Tate was waiting patiently as Nick rode up, she smiled at him. Dismounting Goliath, she pulled out his half of her food and offered it to him.
"You are lucky you didn't go in there, I saw no less then six posters of you." Nick said as he took the food and put it in his own pouch.
Ignoring her comment, he looked over at her with a blank stare. "How much do I owe you?"
"Don't worry about it." Nick climbed on Goliath, "Come along, Boss." She said heading west around the city.
"I don't take charity, woman. So tell me how much I owe ya?"
Looking back at him, she grinned. "Consider it a benefit of riding along with me."
"I got money of my own, you know. I'm not some poor outlaw, who doesn't have a cent to his name."
Nick frowned, "Mister Norcliff, I'm insulted that you think that about me. I know you have money, after all I gave it to you."
"No, I mean…"
She winked, and turned around laughing.
Tate rose an eyebrow, she was teasing him. How dare she poke fun of him! The nerve of that woman was unbelievable. Who was she to think she could tease him? He was Tatius Norcliff, one of the greatest hired gun in the entire Wyoming territory. There wasn't a person in the world who could insult him and live to see another day.
Nick slowed her horse and turned, "Are you coming, Mister Norcliff?"
Tate realized he hadn't moved forward yet, and without answering her, he caught up to her and frowned.
"I'm only being nice, you know. We've got some time we have to be around each other, the least we can be is hospitable."
"I don't need your nice, woman. Just hush up and leave me alone, don't help me no more."
"My name is Nick, not woman. I would appreciate it, if you called me that."
He frowned, "I don't care what your name is. I don't have time…"
Nick sighed, "Let's just not talk anymore, Mister Norcliff. This isn't worth the breath it is taking to speak."
Tate agreed and began riding towards the pass where he knew he could probably get rid of this woman. Standing outside the town he had noticed two horsemen in the distance, they didn't come near him as he stood there. Now, he knew that they were following him, as they were now moving along with them. After he got rid of Nick, he would deal with them.
Was nothing more that he hated then to be followed, and these guys weren't even afraid to be seen. They obviously were trying to intimidate him, before they rode up and attacked him at night. Lighting fires at night and tracking them so closely, they were either amateurs or using a tactic he hadn't seen before. Tate was determined to find out which they were. His mind would drift from the trackers to the annoying woman who was riding with him. He also thought of the money in her pouch, and wondered how much she could possibly be carrying.
"Why don't we go around?" Nick asked.
"Because it'll be two hours to go around or fifteen minutes to go through."
Continuing forward Nick looked up at the cliff's drop, and then back down at Boss. If he was acting funny then something or someone was out there. His job was to sense things before the ranchers could see it, and that's just what he was doing. He was being cautious, walking closer to the ground, and sniffing the air.
Nick eyes shot around the pass as they got closer and then she stopped all together. Her eyes fell on a man halfway up the pass, he was hiding behind a pass. Waiting for them to get close enough, she could see he was holding out a gun, probably a musket.
"There is a man up there, behind the rock." Nick said and pointed at him.
Tate looked around but couldn't see him, "Where?"
"Right there, he's as plain as the sun to see. He's holding a gun aimed at us."
He continued to look, and finally spotted the man. There was no way he was going to tell her he could see him, "I don't see him, why don't you shoot him."
"He hasn't done anything yet." Nick protested.
"He's got a gun aimed at us, either you do it to him first, or we don't get through."
Nick grabbed her rifle and aimed it carefully. The Henry rifle was the first true repeating rifle manufactured, and since it was so new most were surprised when she fired it more then once. The gun could shoot sixteen times before it needed to be reloaded, and only took a matter of seconds to reload. She knew this man probably wasn't alone and the fact that her gun could repeat, made her more comfortable. Riding up a little closer, she fired the gun, and the man fell from his spot in the pass. His buddies began to fire, and Nick found another running towards her, shooting at her with pistols. She took aim and fired again, he fell to the ground.
Her eye shifted around, and she found a third man up near the cliff. Again, she fired and he fell out of sight. Nick turned around to Tate who hadn't pulled his guns yet.
"Are you going to help?"
"Can't aim from here, too far away." he lied.
Out of the corner of her eye, Nick saw three men running into the wood areas away from the hill. She assumed that they decided to retreat and began to ride Goliath through the pass. She kept her eyes up carefully watching to make sure no one was left behind, she looked occasionally at Boss who would tell her where anyone was.
They made it through without another incident and continued to ride forward. Tate rode in front, being both angry and impressed that she had made it through. He heard the sound of her gun, and turned his horse to find the rifle pointed at him.
"Mister Norcliff, if you ever try to lead me through a place that you know I could get killed, and neglect to tell me or not help me when we are in a gun battle, I swear I won't hesitate to put a hole in your head."
Tate said nothing, only turned his horse and began riding away. She was satisfied and put her gun on the horse's back. Her eyes remained on Tate, he was angry and there was no telling what he would do. She kept her mouth shut, and continued to ride behind him, allowing him some air and room. When he eyes turned to the east, she heard his gun cock and stopped her horse. Looking at him, he sat with one of his guns pointed at her.
"If you ever threaten me again, I promise to leave you right where you stand. I've never killed a woman, and I don't plan on starting, but I leave you right here to die."
He waited for her glare to die down, and then put his gun away. Riding up they came to a fork in the road, one leading south-east and the other south-west. To the south-west was a cave where he knew several outlaws would hang out and wait for unsuspecting travelers to pass by. He remembered Nick's word, and decided that for now she had earned his respect with the way she handled her weapon and killing a man. Obviously, she wasn't as green as he had thought she was, and so he took the south-east road.
Nick stared and watched him pick a road, suddenly she didn't trust him in the least anymore. He was trying to get her killed, it was obviously the case. There was no way in hell, she was going to continue following this crook. She would do better by herself, and to hell with the money she had given him. Waiting a few moments, for him to get up the road, she headed towards the south-west in hopes to get him out of her life forever.
Tate traveled for ten minutes down the road, thinking about what had just occurred. She had earned his respect at least for the time being, and after all she was just being nice. The woman didn't deserve him to threaten her, and she sure as hell didn't deserve him leading her through that pass. She was a paying customer, and perhaps he should remain quiet instead of mouthing off to everything she had been saying. He still didn't like her, but she could hold her own, and that's all he really asked of her to begin with.
Turning his head, he was going to ask her if she need to refill her canteen. There was no movement out of the corner of his eye, he stopped his horse and turned to look. Nothing was behind him, not even the dog.
"Son of a…" He mumbled, and road back towards the fork in the wondered how long she hadn't been following him. When he got to the fork he looked at the tracks on the ground, she was heading west. Straight into the trap, he was trying to save her from.
Taking off down the path, he saw her in the distance, she wasn't near the cave yet. But she was getting too close for comfort.
"Woman!" He yelled and rode up to her.
Nick continued to ride on, didn't even pay him any attention.
"Hey, stop." He ordered, and grabbed her reigns. "You can't ride down this way, it ain't safe."
"Why should I believe you?"
Tate frowned, "I'm telling you that cave down there is where a group of thugs like the jump out at passer bys and rob and kill them. I've traveled to Redrock before, many times…"
"You've been to Redrock before?" Nick rose an eyebrow.
Tate nodded, "Yeah, I got family there. Listen…"
"You didn't tell me, that you had been there before."
"I know, listen, Nicole…"
"My name is Nick."
"Nick or Nicole, what's the difference?"
"My name isn't Nicole, my full name is Nicolette."
He sighed, "I'm not going to argue with you about your name. I was close enough, wasn't I? Wasn't like I called you Sarah."
Nick yanked the reigns out of his hands, "Go away, I don't need your help anymore. I'm sick of you."
"Wait…" He grabbed her reigns again, "Now, you listen here, woman, I am trying to save your life right now. I am telling you…"
"What do you care?"
"Care about what?"
Nick frowned, "My life, just go away and leave me to my own."
"I don't care about your life, I care about the other half of that money you promised me. Now, you made it clear that I am not to lead you through any more ambushes like that, and I'm not going to. So, lets head back and go…"
"No, leave me be."
"You stubborn, little… you know what? Screw this, if you want to go by the cave, be my guest. I'll see what I can do after they rape and murder you." Tate let go of the reigns, and started riding his horse towards the fork.
"Hey!" Nick yelled out.
"What?"
She looked back down the road and then at Tate, "Are there really guys in that cave?"
"Most of the time, there are."
"You swear on everyone and everything you know and love?"
Tate frowned, he didn't believe this. "Alright."
Without another word, Nick road up beside him and they headed towards the fork again.
"They've been following us since we left Honeycomb." Tate told her.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
He shrugged, "Wasn't important. I've got an idea now, though." Take my horse and lead it toward the east
road, I'm going to hide in the bushes and see what these fellas want. Come back in about twenty minutes." He dismounted when they got near the bushes, and handed her the reigns.
Nick continued to ride off, and looked back every so often. She hoped they wouldn't notice that she was pulling a manless horse. After what seemed an eternity, Nick rode back. She saw the two men kneeling down with Tate pointing guns at the back of their heads. Boss immediately ran up and started licking the white hat cowboy's face, his tail was wagging rapidly.
"Rock? Andy?" She said riding up, and both men looked at her. "Put your guns away, Mister Norcliff. These are my friends."
Tate sighed and put his guns away, then grabbed the reigns of his horse from Nick.
"What are you tow doing out here?" She asked them.
"W-w-we was f-f-fol…" Andy was having a lot of trouble speaking, Tate probably shook him up, that and Boss wouldn't stop licking his face. He tried to push him down, but he would jump back up. Finally both, he and Rock stood up when they knew it was safe.
Rock explained, allowing Andy to calm down. "Andy saw you talking to him, and then when you left the other day, we knew something was up. And we watch you break this guy out, so we thought we would follow you make sure everything was safe."
"You head back to Honeycomb right this instant, this is none of your concern." Nick ordered.
"We aren't going anywhere, Nick." Rock barked back, "You broke a outlaw out of jail, you're one now yourself! Ain't no way we are going to allow you to get in anymore trouble, what the hell are you doing anyway?"
"I'm going after Brody." Nick told him, and heard Tate moan, he obviously objected to her telling them what they were doing.
"Nick, you c-c-can't do that." Andy told her.
"The hell I can't. That bastard is going to pay for what he's done."
"Your p-p-pa wouldn't w-want this."
"Listen, go home and pretend none of this happened." Nick ordered and began to turn Goliath to ride off.
"I'm coming with, Nick." Rock yelled, "I don't trust this man to be with you alone, and I'm not about to let you go off and get yourself killed."
"T-t-then I'm coming t-t-too." Andy stated and pushed Boss, who was on his leg, down.
"No, this isn't your fight." Nick told them.
"Y-y-yes it is, Nick. Jake was my p-pa too."
"They were all our family, if you get to make him suffer so do we." Rock added.
Staring at them for a moment, she looked over at Tate. "Mister Norcliff has enough problems with me coming along, let alone two more."
"We don't give a hoot what he has problems with, we are going and that's that." Rock snapped.
Nick looked at Tate, who shrugged, "What the hell. Let's get moving, we can argue more later at camp." He said mounting his horse, he turned his horse away from the others and headed down the path.
Nick only gave a disgruntled look to Andy and Rock, before turning around and following behind Tate. There was nothing she hated more then having an unexpected surprise when she thought she had everything planned out. Sighing, she continued to look back to tell them that she was unhappy with their appearance in her journey. Neither Rock nor Andy seemed to mind, it wasn't like she hadn't been angry at them before.
Tate's eyes hovered back and forth between the three, it was starting to make him uncomfortable. Reaching into his pouch he broke himself off some bread, cheese, and some strips of jerky. His actions reminded everyone else that they should eat as well, Nick removed the same items from her saddle bag. Rock and Andy had jerky as well, but nothing else to fill their stomachs.
"Let me have some cheese, Nick." Rock reached out his hand, only to have it slapped away. She hit it so hard and so unexpectedly that it almost went into the fire.
Turning her back towards him, she continued to eat, ignoring his cursing about her being a brat.
Tate had nearly gagged on his jerky when he witnessed her hit the large man's hand. It wasn't that he didn't expect it, but the look on his face was like a child being punished for the first time.
"A-a-alright, Nick, you've made y-y-your point, damnit!" Andy barked, which caused everyone to turn and looked at him. "E-e-enough's enough, you aren't t-t-twelve, you know."
Nick stood up, and looked across the fire at him. "You know by following me out here, Avery probably thinks you helped me break him free. You've made yourself an outlaw too!"
"What the hell does that got to do with anything?" Rock asked agitated.
"You two were suppose to stay on the ranch and work, finishing living out your years. I can not believe the two of you would risk your reputation to follow me out here, and…"
"Shut up!" Tate yelled, "Listen here, I don't give a god damn hoot, what the hell you three are going through or why we are heading to Redrock. But I'll tell you what I do care about, you all making enough noise to attract every lawman this side of the Mississippi." Standing up, he put the last bit of cheese into his mouth, "Now, Nicole…"
"Nicolette!" Nick snapped.
"Calm down, calm down. Nicolette, they are here with us and it'll be safer to travel in a group of four anyway. Two people traveling alone is a bandits dream. I don't like it, probably more then you do, but that's the way it is. Now, everyone needs to shut your mouths, and eat your food. We need to get to sleep if we want to make an early start in the morning."
With that Tate sat down and pulled his hat over his eyes.
"But…" Nick began.
"Not another word, woman." He said without lifting his hat, just pointing his index finger at her, and then folding his arms.
"Oh!" Nick gasped, and kicked the dirt towards Tate, then walked into the darkness.
Lifting his hat up, he looked at the dirt on his shirt and pants, then over at Rock. He shrugged, and offered Tate a look of sympathy. Wiping the dirt off himself, he put the hat back on.
"Road ain't no place for a woman."
"Wouldn't let, Nick, hear you say that, Mister Norcliff." Rock said, settling down to prepare for his night's rest.
"She knows how I feel, I've made it obvious to her."
Neither Andy nor Rock, felt like responding to that. After the snoring of the camp began, Nick returned to find Andy still awake, he smiled as she took her seat.
"Been t-tough has it?" He asked.
"Yeah, Tate has my feathers all ruffled. He near tried to get me killed at the pass, wouldn't help me by shooting. Said he couldn't hit them from that distance, damn liar." Nick crossed her arms, then sighed, "Glad you are here, though, maybe he won't do that now."
"Sure d-d-didn't act like you were glad."
She looked down, trying to look ashamed, "Sorry, Andy, but you two just weren't part of the plan. I thought you
would be safe and happy in Honeycomb still, and here you are. I'm only mad cause I didn't want ya all sticking your neck out on the line for me."
Andy nodded, "Let's get us some s-sleep."
Smiling, she leaned against her saddle, allowing the night time to drift past.
"You are lucky you didn't go in there, I saw no less then six posters of you." Nick said as he took the food and put it in his own pouch.
Ignoring her comment, he looked over at her with a blank stare. "How much do I owe you?"
"Don't worry about it." Nick climbed on Goliath, "Come along, Boss." She said heading west around the city.
"I don't take charity, woman. So tell me how much I owe ya?"
Looking back at him, she grinned. "Consider it a benefit of riding along with me."
"I got money of my own, you know. I'm not some poor outlaw, who doesn't have a cent to his name."
Nick frowned, "Mister Norcliff, I'm insulted that you think that about me. I know you have money, after all I gave it to you."
"No, I mean…"
She winked, and turned around laughing.
Tate rose an eyebrow, she was teasing him. How dare she poke fun of him! The nerve of that woman was unbelievable. Who was she to think she could tease him? He was Tatius Norcliff, one of the greatest hired gun in the entire Wyoming territory. There wasn't a person in the world who could insult him and live to see another day.
Nick slowed her horse and turned, "Are you coming, Mister Norcliff?"
Tate realized he hadn't moved forward yet, and without answering her, he caught up to her and frowned.
"I'm only being nice, you know. We've got some time we have to be around each other, the least we can be is hospitable."
"I don't need your nice, woman. Just hush up and leave me alone, don't help me no more."
"My name is Nick, not woman. I would appreciate it, if you called me that."
He frowned, "I don't care what your name is. I don't have time…"
Nick sighed, "Let's just not talk anymore, Mister Norcliff. This isn't worth the breath it is taking to speak."
Tate agreed and began riding towards the pass where he knew he could probably get rid of this woman. Standing outside the town he had noticed two horsemen in the distance, they didn't come near him as he stood there. Now, he knew that they were following him, as they were now moving along with them. After he got rid of Nick, he would deal with them.
Was nothing more that he hated then to be followed, and these guys weren't even afraid to be seen. They obviously were trying to intimidate him, before they rode up and attacked him at night. Lighting fires at night and tracking them so closely, they were either amateurs or using a tactic he hadn't seen before. Tate was determined to find out which they were. His mind would drift from the trackers to the annoying woman who was riding with him. He also thought of the money in her pouch, and wondered how much she could possibly be carrying.
---***---
The pass was a split in a large rocky hill, some would even call it a mountain, but Tate knew better. Nick's eyes looked over it for the first time in her life, rocks, some greens like grass and trees, and many dark areas for people to hide in. She watched carefully as Tate approached it, and how Boss seemed to moving slower the normal."Why don't we go around?" Nick asked.
"Because it'll be two hours to go around or fifteen minutes to go through."
Continuing forward Nick looked up at the cliff's drop, and then back down at Boss. If he was acting funny then something or someone was out there. His job was to sense things before the ranchers could see it, and that's just what he was doing. He was being cautious, walking closer to the ground, and sniffing the air.
Nick eyes shot around the pass as they got closer and then she stopped all together. Her eyes fell on a man halfway up the pass, he was hiding behind a pass. Waiting for them to get close enough, she could see he was holding out a gun, probably a musket.
"There is a man up there, behind the rock." Nick said and pointed at him.
Tate looked around but couldn't see him, "Where?"
"Right there, he's as plain as the sun to see. He's holding a gun aimed at us."
He continued to look, and finally spotted the man. There was no way he was going to tell her he could see him, "I don't see him, why don't you shoot him."
"He hasn't done anything yet." Nick protested.
"He's got a gun aimed at us, either you do it to him first, or we don't get through."
Nick grabbed her rifle and aimed it carefully. The Henry rifle was the first true repeating rifle manufactured, and since it was so new most were surprised when she fired it more then once. The gun could shoot sixteen times before it needed to be reloaded, and only took a matter of seconds to reload. She knew this man probably wasn't alone and the fact that her gun could repeat, made her more comfortable. Riding up a little closer, she fired the gun, and the man fell from his spot in the pass. His buddies began to fire, and Nick found another running towards her, shooting at her with pistols. She took aim and fired again, he fell to the ground.
Her eye shifted around, and she found a third man up near the cliff. Again, she fired and he fell out of sight. Nick turned around to Tate who hadn't pulled his guns yet.
"Are you going to help?"
"Can't aim from here, too far away." he lied.
Out of the corner of her eye, Nick saw three men running into the wood areas away from the hill. She assumed that they decided to retreat and began to ride Goliath through the pass. She kept her eyes up carefully watching to make sure no one was left behind, she looked occasionally at Boss who would tell her where anyone was.
They made it through without another incident and continued to ride forward. Tate rode in front, being both angry and impressed that she had made it through. He heard the sound of her gun, and turned his horse to find the rifle pointed at him.
"Mister Norcliff, if you ever try to lead me through a place that you know I could get killed, and neglect to tell me or not help me when we are in a gun battle, I swear I won't hesitate to put a hole in your head."
Tate said nothing, only turned his horse and began riding away. She was satisfied and put her gun on the horse's back. Her eyes remained on Tate, he was angry and there was no telling what he would do. She kept her mouth shut, and continued to ride behind him, allowing him some air and room. When he eyes turned to the east, she heard his gun cock and stopped her horse. Looking at him, he sat with one of his guns pointed at her.
"If you ever threaten me again, I promise to leave you right where you stand. I've never killed a woman, and I don't plan on starting, but I leave you right here to die."
He waited for her glare to die down, and then put his gun away. Riding up they came to a fork in the road, one leading south-east and the other south-west. To the south-west was a cave where he knew several outlaws would hang out and wait for unsuspecting travelers to pass by. He remembered Nick's word, and decided that for now she had earned his respect with the way she handled her weapon and killing a man. Obviously, she wasn't as green as he had thought she was, and so he took the south-east road.
Nick stared and watched him pick a road, suddenly she didn't trust him in the least anymore. He was trying to get her killed, it was obviously the case. There was no way in hell, she was going to continue following this crook. She would do better by herself, and to hell with the money she had given him. Waiting a few moments, for him to get up the road, she headed towards the south-west in hopes to get him out of her life forever.
Tate traveled for ten minutes down the road, thinking about what had just occurred. She had earned his respect at least for the time being, and after all she was just being nice. The woman didn't deserve him to threaten her, and she sure as hell didn't deserve him leading her through that pass. She was a paying customer, and perhaps he should remain quiet instead of mouthing off to everything she had been saying. He still didn't like her, but she could hold her own, and that's all he really asked of her to begin with.
Turning his head, he was going to ask her if she need to refill her canteen. There was no movement out of the corner of his eye, he stopped his horse and turned to look. Nothing was behind him, not even the dog.
"Son of a…" He mumbled, and road back towards the fork in the wondered how long she hadn't been following him. When he got to the fork he looked at the tracks on the ground, she was heading west. Straight into the trap, he was trying to save her from.
Taking off down the path, he saw her in the distance, she wasn't near the cave yet. But she was getting too close for comfort.
"Woman!" He yelled and rode up to her.
Nick continued to ride on, didn't even pay him any attention.
"Hey, stop." He ordered, and grabbed her reigns. "You can't ride down this way, it ain't safe."
"Why should I believe you?"
Tate frowned, "I'm telling you that cave down there is where a group of thugs like the jump out at passer bys and rob and kill them. I've traveled to Redrock before, many times…"
"You've been to Redrock before?" Nick rose an eyebrow.
Tate nodded, "Yeah, I got family there. Listen…"
"You didn't tell me, that you had been there before."
"I know, listen, Nicole…"
"My name is Nick."
"Nick or Nicole, what's the difference?"
"My name isn't Nicole, my full name is Nicolette."
He sighed, "I'm not going to argue with you about your name. I was close enough, wasn't I? Wasn't like I called you Sarah."
Nick yanked the reigns out of his hands, "Go away, I don't need your help anymore. I'm sick of you."
"Wait…" He grabbed her reigns again, "Now, you listen here, woman, I am trying to save your life right now. I am telling you…"
"What do you care?"
"Care about what?"
Nick frowned, "My life, just go away and leave me to my own."
"I don't care about your life, I care about the other half of that money you promised me. Now, you made it clear that I am not to lead you through any more ambushes like that, and I'm not going to. So, lets head back and go…"
"No, leave me be."
"You stubborn, little… you know what? Screw this, if you want to go by the cave, be my guest. I'll see what I can do after they rape and murder you." Tate let go of the reigns, and started riding his horse towards the fork.
"Hey!" Nick yelled out.
"What?"
She looked back down the road and then at Tate, "Are there really guys in that cave?"
"Most of the time, there are."
"You swear on everyone and everything you know and love?"
Tate frowned, he didn't believe this. "Alright."
Without another word, Nick road up beside him and they headed towards the fork again.
---***---
They kept quiet neither speaking, it was better when they both just kept their thoughts to themselves, anyway. Once they were near the fork, Nick spotted the two horsemen coming through the pass."They've been following us since we left Honeycomb." Tate told her.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
He shrugged, "Wasn't important. I've got an idea now, though." Take my horse and lead it toward the east
road, I'm going to hide in the bushes and see what these fellas want. Come back in about twenty minutes." He dismounted when they got near the bushes, and handed her the reigns.
Nick continued to ride off, and looked back every so often. She hoped they wouldn't notice that she was pulling a manless horse. After what seemed an eternity, Nick rode back. She saw the two men kneeling down with Tate pointing guns at the back of their heads. Boss immediately ran up and started licking the white hat cowboy's face, his tail was wagging rapidly.
"Rock? Andy?" She said riding up, and both men looked at her. "Put your guns away, Mister Norcliff. These are my friends."
Tate sighed and put his guns away, then grabbed the reigns of his horse from Nick.
"What are you tow doing out here?" She asked them.
"W-w-we was f-f-fol…" Andy was having a lot of trouble speaking, Tate probably shook him up, that and Boss wouldn't stop licking his face. He tried to push him down, but he would jump back up. Finally both, he and Rock stood up when they knew it was safe.
Rock explained, allowing Andy to calm down. "Andy saw you talking to him, and then when you left the other day, we knew something was up. And we watch you break this guy out, so we thought we would follow you make sure everything was safe."
"You head back to Honeycomb right this instant, this is none of your concern." Nick ordered.
"We aren't going anywhere, Nick." Rock barked back, "You broke a outlaw out of jail, you're one now yourself! Ain't no way we are going to allow you to get in anymore trouble, what the hell are you doing anyway?"
"I'm going after Brody." Nick told him, and heard Tate moan, he obviously objected to her telling them what they were doing.
"Nick, you c-c-can't do that." Andy told her.
"The hell I can't. That bastard is going to pay for what he's done."
"Your p-p-pa wouldn't w-want this."
"Listen, go home and pretend none of this happened." Nick ordered and began to turn Goliath to ride off.
"I'm coming with, Nick." Rock yelled, "I don't trust this man to be with you alone, and I'm not about to let you go off and get yourself killed."
"T-t-then I'm coming t-t-too." Andy stated and pushed Boss, who was on his leg, down.
"No, this isn't your fight." Nick told them.
"Y-y-yes it is, Nick. Jake was my p-pa too."
"They were all our family, if you get to make him suffer so do we." Rock added.
Staring at them for a moment, she looked over at Tate. "Mister Norcliff has enough problems with me coming along, let alone two more."
"We don't give a hoot what he has problems with, we are going and that's that." Rock snapped.
Nick looked at Tate, who shrugged, "What the hell. Let's get moving, we can argue more later at camp." He said mounting his horse, he turned his horse away from the others and headed down the path.
Nick only gave a disgruntled look to Andy and Rock, before turning around and following behind Tate. There was nothing she hated more then having an unexpected surprise when she thought she had everything planned out. Sighing, she continued to look back to tell them that she was unhappy with their appearance in her journey. Neither Rock nor Andy seemed to mind, it wasn't like she hadn't been angry at them before.
---***---
Night fell and the travelers stopped to make camp, Tate built the fire, leaving the others to stare among each other. It seemed for the longest time the only sound was the crackling of the fire. She was angry with them, and they knew better then to interrupt her glares with speech. Andy stared down at the dirt, not wanting to take on the full fledge of Nick's glares. However, Rock was content to stare right back, he broke contact a few times which seemed to keep her from exploding.Tate's eyes hovered back and forth between the three, it was starting to make him uncomfortable. Reaching into his pouch he broke himself off some bread, cheese, and some strips of jerky. His actions reminded everyone else that they should eat as well, Nick removed the same items from her saddle bag. Rock and Andy had jerky as well, but nothing else to fill their stomachs.
"Let me have some cheese, Nick." Rock reached out his hand, only to have it slapped away. She hit it so hard and so unexpectedly that it almost went into the fire.
Turning her back towards him, she continued to eat, ignoring his cursing about her being a brat.
Tate had nearly gagged on his jerky when he witnessed her hit the large man's hand. It wasn't that he didn't expect it, but the look on his face was like a child being punished for the first time.
"A-a-alright, Nick, you've made y-y-your point, damnit!" Andy barked, which caused everyone to turn and looked at him. "E-e-enough's enough, you aren't t-t-twelve, you know."
Nick stood up, and looked across the fire at him. "You know by following me out here, Avery probably thinks you helped me break him free. You've made yourself an outlaw too!"
"What the hell does that got to do with anything?" Rock asked agitated.
"You two were suppose to stay on the ranch and work, finishing living out your years. I can not believe the two of you would risk your reputation to follow me out here, and…"
"Shut up!" Tate yelled, "Listen here, I don't give a god damn hoot, what the hell you three are going through or why we are heading to Redrock. But I'll tell you what I do care about, you all making enough noise to attract every lawman this side of the Mississippi." Standing up, he put the last bit of cheese into his mouth, "Now, Nicole…"
"Nicolette!" Nick snapped.
"Calm down, calm down. Nicolette, they are here with us and it'll be safer to travel in a group of four anyway. Two people traveling alone is a bandits dream. I don't like it, probably more then you do, but that's the way it is. Now, everyone needs to shut your mouths, and eat your food. We need to get to sleep if we want to make an early start in the morning."
With that Tate sat down and pulled his hat over his eyes.
"But…" Nick began.
"Not another word, woman." He said without lifting his hat, just pointing his index finger at her, and then folding his arms.
"Oh!" Nick gasped, and kicked the dirt towards Tate, then walked into the darkness.
Lifting his hat up, he looked at the dirt on his shirt and pants, then over at Rock. He shrugged, and offered Tate a look of sympathy. Wiping the dirt off himself, he put the hat back on.
"Road ain't no place for a woman."
"Wouldn't let, Nick, hear you say that, Mister Norcliff." Rock said, settling down to prepare for his night's rest.
"She knows how I feel, I've made it obvious to her."
Neither Andy nor Rock, felt like responding to that. After the snoring of the camp began, Nick returned to find Andy still awake, he smiled as she took her seat.
"Been t-tough has it?" He asked.
"Yeah, Tate has my feathers all ruffled. He near tried to get me killed at the pass, wouldn't help me by shooting. Said he couldn't hit them from that distance, damn liar." Nick crossed her arms, then sighed, "Glad you are here, though, maybe he won't do that now."
"Sure d-d-didn't act like you were glad."
She looked down, trying to look ashamed, "Sorry, Andy, but you two just weren't part of the plan. I thought you
would be safe and happy in Honeycomb still, and here you are. I'm only mad cause I didn't want ya all sticking your neck out on the line for me."
Andy nodded, "Let's get us some s-sleep."
Smiling, she leaned against her saddle, allowing the night time to drift past.