been acting mighty strange these last couple of days. Cole's drinking like a bloody cow and you're always quiet-like. Something's going on and I don't like it."
"Jesse, I-" Frank started. A bullet and an entourage of arrows flew over their heads.
"What the?" Jesse hollered. "Everybody inside! NOW!"
Liberty's head flew up so fast as the window panes shattered and the gang came flying in and ripping up tables to hide behind.
"Liberty! Get over here now!" Jesse called from behind the bar just as an arrow shot between her and Colin separating them. She dove away from the table and crawled along to the floor until she was safe behind the bar.
"Colin!" she cried. "Are you okay?"
A muffled "Yep!" came from across the room.
Liberty sighed and leaned against the inside of the bar.
"I think we need to a have another father daughter talk." Jesse said as he bounced up to fire six rounds out the door.
"What are you talking about?" Liberty exclaimed as she loaded and joined in the shooting. Jesse slid back down to reload. Liberty followed soon after.
"I saw you and Mr. Daniels." He said clicking the chamber open. Liberty scoffed.
"And I heard about your 'man to man' talk with him last night."
"So what,"
"So what is right! What Colin and I have going is none of your damned business."
"Don't swear! And it is my business, you're my daughter."
"And you were gone for three years!" Liberty replied jumping up and catching three Indians in their chests. Jesse signed.
"You're still angry about that?"
"Damn straight!"
"LIBERTY!"
"Sorry dad."
* * *
On the other side of the room, behind two tables, sat Colin, Frank and Cole.
"How in all that is holy did the Indians find out where we were bunking?" Frank asked Cole.
"Why are you looking at me Frank? You know the whole reason that this is going on is because of me. Why would I tell them?" Cole replied grudgingly.
"Because after our conversation the other night, I don't know if I can trust you anymore." Frank replied.
Cole tried not to listen but their argument intrigued him. He pretended to be consumed by his shooting.
"Are you still not over that?" Cole hollered over the gunshots.
"Why are you asking me that? I think you should be asking Jesse." Frank said simply as he popped up and fired out the window. Cole's face paled.
"Jesse knows?"
"I guess its something your conscience has to figure out." Frank replied.
"Oh god." Cole sighed in a squeaky voice. "I'm dead!" He said as he peered over the table at the bar. Hollering from that side of the room could be heard. Liberty and Jesse were fighting. They were so consumed by their argument they didn't see the Indian creeping towards the bar with a knife in his hand.
"Oh god!" Cole shouted. "JESSE!" he jumped over the table and ducked his head at the arrows flying his way as he knocked the Indian off his feet and into a corner.
* * *
Liberty and Jesse had stopped loading and were fighting.
"I told you I wanted to come home!"
"And I believed you would! But you didn't!"
"I had to stay! Cole was gonna die if I didn't."
"So you care more about Cole than you do about me? You're such a great dad! First you leave your only daughter in the hands of a stiff grocer, then you run off and never come back. The only daughter has to come looking for you and bring along someone she cares about very much." Liberty could feel her throat tightening and her eyes welling up with tears.
Their conversation was interrupted by a loud cracking noise as Cole and an Indian fought in the corner to the left of them.
"COLE!" they shouted simultaneously. The kneeled frozen. The Indian pulled his knife back and started to swing wildly. Jesse moved to help but Liberty grabbed his arm hard.
"Liberty, what in gods name are you doing? Cole is in trouble!" Jesse said. Liberty nodded as the tears came.
"I know,"
"Liberty, whats going on? I thought you cared about Cole!"
"Haven't you wondered why Frank and Cole have been so quiet-like?" Liberty asked her voice cracking as she watched the fight. Jesse shook his head.
"Spit it out girl! I noticed they've been acting strange, what does that have to do with this!"
"Cole took you away from me! He killed Ma so that you'd think it was the Indians and take it all personal! I overhead them talking the other morning when Frank found Cole's knife. Please dad! Don't let him take you too!" Liberty sobbed, gripping her father's arm tight. Cole had shot the Indian and now was sitting leaning against the wall and breathing deep. Jesse swung his head around and stared at Cole in disbelief. Cole sighed and turned his head. "Cole, is Liberty telling the truth?" Jesse asked, his chest tightened the same way it had the day he found her dead.
Cole felt tears rolling down his face as he silently nodded. He watched Jesse shrug off Liberty's hand and fall back against the bar. His head hung in between his knees and he shuddered as if he would be sick.
"Daddy?" Liberty cried. Jesse didn't answer, he had stopped moving. Liberty all of a sudden had a flashback to when she'd watched her father hold her convulsing mother as she died and felt rage that had been forgotten build up again and she stood up amidst the shots of gunfire, loaded her gun and pulled the hammer, pointing it right at Cole's head.
"Libby, I'm" Cole started, Liberty cut him off.
"Don't you call me that! I cared about you Cole Younger! You took away my dad! Took him away for three years! Killed my mother and caused this whole thing right here! I hate you and I want to kill you!" she screamed. Cole sighed and closed his eyes. He heard the click of her gun.
Jesse's head was swimming. He watched memories in his like a silent movie. Him and Cole fixing things around their farms, the two of them running the James Younger Gang and stirring up trouble on the railroad. Cole, Jesse's cousin, his friend, his damned blood brother, killed his wife. He couldn't see. It was like he was an empty shell sitting there cold and alone. But he wasn't alone, his daughter had come to find him, braved an Indian attack to save him and dragged someone she loved almost as much as him into it and he here he was acting like some jealous father who didn't understand anything about sacrifice and love.
Jesse looked up and saw his daughter standing over Cole. Listening to her shout and cock her gun, he shakily stood up.
"I have a better idea Libby." He put a hand on his daughters arm and she hesitated.
He grabbed Cole by the back of his neck and marched him outside.
"You want him?" he cried out to the band of Indians stationed around outside the inn. "Come and get him!" "
"Those guns make you feel safe don't they Liberty?" he said quietly. Liberty looked up.
"Whaddya mean 'they make me feel safe'?"
"I'm just saying that I've known you for a long time Libby. With and without your guns, and to me and most of everyone who knows you without your guns, your really a shy, daddy's girl that missed her father." Colin said simply as he reached out and took one of Liberty's hands. Liberty sighed and looked at the table,
"Colin, you're right I guess, but its not just that they make me feel safe, its that they brought me closer to my dad, in more ways than one." She replied cocking her head to the window where her father was talking to Cole.
"You must have been really scared when he left." Colin said softly. Liberty looked up and a light shimmer of tears could be seen floating at the corner of her eyes. Liberty gasped and wiped them away quickly.
"What Liberty? Whats wrong?" Colin asked concernedly.
"I promised myself I wouldn't cry. I had to be strong for my dad. I haven't cried since Dad left three years ago."
Colin pursed smile turned up a bit.
"You must be hurting awful bad." He said quietly. Liberty nodded wiping the on coming tears. He shifted around the table to comfort her. Liberty sighed and folded her arms and rested her head in them on the table. Colin put an arm around her and just held her.
* * *
Jesse looked in the window and a small frown hitched up his face.
"What the matter Jesse?" asked Frank. Frank looked in the window and smiled. "I was wondering," he laughed.
"Whats so funny Mr. Shakespeare?" Jesse asked
"Nothing, its just your actually acting like a normal man who sees his life's reason for living cozying up to another. That same look on your face was the one you wore whenever Cole said something about Zee." Frank stopped mid sentence. Jesse looked at him strange.
"Whats going on Frank?" Jesse asked. "You and Cole have been acting mighty strange these last couple of days. Cole's drinking like a bloody cow and you're always quiet-like. Something's going on and I don't like it."
"Jesse, I-" Frank started. A bullet and an entourage of arrows flew over their heads.
"What the?" Jesse hollered. "Everybody inside! NOW!"
Liberty's head flew up so fast as the window panes shattered and the gang came flying in and ripping up tables to hide behind.
"Liberty! Get over here now!" Jesse called from behind the bar just as an arrow shot between her and Colin separating them. She dove away from the table and crawled along to the floor until she was safe behind the bar.
"Colin!" she cried. "Are you okay?"
A muffled "Yep!" came from across the room.
Liberty sighed and leaned against the inside of the bar.
"I think we need to a have another father daughter talk." Jesse said as he bounced up to fire six rounds out the door.
"What are you talking about?" Liberty exclaimed as she loaded and joined in the shooting. Jesse slid back down to reload. Liberty followed soon after.
"I saw you and Mr. Daniels." He said clicking the chamber open. Liberty scoffed.
"And I heard about your 'man to man' talk with him last night."
"So what,"
"So what is right! What Colin and I have going is none of your damned business."
"Don't swear! And it is my business, you're my daughter."
"And you were gone for three years!" Liberty replied jumping up and catching three Indians in their chests. Jesse signed.
"You're still angry about that?"
"Damn straight!"
"LIBERTY!"
"Sorry dad."
* * *
On the other side of the room, behind two tables, sat Colin, Frank and Cole.
"How in all that is holy did the Indians find out where we were bunking?" Frank asked Cole.
"Why are you looking at me Frank? You know the whole reason that this is going on is because of me. Why would I tell them?" Cole replied grudgingly.
"Because after our conversation the other night, I don't know if I can trust you anymore." Frank replied.
Cole tried not to listen but their argument intrigued him. He pretended to be consumed by his shooting.
"Are you still not over that?" Cole hollered over the gunshots.
"Why are you asking me that? I think you should be asking Jesse." Frank said simply as he popped up and fired out the window. Cole's face paled.
"Jesse knows?"
"I guess its something your conscience has to figure out." Frank replied.
"Oh god." Cole sighed in a squeaky voice. "I'm dead!" He said as he peered over the table at the bar. Hollering from that side of the room could be heard. Liberty and Jesse were fighting. They were so consumed by their argument they didn't see the Indian creeping towards the bar with a knife in his hand.
"Oh god!" Cole shouted. "JESSE!" he jumped over the table and ducked his head at the arrows flying his way as he knocked the Indian off his feet and into a corner.
* * *
Liberty and Jesse had stopped loading and were fighting.
"I told you I wanted to come home!"
"And I believed you would! But you didn't!"
"I had to stay! Cole was gonna die if I didn't."
"So you care more about Cole than you do about me? You're such a great dad! First you leave your only daughter in the hands of a stiff grocer, then you run off and never come back. The only daughter has to come looking for you and bring along someone she cares about very much." Liberty could feel her throat tightening and her eyes welling up with tears.
Their conversation was interrupted by a loud cracking noise as Cole and an Indian fought in the corner to the left of them.
"COLE!" they shouted simultaneously. The kneeled frozen. The Indian pulled his knife back and started to swing wildly. Jesse moved to help but Liberty grabbed his arm hard.
"Liberty, what in gods name are you doing? Cole is in trouble!" Jesse said. Liberty nodded as the tears came.
"I know,"
"Liberty, whats going on? I thought you cared about Cole!"
"Haven't you wondered why Frank and Cole have been so quiet-like?" Liberty asked her voice cracking as she watched the fight. Jesse shook his head.
"Spit it out girl! I noticed they've been acting strange, what does that have to do with this!"
"Cole took you away from me! He killed Ma so that you'd think it was the Indians and take it all personal! I overhead them talking the other morning when Frank found Cole's knife. Please dad! Don't let him take you too!" Liberty sobbed, gripping her father's arm tight. Cole had shot the Indian and now was sitting leaning against the wall and breathing deep. Jesse swung his head around and stared at Cole in disbelief. Cole sighed and turned his head. "Cole, is Liberty telling the truth?" Jesse asked, his chest tightened the same way it had the day he found her dead.
Cole felt tears rolling down his face as he silently nodded. He watched Jesse shrug off Liberty's hand and fall back against the bar. His head hung in between his knees and he shuddered as if he would be sick.
"Daddy?" Liberty cried. Jesse didn't answer, he had stopped moving. Liberty all of a sudden had a flashback to when she'd watched her father hold her convulsing mother as she died and felt rage that had been forgotten build up again and she stood up amidst the shots of gunfire, loaded her gun and pulled the hammer, pointing it right at Cole's head.
"Libby, I'm" Cole started, Liberty cut him off.
"Don't you call me that! I cared about you Cole Younger! You took away my dad! Took him away for three years! Killed my mother and caused this whole thing right here! I hate you and I want to kill you!" she screamed. Cole sighed and closed his eyes. He heard the click of her gun.
Jesse's head was swimming. He watched memories in his like a silent movie. Him and Cole fixing things around their farms, the two of them running the James Younger Gang and stirring up trouble on the railroad. Cole, Jesse's cousin, his friend, his damned blood brother, killed his wife. He couldn't see. It was like he was an empty shell sitting there cold and alone. But he wasn't alone, his daughter had come to find him, braved an Indian attack to save him and dragged someone she loved almost as much as him into it and he here he was acting like some jealous father who didn't understand anything about sacrifice and love.
Jesse looked up and saw his daughter standing over Cole. Listening to her shout and cock her gun, he shakily stood up.
"I have a better idea Libby." He put a hand on his daughters arm and she hesitated.
He grabbed Cole by the back of his neck and marched him outside.
"You want him?" he cried out to the band of Indians stationed around outside the inn. "Come and get him!" "