Baby Outlaw
"Keep movin'!"
Carlisle's voice was a hiss in Edward's ear, drippin' like slow poison through his veins. Anger unlike any other accompanied that voice. If not for Bella walkin' astride him and the cars of passengers ahead, Edward'd've grabbed Carlisle by the throat and thrown him overboard.
That, and the gun pressed oh so secretly against the small of his back.
Carlisle was sneaky like that.
"You bit off more than ya can chew, old man," Bella hissed as she smiled oh so sweetly at a passin' ticket collector. It was hard to see the gun, what with it bein' so small and Bella's skirts so big. The man didn't suspect a thing, tippin' his hat and passin' the three of 'em by without a word.
"I ain't gon hear it from ya," Carlisle fired back, a threat if Edward ever heard one. "How much further?"
"Daddy ain't no fool," she said, pushin' another door open, this car full a luggage. "He made sure his gold was good and hidden."
"Not good enough."
The look on Bella's face coulda struck a man dead, but she didn't dare turn 'round to face Carlisle proper. Not without riskin' a bullet goin' through her pretty curls and rippin' through the other side. Edward stayed silent by her side, takin' her hand in his and squeezin' once.
When she looked his way, he cocked his head up so subtle. She followed his eyes, her own widenin' a fraction as she saw what he saw.
A window.
"'s just through here," she said, reachin' to open the next car.
Through the glass, Edward spied stack upon stack of locked trunks. Nondescript and chained up. Definitely the gold. She wasn't lyin', but she wasn't gonna let Carlisle get it neither.
Quick as a snake she threw it open and bolted. Carlisle was pressed so close to her that he lost his balance and jolted, the gun goin' off and the bullet strikin' a hole through the metal wall.
"Why you little - !"
Carlisle was up and runnin' towards Bella at a fast pace, but she was ready. She ducked under his arms and turned them 'round so Carlisle was the one standin' outside on the connection and Bella was the one inside. She slammed the car door shut on his fingers so quick Edward heard the crunch.
The gun fell, lost to the tracks below. Carlisle howled.
Edward ran forward and locked the car door 'fore the old man could yank it back open with his teeth.
"Help me up!" she demanded, running towards the window.
Edward wasted no time, lowerin' himself so that she could use his hands as a step. With her new height, she pushed open the window, grabbed hold and pulled herself out. What a funny sight that was, half her skirts puffed up inside and her body hangin' half out.
She twisted and squirmed while Carlisle beat down on the door with his body. Rage musta made him strong cause he was rattlin' the frame with his weight. The door shook bad. It wouldn't hold for long.
Somewhere in the other direction, Edward heard a whistle blow. Someone musta heard the shot and called for back up. There'd be coppers descendin' upon this car in no time.
A terrible splinter sound and Edward saw the door break by the handle. Another blow and it would open. Carlisle smiled his savage smile and geared up to move.
Bella was out. She'd pulled herself up to the top of the train, the window free and clear.
Edward jumped and pulled himself through the window. It was a much harder thing to do than it looked. That, or Bella was far stronger for than he gave her credit. She was standin' on the roof, her hair whippin' in the high wind, sand stingin' at their eyes.
Any moment now, Carlisle was gonna break free. Edward had to move, but it was damn near impossible. He was still hanging out the side, the wind too strong on the curve to get to the roof. His grip faltered. Carlisle was too close.
"YEEHAW!"
A voice cracked through the distance like a whip. Edward turned to see his brothers kicking up dust, their horses ridin' hard to catch up with the train. Delilah rode in time with 'em, a beacon of hope.
Didn't matter that Rosalie told the family where he'd gone. Didn't matter that they'd followed him. Didn't matter that they were putting themselves in danger by goin' against the plan. Edward was so happy he could whoop with joy.
Emmett rode up close as he could get to the train. Close enough to reach out and take Edward's hand. It was a foolish thing to do, truly insane, but there were no other options. Edward let go of the train and let himself fall.
The jerk of Emmett's grip nearly dislocated Edward's shoulder as he pulled him onto his saddle. The pain hissed and bit like a dozen scorpion stings, but Edward kept his wits about him. He hugged his brother from behind, grateful for the save, before jumpin' over to Delilah's back and takin' the reins.
Victory was short lived as bullets flew, more metallic pings off the body of the train.
Jasper and Emmett peeled off in different directions. Edward whipped his head around to see two figure on black horses ridin' fast and dangerous their direction.
"Trackers!" Edward hollered.
Emmett cursed. "They musta followed Carlisle!"
"We gotta keep goin'!" Jasper shouted.
What a queer sight they made: Alice ridin' hard with Jasper clingin' to her back, wincin' as they flew over dust-stirred ground. Alice didn't move her eyes from up ahead, but Jasper gave Edward a curt nod. There was a pack strapped to Jasper's back, one that he never left home without. The one that carried his explosives.
Atop the train, more bullets fired at Bella's heels. From both directions, for Carlisle had produced another pistol and had made his way atop the train. They stood at opposite ends of the car: Bella at the end and Carlisle guardin' the only way forward.
"End of the line for you, little miss!" Carlisle taunted. He raised his pistol.
Bella didn't think twice. She jumped.
Edward shouted as she disappeared over the opposite end, outta sight. He shouldn't've worried. A moment later, she came tearin' 'round the bend on her own horse with Rosalie at her side. There was a bandana wound 'round the pommel. She took it off and wrapped it 'round her mouth and nose.
Gone was Bella Swan, Sheriff's daughter. Out to play was Hell's Bells, vigilante.
Her skits was torn but that mattered none. There were pistols strapped to her thighs, and she took one out and fired away. Not at Carlisle, though. At the Trackers who had gained frightenin' speed. They moseyed up behind her and Victoria leveled her rifle in a way that spoke of years of practice.
Hell's Bells didn't give 'em time to breathe. She turned 'round in her saddle and fired a perfect shot at the ground by the black man's horse. Spooked it so bad that the horse threw the man clean off and knocked the redhead off trajectory so the shot aimed wide.
The man got tramped by the spooked horse, heavy hooves cavin' in on his head. There was blood in the sand and a battle cry in the air.
Victoria was alone. And she was livid.
"This way!" Emmett shouted, steerin' them back towards the town.
Edward noticed why. Jasper and Alice had reached the train, pullin' each other up on the gold car with their sack of dynamite primed and ready. No one could stop the work in motion. They'd risked too much already.
They were gonna get rid of that gold, one way or another.
Victoria took the bait, too mad to see anything but red and Hell's Bells with a target on her back. She peeled after Bella and Edward while Emmett went after Carlisle, tryin' one last time to talk some sense into him. Either the old man would see reason or he'd go up with the train.
"Watch out!"
The shot was too close for comfort, tearin' a hole through Bella's saddle buckle. She started slippin' and slidin', grippin' tight with white knuckles. She stood on her stirrups and jumped, lettin' the whole thing fall off, ridin' bareback and free through the desert like the wild folks who came before her.
Maybe it was that moment Edward admitted he was just a little in love with her. Sure, she was a mad woman with a flamin' temper and a mean streak, but she was the realest most incredible treasure he'd ever stumbled across in his life. He was in awe of her spirit, her grit.
They weren't gonna lose this one, no sir.
"Up ahead!" she shouted.
Clouds of dust and more riders. Likely not friendly. Likely law enforcement. They needed to wrap this up, quick.
A trail sprouted up outta the brush and Hell's Bells took it. Edward follows close, Delilah clippin' the edges close so that she didn't tumble into the basin below. The path was rocky and uneven, treacherous on a good and careful day. But now they were courtin' death with every turn.
"Slow down!" Edward pleaded, but his protests were lost.
Victoria was too close - so close he could see the hatred in her eyes. She bared her teeth and shot past him, nearly pushin' him off the edge. He tried to grab her reins, anythin' to get her to stop, but she was too quick. She stirred dust up in his face, her sights set on Hell's Bells.
They ended up on a mesa's ledge, the view of the whole desert sprawled out around them. It woulda been a beautiful spot, romantic even, had death not chosen to visit. Victoria had Hell's Bells cornered up there. There was nowhere to go but down.
"You ain't gettin' away from me this time," Victoria snarled, her gun fixed on Hell's Bells as she loaded another shot. "Yer gonna pay for what you did to James."
"Maybe if yer man had learned to keep his hands to himself, he'd be here instead of six feet under."
Victoria screamed and shot, but Bella was already movin'. The bullet lodged itself in the ground where she stood not a moment before. There was no time for Victoria to reload. She cried her battle cry and ran forward, usin' her rifle as a club.
But she used too much force too fast. Bella ducked and rolled as Victoria lowered the butt of her rifle. The weight sent her stumblin' over her own feet. The ground was shifty at best. It gave way as soon as the excess force connected.
Time moved slow as Victoria fell. The fear in her eyes had time to fade to rage, then to acceptance. Until she grew too small to see and landed with a clouded of dust in the basin below.
No one coulda survived that fall. No one.
Edward moved to Bella helpin' her up and holdin' her close. She shook like a leaf in his arms. All that excitement was wearin' off and they were both bone tired. Edward coulda drug himself back into his bed and slept for a week. But there was still work to be done.
They saddled themselves once more and slowly rode down the path. It was easier to navigate this time without the threat of death around every turn. When they reached the mouth of the trail, the stopped behind a large boulder, watchin'.
There was a commotion in the distance.
Edward recognized Ghost stirrin' up dust like her life depended on it, Alice and Jasper on her back minus one explosives sack. Rosalie was nowhere to be found, but that didn't mean nothin'. The train chugged forward, no missin' wheels nor ripped up tracks.
Closest was Emmett who pulled his horse 'round, Carlisle spittin' mad and fallin' off the damn thing. rollin' in the dirt. Emmett musta pulled him off by force, the only one of 'em strong enough to do it, but didn't stop to scoop him back up. No, Emmett rode on to catch up with Ghost. If Edward was smart, he'd follow suit. But he was captivated by his father.
Carlisle tried to run back towards the train, but it was too late.
The train blew up, the last car combustin' into smoke and screechin' metal as it flew to pieces. That was the sound of liberation: all that metal and carnage. All that molten gold rainin' down around the wreckage like glitterin' guts.
Finally. They were free.
Carlisle fell to his knees and howled like wounded animal. His cry was somethin' primal, somethin' that stirred the spirits and echoed off the canyons. Like whatever demon was possessin' him had finally given up the ghost, leavin' behind a shell of a man.
Horses surrounded him, circlin' him like sharks. One got closer, the Sheriff dismountin' and pacin' towards his prey. None of these lawmen caught sight of Edward and Bella from their hidin' spot, and the others were too far off to be spotted now, likely headed over the ridge and back towards Forks. The train hadn't taken 'em too far.
No, these men were focused on the real prize: the reign of the vigilante leader known as Carlisle Cullen of the Cullen Family Gang finally brought to and end.
"It's over Carlisle. Surrender now and we'll go easy on you 'n yer family."
"Surrender," Carlisle repeated, the word hollow in his mouth. Edward's stomach turned. He knew that tone.
Carlisle stood, his eyes bloodshot under the brim of his dirtied hat. He looked hateful, spittin' mad. Unlike the Sheriff, his gun was not holstered. The Sheriff didn't have his guns at all. They were in his daughter's possession half way across the canyon. He had no way to fight back.
"I ain't ever surrendered in my life. I ain't startin' now."
The gun went off and the Sheriff fell.
Bella screamed. She tore herself off her horse and hit the ground like a devil. Damn safety, she ran to her father, hopin' for anything but the worst.
Her response was automatic. There was another gun stashed on her person, one she pulled from her boot. A gun with one bullet in it - a safety precaution or an escape plan or sweet, sweet revenge. A bullet she lodged right between Carlisle's eyes.
Carlisle died shocked, eyes wide open and brains blown away.
There was no time to grieve, no time to process. Strange enough, Edward felt surprisingly little over seein' his adopted Daddy's brains scattered 'cross the dirt. Carlisle had lost himself somewhere along the way. Gone was the man who saved Edward from a feverish death, his greed turnin' him into the monster lyin' dead at Edward's feet.
The rest of his family would require closure. Perhaps even the body. But Edward was no miracle worker. 'Sides, outta the two men lyin' on this ground, he knew which one he would choose to honor.
"No, no, no!" Bella wailed as she scooped her Daddy's dyin' body up.
He musta weighed a ton more than she did, but that didn't stop her from lyin' him down across her lap. His blood soaked through her tattered skirts, stainin' 'em red. There was too much, Edward knew. Years with Carlisle had taught him what a man could and could not lose, and the Sheriff had lost more than his body could bear.
"Daddy, please don't leave me," she begged, tears soakin' her cheeks. They were ugly cries, the kind that bubbled snot in her nose and turned her cheeks scarlet.
The Sheriff raised a weak hand to her cheek, blood streakin' her skin where he laid his fingers.
"My girl..." he sighed.
Then he went still, his hand fallin' to the ground.
Bella wailed louder.
Life was cruel. The Sheriff did not deserve such a fate. Bella did not deserve such a fate. To have her father finally see her as she was and not scorn her for it...well, perhaps that was a stretch. No one would ever know if the Sheriff coulda loved his daughter as Hell's Bells. But Bella cradled that limp hand to her cheek and placed kisses upon his face, takin' his last words as love.
The ground rumbled. The posse came chargin'. There was no time to waste. It was either turn tail n' run, or get caught in the crossfire. There had been so much loss already.
As the vultures closed in, Bella looked up: her hair wild, her eyes bloodshot. She would not move, not with her Daddy needin' her. Didn't matter if he was dead and gone. She could not leave him.
Edward understood. There was no time to beg.
He jumped up and dug his heels into Delilah's sides and sent her tearin' after his brothers, leavin' Bella behind. And if he shed a tear, it dried before it ever hit his cheek, turnin' his heart to dust.