The Bottom of You

"What the Hell was that?" Carlisle demanded as soon as Edward dismounted.

He had rode hard and fast - as fast as Delilah would let him - until he reached the gorge where the rest of the family had gathered. Even Rosalie had beat him there, her pretty white mare, Jezebel, already hitched and watered thanks to Alice's tender hands. Perhaps he had taken the long way, moping a bit too long over his perfect plan gone wrong.

No one ever caught him unaware. Which was why Carlisle was so mad.

"I dunno Pa," Edward replied, just as angry with himself as Carlisle was. "I accounted for everything - "

"Clearly not!" Carlisle spat on the ground, turning the dust from brown to red. "Thanks to that little miss, we are out half a score! This will barely feed us through next winter!"

All the remained of their glorious cache was a single saddle bag of wadded cash and gold coin. Now that they'd been spotted and foiled, it was likely the gold was no good and reported as stolen. They'd have to pawn it before Forks could send a messenger.

"I can't even look atcha," Carlisle turned his back on Edward. "Emmett, Jasper, ride out and do a perimeter of valley. Make sure we weren't followed. And set some traps while you're out there. Gotta make sure the ladies get their supper."

The boys did as they were told, mounting their horses and peeling off. They would be gone for a good few hours. Plenty of time to set up the camp.

Edward pitched the tents while Esme and Alice gathered kindling for the fire. There wasn't much to work with out here, just a few fronds and some scrub. They'd dealt with worse. Lord only knew where Rosalie went. She wasn't too keen on the whole 'helping' thing. Likely she was brushing out that long blonde hair of hers, fretting over every knot and tangle. After all these years on the road, she still fancied herself a beauty queen.

By the time the sun had set, camp was complete and everyone was back.

Emmett and Jasper were in high spirits. Riding always did that. They managed to catch a handful of desert hares while they were out, more than enough to complete a hearty stew. At least one thing had gone right this day.

By the fire, Carlisle knelt in front of Esme, their heads bowed low. He wound spare cloth around her arm, bloodied rags at their feet. So, Esme had been shot. That was what accounted for Carlisle's foul mood. Anything was fair game for the rest of them, but as soon as his woman was injured he turned into a feral beast, more dangerous than any coyote or bush snake.

"We need to go back," Carlisle said viciously, his blue eyes cold with hate. Edward had only seen him like this once before: three years ago when their mark (Esme's then-husband) had gotten a little too handsy. There were bruises all up and down her pretty pale neck. Needless to say, that man's brains were left scrambled on the side of the road and Esme hadn't shed a tear.

"It'd be a fool's errand to go back into that town," Jasper pointed out, his forehead creased with frown lines. "They all know what to look for. We'd be spotted and left to hang by nightfall."

"Ain't no one seen our faces except one little girl. A little girl who has her own identity to worry about."

"I don't like this 'Lisle," Esme said, pleading with those big brown eyes that usually got her whatever she wanted. "Can't we go on our way and try another town?"

"This ain't about the money now; this is personal," Carlisle said, pacing back and forth like a man possessed, the fire throwing his face into twisted shadow. "It's about getting what's ours. What's owed."

They had never made such a risky move. Sure, pride was wounded and morale was low, but that didn't mean they started acting foolish. The Cullen Family Gang was known for being a lot of things, but stupid was not one of them.

Still, there was an appeal to going back. To sticking it to that pesky bandit. To getting back what they had lost and possibly more. They'd have to go underground for a while, but the score would more than cover for food and supplies. They could retire on gold like that. Not that they would. Not when the thrill of the chase had all of them on the edge of their seats.

They had picked this life for a reason. Whether desperation or fortune found them in Carlisle's path, it was that unmistakable draw for danger that kept them in their saddles. Kept them on the road, in the dirt, between bullets and getaway trains.

"We're with ya, Pa," Emmett spoke first, one hand on Rosalie's knee to speak for he as well. She didn't look as enthusiastic - if there was one of them who wasn't as committed to this life as the rest, it was her - but she would go where Emmett went. Come Hell or high water.

"Us too," came Alice's melodic voice. Like Emmett, she spoke for her partner, Jasper stoic-faced at her side.

"That leaves you, Eddie boy."

All eyes were on him.

Technically, he'd been outvoted. If a majority was needed to go through with the plan, it was everyone against him. Perhaps he could sway Rosalie, but her voice wouldn't count for much. They'd still be outvoted.

Edward wanted to say no, wanted to dig his heels in the dirt and never move. But the day's events kept flashing in front of his eyes: the chase, the loss, the bandit with her forest-brown eyes and playful grace as she toyed with him like a cat with a mouse. He was caught unaware. He didn't like it.

More so, he wanted revenge.

"I'm on your side, Pa. Always."

"Good." Satisfied, Carlisle sat back and poked at the spit roasting their dinner. The fat rabbits popped and crackled as their fat hit the flame. "Supper will be ready soon. Y'all get cleaned up."

They all knew a dismissal when they heard one.

Everyone scattered: Alice and Jasper to the stables to check on the horses, Rosalie and Emmett to the tents to grab their canteens and wash themselves up, and Edward all by his lonesome. It was how things always were, how they always would be. Edward was used to being alone; he liked it that way.

Too many thoughts were running through his brain. His energy was too high, his whole body thrumming with unspent energy. He felt this way after every close call. It was his body's way of coming down from the high. The only way to calm it was to seek the calm.

Usually he would spend quiet hours in his tent, but the mountains looked mighty tempting. The scrub was low and the rocks provided a natural path. He climbed and climbed until he was a good ways up the side. This far out, he could look over the whole valley. It would make a good lookout point. He made a note to bring that up to Carlisle later if they decided to use this place as a campground again.

The air was colder up here. Crisper. Like the moon was closer to the Earth and Edward could reach out and touch it.

He wasn't a superstitious man, but on nights like these in places like this, he felt might small. He questioned his purpose in it all. Was he really on the right path? Was there something more, something bigger out there he should be reaching for instead?

"I'll be, you're even prettier in the moonlight."

Edward spun around, shocked to see the bandit herself leaning up against the rocks. She still had her bandana drawn over her face, but she'd pushed her hat back so that curly wisps of dark brown hair fell over her forehead. She looked as though she'd been riding hard, color high on her cheeks and her eyes shining like stars.

He moved to grab his pistol, but remembered he was unarmed. Everything was cleaned and resting by the campfire.

"How'd you slip by the patrol?"

"Your brothers clop through this desert like a bunch of wild buffalo. Loud. Graceless. Unhurried." She pushed off the canyon wall and took a step his way. She cocked her head, drinking him in. "It's clear y'all ain't from around here."

He wanted to laugh. What gave them away? Their accents, their clothes, or perhaps their habit of sneaking in town to commit a robbery then running away?

"Who are you?"

"Where are my manners? Let me introduce myself." She took off her hat and bowed deep at the waist. "I go by many names, but you, Mr. Cullen, can call me Hell's Bells."

He wanted to ask how she knew his name, but that would be moot point. She was watching them, clearly. With the way she moved, she might as well have been one with the land itself. There were no secrets, nothing kept from her.

"Ain't ever heard of you."

"I would expect not." Edward couldn't see her face, but he could tell she was smiling. "Most of the people who hear that name end up dead."

"Yet here I am."

"Here you are." Another step, then a pivot around him. Until she was dancing on the edge of the rock with a long tumble behind her. "Which is why I've come to warn you. If you and you family set foot back in Forks, I'll kill you."

Edward didn't know that threats could be delivered so kindly. With a joke and a smile. It was alarming, sent the hairs on the back of his neck rising.

"You're bluffing."

She palmed her pistols. "You're welcome to try."

Another reminder that Edward was a sitting duck, unarmed and helpless. He was fully at her mercy, once more feeling like the fly caught in the spider's web. It was an uncomfortable feeling, not one he was used to being in. Usually he was the one spinning webs and setting traps. The hunter had been out-hunted.

He could always push her off the mountain, but that wouldn't stop her from putting bullets in his body before he got her over. Besides, that didn't seem very ladylike. Despite everything, he was raised right. A lady was to be treated with respect. Even if that lady was a gun-toting vigilante who had ruined his life in the span of a single day.

They were caught in a stalemate, both waiting to see what the other would do.

"Eddie!" Emmett's voice boomed across the canyon, a stupid choice when trying to remain undetected, but Emmett had never had the brains of the group. "What're you doing up there?"

"Emmett, come here quick!"

Edward made the mistake of turning his back to holler. When he turned back around, Hell's Bells was gone.

Emmett huffed as he moved up the path. He looked angry. "What?"

"I thought I saw... she was right - "

Emmett thumped Edward upside the head.

"Wasting my time seeing shit. Carlisle's already after your ass," he grumbled, shoving at Edward to move down the mountain. "Come get some supper before you start another fight."

Another fight was just what he was itching for.

Edward would meet Hell's Bells again. He was going to Forks.