A posse ad esse

From possibility to actuality

"Cowboy Take Me Away"

-The Dixie Chicks

Nola lay on her bed comfortably, her head snuggled into her pillow and her blanket thrown somewhere on the floor. The springtime sun was shining gracefully threw her window and she smiled to herself. Everything was going...good. For once, nothing was really wrong.

She had taken the leap with Ringo, and was not upset at all with her decision. She smirked at the thought of him, the way he smiled, the way his hair would get into his face, the way he cleaned his pistol...

She immediately shook her head and laughed. She was simply pitiful! Slowly she got up and stretched and headed over to get her clothes, which lay scattered on the ground, when something on the floor caught her eye.

A piece of paper, folded in half with her name written scratchily on it, lay on the wooden boards. Curious, she walked over and picked it up.

Nola,

Meet me outside at two.

JR

Nola almost squealed as she read it. 'JR' was none other than Johnny Ringo! She had started calling him JR one day at the realization that those two letters were the beginning of his name. She quickly spun around to check her clock. She sighed in relief, seeing it was only 1:30.

But, knowing Ringo was usually early to everything, Nola got dressed as quickly as possible, brushed her hair, washed her face, and ran outside the door and slid down the stairs, her mind buzzing with excitement.

Sure enough, he was early, leaning against the outside of the hotel.

"Good morning, sunshine." she greeted, and he smiled as he turned to her.

"I see you found my note."

"Mhm." she agreed, walking over to stand beside him. "So, what is the reason for this little rendezvous?"

After giving her a gentle 'good morning' kiss, he replied. "I have a surprise."

"Oh, really? Like what?"

He smirked and started walking away.

"Hey! Get back here!" she yelled, sprinting to make up the lost steps to regain her position at his side.

"Well, I figured since nothing was going on we should go for a ride."

Nola's eyes lit up and she smiled. "Finally! I'm getting sick of this town!"

I said I wanna touch the earth

I wanna break it in my hands

I wanna grow something wild and unruly

Nola pushed her horse into a gallop as she raced passed Ringo on the dusty Arizona plain, dodging the brush that littered the ground. She let out a laugh as she felt the wind in her hair. This was amazing! She could hear his paint hoof's striking the ground behind her, and she smiled...maybe she'd let him catch up.

I wanna sleep on the hard ground

In the comfort of your arms

On a pillow of bluebonnets

In a blanket made of stars

Oh it sounds good to me I said

Cowboy take me away

Fly this girl as high as you can

Into the wild blue

Set me free oh I pray

Closer to heaven above and

Closer to you closer to you

After they're exhilarating run, the young couple pulled their horses to a halt. Nola's horse had snorted loudly, which made her giggle.

"We can sit here for a little while." She offered; dismounting from her saddle and removing the folded blanket strapped behind it.

He smirked to himself as she spread it on the ground and looped her horse's reins on a sturdy bush. Gladly he did the same and set himself beside her.

I wanna walk and not run

I wanna skip and not fall

I wanna look at the horizon

And not see a building standing tall

I wanna be the only one for miles and miles

Except for maybe you and your simple smile

Oh it sounds good to me

Yes it sounds so good to me

"You know," Nola began as she rolled on her side to get a better look at the man laying beside her, "I don't really know a whole lot about you."

Ringo smirked and pulled his hat a little lower onto his head. "Let's keep it that way."

"Why?!" she cried, slightly hurt. Didn't he trust her?

The distress in her voice got his attention and he turned his head towards her. "Nola, my life isn't a happy one. Sometimes I don't really like to think about it."

She nodded slowly before resting her head on his shoulder.

"Same here."

John's eyebrows did a slight push-up. "Why not?"

Nola got unusually quiet for a moment as though trying to gather her thoughts. "I've lost every person who's ever meant anything to me. I don't have a lot of happy memories left."

Ringo frowned as he turned onto his side and looped an arm around her. "You still have me."

She chuckled. "Yes, I do, so don't even think about going anywhere."

Cowboy take me away

Fly this girl as high as you can

Into the wild blue

Set me free oh I pray

Closer to heaven above and

Closer to you closer to you

"What would be the worst thing that ever happened to you?" She asked innocently as the two watched the sun start to fade.

Ringo snorted and gave her a funny look. "Lovely conversation piece." He stated sarcastically.

Nola made an "hmph" sound before gently leaning against him. "Well, since we both agree our lives weren't exactly how we would have liked them to be; I was just curious as to what particular moment you detested the most."

John paused a moment before replying. "…Watching my father die."

Nola's eyes widened.

"What happened?"

Ringo sighed to himself and grabbed a nearby twig, using the object as a way to busy his hands as he spoke. Just the mentioning of the subject caused his nerves to rise.

"We were on our way west when his gun back fired and shot him in the head...pretty much decapitated him."

Nola gasped.

"I'm so sorry Johnny, I had no idea..." she whispered, tears forming in her eyes.

"It's not your fault," he said quietly. "I just really missed him after that, and it hurt to watch my mom and my sisters' cry almost non-stop afterwards."

As though she could make the pain wash away, she hugged him tightly. She smiled sadly when he returned it.

"What about you?" He questioned.

Nola sighed; she would have a hard time picking the worst. She thought for a moment before responding.

"Probably finding out my sister died while I was away...I'd gone after my mother's killers and I'd told my sister to stay behind. I got word that she'd been murdered...if I'd just been there, I could have done something to prevent it. But I was so angry…I just wanted revenge so badly, that I never thought about her being alone and…"

She trailed off at the mental image of her innocent and sweet sister being slain by a bunch of heartless outlaws. A lump formed in Nola's throat.

Ringo looked down on her with sympathy. "Who killed your mother?"

Nola snorted. "My father's so called 'friends'. He was a good man to us...but we all knew he didn't make his money the honest way. When I was little, a bunch of men he'd swindled money from came and killed him...they found us too; my sister, my mother, and me. I still don't know why they just didn't kill us then...they simply smacked us around a couple times. Years later, they came back and finished off my mom..."

Tears began to well up in her eyes as Johnny pulled her into his lap, gently holding her as she shook from the memories that tried to flood her mind.

I said I wanna touch the earth

I wanna break it in my hands

I wanna grow something wild and unruly

Oh it sounds so good to me

The couple rode back in almost silence, taking in what they had learned about each other. Each felt comforted by the fact that they now had someone who understood them…and who would be there when everything started to fall apart.

Nola sent a smile in Ringo's direction.

She was positive the emotion she felt for him was love.

Ringo smirked at Nola as she raced ahead of him.

He knew he'd never love anyone as much as he loved her at that moment.

Cowboy take me away

Fly this girl as high as you can

Into the wild blue

Set me free oh I pray

Closer to heaven above and

Closer to you closer to you

Closer to you

Cowboy take me away

Closer to you

Can you believe it?! Another chapter in less than a couple months!! Thank you so much to:

Offspring1014 - RingoAmazing

AJeff - HeHe I knew you'd love the fluffy! So I really hope ya liked this chapter.

VivienLeigh17 - I'm so glad you still like it!

EmiliosLoofah - Thank you, Betherz...as always! D

Stallion Rebel - Thank you so much for the review, I really do appreciate it!

Well...only a couple more chapters and then this book is shut. Thank you for all the reviews and please keep doing so!!