Arriving at Rose's cabin, they checked the barn to see if Andy and Nick had arrived back yet. They had not, but strangely enough Natalie's horse was in the barn. Tate went into to find his sister asleep in one of the chairs, he took a small quilt from the other chair and laid it over her. Rock had come in to see her as well, and when he saw that she was sleeping he went back outside.
Tate joined him in hopes that Nick and Andy would be arriving back soon enough. Rock stood in the grass near the dirt path, and Tate went to join him. Both men wondered what had taken Nick and Andy so long, they should of met along the path back.
"Nick isn't going to be pleased that you let him go." Rock said to Tate after a moment of silence past between them.
"She'll understand. He was my partner once."
"What if he tells Brody that it's us, and what our plan is?" Rock turned to face him. "Or maybe he followed us back and knows where we are hiding now."
Tate looked the man beside him over, Rock wasn't much shorter then the man in front of him, but was at least half his size in width. "Chris is a man of his word, if he says he is leaving town then he is. He never would of taken my money if he wasn't going to do it."
Rock snorted, "If you cost us our revenge, I swear, Tate…" He stopped himself from finishing the sentence.
"You swear what? You'll kill me?" Tate took a step closer to him, "Think you got what it takes, do you?"
Rock glared at him out of the corner of his eye, but didn't say anything.
"Well? This is the second time tonight that you have threatened me."
"I won't kill you, I'll beat you until you wish I had though." Rock folded his arms, as Tate dropped his own.
The anger burned red inside Tate's eyes. "Beat me, will ya?" Again, he took another step towards Rock.
"Keep your distance, ya yella' belly bastard!" Rock snapped.
"Don't you call me yella'!" Tate hissed.
"You couldn't even kill him! Sounds like a coward to me!" Rock turned to face him, and dropped his arms to the side.
Tate realized that Rock was getting upset, and decided to calm him down. "What's your problem anyway? I thought we had come to terms."
"My problem? My problem? You are my problem, Tate." Rock barked, this time he was the one who stepped forward, "You may say that you ain't going to try anything on Nick, but I see the wheels turning in that thick skull of yours."
"Oh, is this what it's really about?" Tate stepped closer, and grinned, "I've already had her." Tate lied, he was just trying to anger him. He knew that a fight was coming between them, and wanted to throw him off balance so he would fight with pure passion instead of smart.
Rock laughed, "Ain't nobody had Nick."
Tate grinned again, "I have. Just the other day, but if you want her then go ahead. I'm done using her anyway. She meant no more to me then a whore."
He watched the large man clenched his teeth, "Don't you say that about Nick, and don't you be lying about her like that either. She is good, God fearing woman, don't you be saying nothing like that about her."
"She sure was screaming for God, when we were in the barn…" Tate felt the large fist slam into his left cheek.
He fell to the ground, caught off guard by Rock's attack. He hadn't thought the man would anger so easily, and had lined up several more taunts. At first, he didn't think that Rock would hit him again, but the giant man was atop of him within moments. His fists flew threw the air and into Tate's face and chest. He tossed out a couple punches of his own, but Rock acted as if he hadn't even noticed them. Tate felt like he was beating him with a feather instead of his own fists, but Rock's fist were real. Every time Rock pulled back his fist, he saw more blood on the man's hands. He couldn't tell if the blood was Rock's or his own.
"Tate! Rock! Stop!" Natalie's voice cried from the distance.
Tate could hear the sound of horses riding up the dirt path, but all he could see was Rock's face full of rage.
"Take it back!" Rock ordered, "You don't spit on Nick's honor like that!"
He would of taken it back had Rock given him to opportunity to speak, but his punches continued to come.
"Please, Rock, stop!" Natalie cried, "You are going to kill him!"
"Rock!" Nick's voice yelled, "Rock, stop!"
"Take it back!" Rock yelled over both of them, "Nick ain't like that!"
By this time, Tate could barely make out any moving forms. He just laid on the dry grass as the large man smashed his fist into his face.
Nick watched Tate lose consciousness, before grabbing her rifle off Goliath. She shot once into the air, and Rock looked over at her. His eyes were wide, and he had stopped hitting Tate.
"Don't think I won't shoot you, Daniel Rockwell." Nick warned him.
Suddenly, Rock realized what he had been doing, and looked down at Tate's battered face. He stood up, his eyes continued to stare down at him. He turned his sights to his hands, they were covered in teeth marks, cuts, and blood from both men.
He watched Natalie throw herself atop of Tate and begin crying for him to answer her. Nick ordered for them to get Tate inside and in a bed, which Andy, Natalie, and Nick had to carry him. Rock was too discombobulated to fully understand what had occurred.
"What…" Nick began, and then stopped herself, she wasn't sure that she wanted to know. After hearing what Rock had been screaming, she was afraid to understand the circumstances of their brawl.
Rock, at least, had the decency to look ashamed.
"You are lucky that you didn't wake Rose." Nick snapped, but Rock knew that's not what she really wanted to say. "What…" She started again, then stopped.
She rubbed the cloth deeper into his wounds, and he felt sharp pains as she did so. He didn't jerk his hands away or tell her that she was hurting him, he figured this was his punishment. He didn't get why he had brought Nick up at all with Tate, they had talked about it and knew where each other stood. It shouldn't of bothered him, but when he did mention it he saw the anger in Tate's eyes, which he took to mean he had uncovered the truth.
Tate was a traitor, and it was only a question of time before he betrayed Nick. Rock wasn't going to let that happen. He knew that Nick hadn't touched the man, it wasn't his words that angered him, instead the thought of Nick being heart broken. She would find out that Tate had been a traitor, a liar all along.
He was jerked out of his thoughts, when he heard Nick sniffle. "He was bad mouthing ya, Nick." Rock finally said, and Nick glared up at him. The look told him not to speak another word, but he did anyway. "He said that you and he had been in the barn together."
"Had been in the barn together? What the hell are you talking about, Rock?" Nick snapped, and yanked her hand closer to him as he had been pulling them away slowly.
"You know like a man and woman." Rock blushed, he sounded ridiculous and he knew it.
Nick shook her head slowly as she dropped his hand to the table with a hard thud, "Did you see him, Rock? Did you see what you did to him?"
"I…"
"No! Did you see what you did, Rock? Are you happy with what you have done?" Nick screamed, standing up, she slammed her fist into the table.
Rock dropped his head, "I don't know what came over me, Nick. He deserves it."
"Deserves to be beaten? What the hell, Rock? What the hell?"
Rock stood from his chair, "He deserves to die, Nick! He's a liar! He's a traitor! He's a killer! That man has a plan, and in the end it's going to cost us all something more valuable then our own lives!"
She shook her head, "No! He's on our side, Rock! Don't you see that? You almost killed him for what? My honor? That's what you were screaming about?"
Rock dropped into his chair, and sighed. "He doesn't deserve his next breath." He mumbled.
"And you do?" Nick asked him, and he frowned at her. Standing there quietly, she stared at him, before the tears overwhelmed her. She covered her face and ran outside before they could see her cry.
"Damn it all!" Rock slammed his fist into the table, he took several deep breathes.
"You m-made her cry, R-rock." Andy said, he had been watching everything from over the top of his book.
He nodded his head, "I know."
"Not the sniffle cry like J-jacob would make her d-do when she got in tr-trouble, either. You made her f-full out cry, Rock."
He nodded again, "I know."
Andy shook his head, and stood from the chair, leaving the book open on it. "You just don't let a w-woman run away crying, you b-bastard!" He headed out the door, and found Nick sitting on the stairs.
Taking a seat beside her, he rubbed her back gently, not saying anything.
"This isn't the way it was suppose to be." Nick finally said, "It was suppose to be easy, we would all get along. This is too hard, Andy."
"Yeah, it's h-hard." Was all he could think of to say to her. "We c-can do it, th-though."
"What if one of us dies? I don't want that to be on me, Andy."
He shrugged, "So, l-lets leave. We don't h-have to finish this."
Slowly, she shook her head, and Andy dropped his head. "I wish it was over that's all, but… I can't just walk away, not yet. Brody did us an injustice, Andy. Tate thinks my father might of owed him money."
"Th-think that's why Brody killed him?"
Nick nodded her head, before taking off her hat and running her fingers through her hair. "Teresa, Hank, Darren, and Trent, they didn't owe him anything. He made them pay for something they probably didn't even know about, Andy."
"I kn-know, Nick. Both me and Rock will st-stand behind your decisions. I j-just wish… it was over too."
Taking in a deep breath, she sighed, "What do you think Tate and Rock's fight was over?"
Andy shrugged, "I doubt it h-had anything to do with words that were s-said."
"Just tension, you think?"
"I reckon that's about right."
"Natalie?" He said, grabbing the hand that was rubbing the cloth across his face.
"No, it's Nick." The voice said, but he could barely see her. "Be quiet, Rock gave you a beating worth remembering."
Nick sighed as she looked him over, his left eye was sealed shut, and his right eye was blackened but at least it wasn't swollen. His lip had split, and the inside of his mouth had cuts where his teeth had been shoved into the skin. Both sides of his cheeks were bruised. This was the fourth time that he had awoken since the beating the day before. Natalie and Nick had taken turned watching over him, and occasionally Andy would when Natalie had to return to Redrock for the evening.
"Rock?" Tate asked.
"Yeah, you started a fight with Rock. What the hell were you thinking?" Nick asked, even though she was sure that Tate didn't understand her. She dipped the cloth back into the basin of water, and rinsed out the blood.
"Andy told you to stay away from me." Tate said, still a dazed.
"Yeah, so why did you fight Rock?"
He touched his swollen bottom lip, "He came out of the woods with my sister, bastard touched my sister."
Nick chuckled, "A lot of men touch your sister, why did it matter that Rock did?"
He shrugged, "He's suppose to be good to you."
Raising her eyebrow, she wiped his lip again. "Be good to me?"
"Yeah, I'm not Andy, I didn't stutter."
"Well, I don't need you protecting my honor for starters, especially not against a big man like Rock. Another thing, I have no say over Rock, and he is good to me."
His hand reached out and grabbed her own, laying it down on his chest. He wanted her to stop wiping his face, "That hurts." The words were mumbled.
"Yeah, well, maybe that'll teach ya not to pick a fight with Rock." Nick told him, leaving her wrist in his grasp. It was obvious that he was starting to come back around. "You know I've seen men do dumb things before, Tate, but that has to rate pretty high. I can't believe you hit Rock."
"He hit me first!" He tried to get upset, but it only hurt his chest.
Nick grinned, "Yeah, well, serves ya right for making up lies about me."
"He told you 'bout that, did he?" Tate chuckled, but stopped when it started to hurt. "Does he at least have a bruise?"
He heard her laugh, even though he didn't mean it as a joke. "Yeah, you gave him a few bruises, nothing as serious as you have. You scared your sister to death, though, Tate."
Slowly, his head nodded, "Did I make her cry? I thought I heard her cry."
"Yeah, she was crying alright."
"I promised my father I would never make her cry." Tate's words were spoken softly, and he let go of Nick's wrist.
She began to wipe some of the wounds again, they were trying to keep them clean. He was always sweating quite a bit. "She's not sad anymore, she very angry with you." Nick told him, and he nodded his head gently.
"If I don't die now, she'll kill me when I am better." He jested, but Nick didn't laugh. "That was really stupid."
"Yeah, it was. Rock's temper is uncontrollable once you get him started, you saw him fight that man in the bar a while back." She sighed, dropping the cloth back into the basin. "So, why did you do it? Just to get the story straight."
Tate chuckled, "Just throwing myself a fit is all." He was starting to come back to himself, and had hoped the words he said before had made no sense to her.
"Why?"
He shrugged, "Let's just say I got what was coming to me, and leave it at that."
Nick dropped her eyes to the floor, he had said something about Andy telling her to stay away from him. She had concluded that Tate had overheard their conversation in the barn, but why had he attacked Rock and not Andy. She didn't understand, and why had it made him so upset. He always seemed so calm, even when they were fighting.
"Guess we are going to have to push back out next outing for a few days." Nick told him.
He slowly nodded his head, "Yeah, sorry, Nick."
"Guess you'll think twice about picking a brawl with Rock too."
She saw him grin, and it broke one of the scabs on his lip. "Owe."
Picking up the wet cloth, she wiped the blood away.
"I'll start a fight with anyone, no matter what their size, if I think they are doing you wrong." Tate said, grabbing her wrist again, "That hurts."
"Next time, ask me if I feel wronged before you do, ok?"
He gave a short not, before Nick heard the familiar sounds of his heavy breathing. He had fallen asleep again, which made her wonder if he had understood what had just been said. Standing up, Nick sighed as she looked down at the broken man before she left the room, she had thought she saw Natalie riding up through the window. As the door shut, Tate opened his eye and stared at the closed door. Throwing his hand over his face, he told himself what an idiot he had been. Now, she knew for sure that he was a bad tempered criminal.
"Thank you, darling." Penny said.
Nick hadn't realized how old she looked until that moment. Penny seemed to be closer to Tate's age then her own. "You here to visit with Tate?" Nick finally asked, as the two of them stared each other down.
"Yes, I heard that he was had taken a beating." She looked towards the cabin, seeing Rose sleeping in her rocking chair with a rifle on her lap. "Is he doing any better?"
Nick grinned, "He was just talking to me right before you rode up. He fell back asleep, but head upstairs to his room. I'm sure that he'll be glad to see you, I'll take your horse to the barn."
"Thank you, darling. After what Natalie said, I didn't expect you to be…" Penny stopped speaking, "I'll go see Tate now."
She rose her eyebrow curiously as she watched the red head walk up the porch steps, Rose didn't even flinch as the door squeaked as it opened. Taking the horse to the barn, she gave it to Andy who was still cleaning up. Nick wondered where Rock had wandered off to, but was more worried about Penny had meant.
Heading into the cabin, she walked up to stairs, and found Tate's door was closed. She wondered if she should enter in, but decided to wait out in the hall. If Tate needed anything then he would have Penny come for her. She could of waited down by the fireplace and read a book, but something made her want to stay in the hallway. Perhaps, Teresa's desire to eavesdrop was finally rubbing off on her. After a moment, she stepped closer to the door, and pressed her ear against the wood.
"Tate, you need to stop this right now. You don't owe that girl anything, and I promise you this is just a taste of what is to come if Brody catches you." Penny's voice said.
"I know what Brody will do to me, if he catches me, Penny. I've been running from him for a long time. It's got to end. This has nothing to do with the girl. All she did was give me the incentive to come back here." Tate spoke the words in pain, Rock had pounded his fists into his chest just as much as he did Tate's face. "Brody needs to be stopped, I finally see that now."
She swallowed, "We have known each other a long time, Tate. You use to tell me things that you never told anyone else, remember?"
"I remember."
"What happened? I knew that when you left for California, you weren't ever going to send for me."
Tate sighed, "You knew, did you?"
Penny didn't make a sound, and Nick thought perhaps she was nodding.
"I've always lied to ya, Penny. I think you knew that too. All these years, you didn't mean nearly as much to me as I lead you to believe."
She chuckled, "I always knew that, Tate. Doesn't mean we still can't try. In California, we could get hitched, and settle down somewhere. You can learn to love me, I know that I can get you too."
"I don't know, Penny."
She sighed loudly, "Natalie told me about the girl and you. She's just a baby, Tate. You can't be serious."
"She's not a baby, I mean she can't be more then ten years younger then me." Tate snorted, "Besides, Natalie doesn't know what she's talking about."
There was a moment of silence, and Nick wondered if Penny was going to open the door. She thought about stepping back, but wanted to wait until she heard footsteps.
"Tate, listen to me. You are an outlaw, you are a dirty man. God ain't going to bless you with a woman like that, so come out of your damn dreams. I may not be the Virgin Mary, but I do love you, and that's more then you can say for the girl."
Tate remained quiet.
"Well, can you tell me that she wants you? Sure, doesn't seem that way. She practically threw me upstairs with you when I arrived, so she wouldn't have to be with you anymore."
Nick was appalled, and wanted to run inside the room to tell Tate that she was lying, but then she would have to admit to eavesdropping.
Tate chuckled, "Now, you are the one lying, Penny. Nick is a nice girl. I've never seen her act rude to anyone who didn't deserve it. You came to see me, and I'm sure she was just being kind by sending you up here, alone."
Penny sighed loudly, again. "Fine, Tate. But remember what I said, it ain't going to work between the two of you. Just promise me that you'll think about the two of us in California."
"I will."
"No, Tate, I mean it. Give it serious thought, you and me are the type of people to get married. I can handle your lies and your cheating ways, she can't."
"I said I will, woman, what more do you want?"
Nick heard Penny's chair scoot back, and she knew she was leaving.
"And Penny?"
"Yeah?"
"I just think she a good girl, alright? I already knew that nothing else could happen."
There was a smile in Penny's voice, "Alright, Tate." The door opened, and Nick quickly threw up her hand to act like she was about to knock on the door.
Penny was surprised to see her standing there. "Miss Nicolette." She said, Penny had heard Natalie talk about the girl like she was some sort of saint that would save Tate's soul. She didn't see anything special about the girl. Nick seemed like the same kind of woman that tossed her nose up at the working women of the brothel, only difference was Nick wore pants instead of a dress.
"I was just about to knock, and see if Tate needed anything." Nick told her, "Are you leaving so soon, Miss Penny?"
Penny cocked her head to the side to look at Tate, "You are right, Tate, she is a good girl." With that Penny stepped outside into the hall, and Nick went into the bedroom.
"We have some stew downstairs, you think you could eat some?" Nick asked.
Tate nodded, and tried to sit up.
Coming over to the bed, Nick helped him up by grabbing his shoulder, then putting her hand on his back. Tate felt uncomfortable to her touch, as unintimate as it was. Every time Nick had touched him, it always left a sensation on his skin that lasted the rest of the day. She pulled the pillows up to support his back, and helped lean him back. He wanted to tell her that he could do it on his own, but enjoyed that Nick was caring for him. It reminded him of when Rock had been drunk. Nick took care of the large man then, and had told Tate that everyone needed to be cared for.
"I'll be right back." She said as she cleared her throat, growing uncomfortable with the way Tate was looking at her.
He watched her leave the room with the door still opened, he grinned. She was right sometimes relying on other people was rather nice, although he was certain that he didn't want to do it all the time. He was surprised with how understanding Nick had been with the fight between him and Rock, though he wondered if she was just waiting for him to recover.
"You are going to sit there, while I eat?" Tate questioned after looking over his food.
Nick grinned, "Yes, why do you want me to leave?"
He shook his head, "Just seems strange is all."
Shrugging her shoulders, she opened the book up and began to read. Tate watched her for a moment, as her lips began to move slightly as she read along. She wasn't that much younger then him, he didn't know what Penny was talking about. Although, Penny had some years on her, and any woman younger then her would be too young for him according to Penny. Of course any woman who wasn't Penny wouldn't be right for him by Penny's philosophy.
"How old are ya, Nick?" He asked the questioned before he even realized the words had been spoken.
"I'm twenty four, why?"
He rose an eyebrow, "Twenty four? Are you kidding?"
"No, why?"
"You look a lot younger then that. Like seventeen or eighteen."
Nick smiled, "That compliment only works on women who are in their late twenties and beyond, Tate." The words made him smile as she went back to reading, then dropped her hands and the book into her lap. "How old are you, Tate?"
He laughed, "I knew you would ask me that. In my thirties, that's all you need to know."
"Like thirty three?"
He nodded, "About that."
"You look a lot older." Nick said as she lifted the book back up.
Tate snorted, "Older? How much older?"
She shrugged, "I thought you were at least forty two when I first met you."
His mouth dropped, "You thought I was how old?"
Nick started to giggle, still reading her book.
"Oh, you are teasing me. I get it." He concealed his smiled, then looked down to his food. It was obviously the meal from the night before, but he was use to eating left overs. Rose didn't seem to know how to make or want to make anything other then stew, which was fine by Nick, because she didn't know how to make anything else either. "Nick?"
She dropped the book to her lap, and looked slightly annoyed, "You need to eat your food before it gets cold, I'm not going all the way back downstairs to heat it up again."
"Mind getting me some bread then?" He snapped, before realizing that she was just trying to care for him.
Sighing, she placed the book on her chair and headed for the door.
"Nick?"
"What?" She turned around to look at him.
"You know that Rock is sweet on you, right?"
Slowly she nodded her head, "Yeah, I know."
He dropped his eyes to his food and took a bite.
"I know you are too." He heard Nick's voice say, but when he looked up she was already gone. He felt his heart had stopped beating for a moment, and found comfort that Nick had left the room.
Her words had made him curious to whether or not she was trying to say that she had feelings for him as well. There was an uncertainty in her voice when she spoke, like she was hesitate to admit it. In the barn, the way she had spoken to Andy about him, it had made him wonder. Even if she did return his affection, Penny had been right and so had Andy, they were too different people. He would only bring her heart break and trouble, neither of those things he could bare to do unto her.
Nick returned with some bread and laid it on his tray, sitting down she began to read her book again. There were no words spoken, and to Tate's surprise he didn't feel uncomfortable sitting their beside her. It felt as if she had always known, and suddenly he didn't feel humiliated by the desire that was starting to sprout in his heart.
Tate joined him in hopes that Nick and Andy would be arriving back soon enough. Rock stood in the grass near the dirt path, and Tate went to join him. Both men wondered what had taken Nick and Andy so long, they should of met along the path back.
"Nick isn't going to be pleased that you let him go." Rock said to Tate after a moment of silence past between them.
"She'll understand. He was my partner once."
"What if he tells Brody that it's us, and what our plan is?" Rock turned to face him. "Or maybe he followed us back and knows where we are hiding now."
Tate looked the man beside him over, Rock wasn't much shorter then the man in front of him, but was at least half his size in width. "Chris is a man of his word, if he says he is leaving town then he is. He never would of taken my money if he wasn't going to do it."
Rock snorted, "If you cost us our revenge, I swear, Tate…" He stopped himself from finishing the sentence.
"You swear what? You'll kill me?" Tate took a step closer to him, "Think you got what it takes, do you?"
Rock glared at him out of the corner of his eye, but didn't say anything.
"Well? This is the second time tonight that you have threatened me."
"I won't kill you, I'll beat you until you wish I had though." Rock folded his arms, as Tate dropped his own.
The anger burned red inside Tate's eyes. "Beat me, will ya?" Again, he took another step towards Rock.
"Keep your distance, ya yella' belly bastard!" Rock snapped.
"Don't you call me yella'!" Tate hissed.
"You couldn't even kill him! Sounds like a coward to me!" Rock turned to face him, and dropped his arms to the side.
Tate realized that Rock was getting upset, and decided to calm him down. "What's your problem anyway? I thought we had come to terms."
"My problem? My problem? You are my problem, Tate." Rock barked, this time he was the one who stepped forward, "You may say that you ain't going to try anything on Nick, but I see the wheels turning in that thick skull of yours."
"Oh, is this what it's really about?" Tate stepped closer, and grinned, "I've already had her." Tate lied, he was just trying to anger him. He knew that a fight was coming between them, and wanted to throw him off balance so he would fight with pure passion instead of smart.
Rock laughed, "Ain't nobody had Nick."
Tate grinned again, "I have. Just the other day, but if you want her then go ahead. I'm done using her anyway. She meant no more to me then a whore."
He watched the large man clenched his teeth, "Don't you say that about Nick, and don't you be lying about her like that either. She is good, God fearing woman, don't you be saying nothing like that about her."
"She sure was screaming for God, when we were in the barn…" Tate felt the large fist slam into his left cheek.
He fell to the ground, caught off guard by Rock's attack. He hadn't thought the man would anger so easily, and had lined up several more taunts. At first, he didn't think that Rock would hit him again, but the giant man was atop of him within moments. His fists flew threw the air and into Tate's face and chest. He tossed out a couple punches of his own, but Rock acted as if he hadn't even noticed them. Tate felt like he was beating him with a feather instead of his own fists, but Rock's fist were real. Every time Rock pulled back his fist, he saw more blood on the man's hands. He couldn't tell if the blood was Rock's or his own.
"Tate! Rock! Stop!" Natalie's voice cried from the distance.
Tate could hear the sound of horses riding up the dirt path, but all he could see was Rock's face full of rage.
"Take it back!" Rock ordered, "You don't spit on Nick's honor like that!"
He would of taken it back had Rock given him to opportunity to speak, but his punches continued to come.
"Please, Rock, stop!" Natalie cried, "You are going to kill him!"
"Rock!" Nick's voice yelled, "Rock, stop!"
"Take it back!" Rock yelled over both of them, "Nick ain't like that!"
By this time, Tate could barely make out any moving forms. He just laid on the dry grass as the large man smashed his fist into his face.
Nick watched Tate lose consciousness, before grabbing her rifle off Goliath. She shot once into the air, and Rock looked over at her. His eyes were wide, and he had stopped hitting Tate.
"Don't think I won't shoot you, Daniel Rockwell." Nick warned him.
Suddenly, Rock realized what he had been doing, and looked down at Tate's battered face. He stood up, his eyes continued to stare down at him. He turned his sights to his hands, they were covered in teeth marks, cuts, and blood from both men.
He watched Natalie throw herself atop of Tate and begin crying for him to answer her. Nick ordered for them to get Tate inside and in a bed, which Andy, Natalie, and Nick had to carry him. Rock was too discombobulated to fully understand what had occurred.
---***---
Upstairs Natalie cared for Tate's wounds, while Nick and Rock sat at the table downstairs. She washed the wounds on his hands, and every time she looked at him, he thought for sure he would get an earful. Yet, Nick hadn't said anything to him, which was even worse then her yelling at him. His eyes wandered over to Andy, who was reading a book across the room. Occasionally, Andy would look up at him and shake his head, before returning to his book."What…" Nick began, and then stopped herself, she wasn't sure that she wanted to know. After hearing what Rock had been screaming, she was afraid to understand the circumstances of their brawl.
Rock, at least, had the decency to look ashamed.
"You are lucky that you didn't wake Rose." Nick snapped, but Rock knew that's not what she really wanted to say. "What…" She started again, then stopped.
She rubbed the cloth deeper into his wounds, and he felt sharp pains as she did so. He didn't jerk his hands away or tell her that she was hurting him, he figured this was his punishment. He didn't get why he had brought Nick up at all with Tate, they had talked about it and knew where each other stood. It shouldn't of bothered him, but when he did mention it he saw the anger in Tate's eyes, which he took to mean he had uncovered the truth.
Tate was a traitor, and it was only a question of time before he betrayed Nick. Rock wasn't going to let that happen. He knew that Nick hadn't touched the man, it wasn't his words that angered him, instead the thought of Nick being heart broken. She would find out that Tate had been a traitor, a liar all along.
He was jerked out of his thoughts, when he heard Nick sniffle. "He was bad mouthing ya, Nick." Rock finally said, and Nick glared up at him. The look told him not to speak another word, but he did anyway. "He said that you and he had been in the barn together."
"Had been in the barn together? What the hell are you talking about, Rock?" Nick snapped, and yanked her hand closer to him as he had been pulling them away slowly.
"You know like a man and woman." Rock blushed, he sounded ridiculous and he knew it.
Nick shook her head slowly as she dropped his hand to the table with a hard thud, "Did you see him, Rock? Did you see what you did to him?"
"I…"
"No! Did you see what you did, Rock? Are you happy with what you have done?" Nick screamed, standing up, she slammed her fist into the table.
Rock dropped his head, "I don't know what came over me, Nick. He deserves it."
"Deserves to be beaten? What the hell, Rock? What the hell?"
Rock stood from his chair, "He deserves to die, Nick! He's a liar! He's a traitor! He's a killer! That man has a plan, and in the end it's going to cost us all something more valuable then our own lives!"
She shook her head, "No! He's on our side, Rock! Don't you see that? You almost killed him for what? My honor? That's what you were screaming about?"
Rock dropped into his chair, and sighed. "He doesn't deserve his next breath." He mumbled.
"And you do?" Nick asked him, and he frowned at her. Standing there quietly, she stared at him, before the tears overwhelmed her. She covered her face and ran outside before they could see her cry.
"Damn it all!" Rock slammed his fist into the table, he took several deep breathes.
"You m-made her cry, R-rock." Andy said, he had been watching everything from over the top of his book.
He nodded his head, "I know."
"Not the sniffle cry like J-jacob would make her d-do when she got in tr-trouble, either. You made her f-full out cry, Rock."
He nodded again, "I know."
Andy shook his head, and stood from the chair, leaving the book open on it. "You just don't let a w-woman run away crying, you b-bastard!" He headed out the door, and found Nick sitting on the stairs.
Taking a seat beside her, he rubbed her back gently, not saying anything.
"This isn't the way it was suppose to be." Nick finally said, "It was suppose to be easy, we would all get along. This is too hard, Andy."
"Yeah, it's h-hard." Was all he could think of to say to her. "We c-can do it, th-though."
"What if one of us dies? I don't want that to be on me, Andy."
He shrugged, "So, l-lets leave. We don't h-have to finish this."
Slowly, she shook her head, and Andy dropped his head. "I wish it was over that's all, but… I can't just walk away, not yet. Brody did us an injustice, Andy. Tate thinks my father might of owed him money."
"Th-think that's why Brody killed him?"
Nick nodded her head, before taking off her hat and running her fingers through her hair. "Teresa, Hank, Darren, and Trent, they didn't owe him anything. He made them pay for something they probably didn't even know about, Andy."
"I kn-know, Nick. Both me and Rock will st-stand behind your decisions. I j-just wish… it was over too."
Taking in a deep breath, she sighed, "What do you think Tate and Rock's fight was over?"
Andy shrugged, "I doubt it h-had anything to do with words that were s-said."
"Just tension, you think?"
"I reckon that's about right."
---***---
The haze covered his eyes, and he felt a moist cloth rub against his sore lips. He wasn't exactly sure how he had gotten here, but the situation had not been unusual. There were many times that he had been shot and ended up being nursed back to health by his sister."Natalie?" He said, grabbing the hand that was rubbing the cloth across his face.
"No, it's Nick." The voice said, but he could barely see her. "Be quiet, Rock gave you a beating worth remembering."
Nick sighed as she looked him over, his left eye was sealed shut, and his right eye was blackened but at least it wasn't swollen. His lip had split, and the inside of his mouth had cuts where his teeth had been shoved into the skin. Both sides of his cheeks were bruised. This was the fourth time that he had awoken since the beating the day before. Natalie and Nick had taken turned watching over him, and occasionally Andy would when Natalie had to return to Redrock for the evening.
"Rock?" Tate asked.
"Yeah, you started a fight with Rock. What the hell were you thinking?" Nick asked, even though she was sure that Tate didn't understand her. She dipped the cloth back into the basin of water, and rinsed out the blood.
"Andy told you to stay away from me." Tate said, still a dazed.
"Yeah, so why did you fight Rock?"
He touched his swollen bottom lip, "He came out of the woods with my sister, bastard touched my sister."
Nick chuckled, "A lot of men touch your sister, why did it matter that Rock did?"
He shrugged, "He's suppose to be good to you."
Raising her eyebrow, she wiped his lip again. "Be good to me?"
"Yeah, I'm not Andy, I didn't stutter."
"Well, I don't need you protecting my honor for starters, especially not against a big man like Rock. Another thing, I have no say over Rock, and he is good to me."
His hand reached out and grabbed her own, laying it down on his chest. He wanted her to stop wiping his face, "That hurts." The words were mumbled.
"Yeah, well, maybe that'll teach ya not to pick a fight with Rock." Nick told him, leaving her wrist in his grasp. It was obvious that he was starting to come back around. "You know I've seen men do dumb things before, Tate, but that has to rate pretty high. I can't believe you hit Rock."
"He hit me first!" He tried to get upset, but it only hurt his chest.
Nick grinned, "Yeah, well, serves ya right for making up lies about me."
"He told you 'bout that, did he?" Tate chuckled, but stopped when it started to hurt. "Does he at least have a bruise?"
He heard her laugh, even though he didn't mean it as a joke. "Yeah, you gave him a few bruises, nothing as serious as you have. You scared your sister to death, though, Tate."
Slowly, his head nodded, "Did I make her cry? I thought I heard her cry."
"Yeah, she was crying alright."
"I promised my father I would never make her cry." Tate's words were spoken softly, and he let go of Nick's wrist.
She began to wipe some of the wounds again, they were trying to keep them clean. He was always sweating quite a bit. "She's not sad anymore, she very angry with you." Nick told him, and he nodded his head gently.
"If I don't die now, she'll kill me when I am better." He jested, but Nick didn't laugh. "That was really stupid."
"Yeah, it was. Rock's temper is uncontrollable once you get him started, you saw him fight that man in the bar a while back." She sighed, dropping the cloth back into the basin. "So, why did you do it? Just to get the story straight."
Tate chuckled, "Just throwing myself a fit is all." He was starting to come back to himself, and had hoped the words he said before had made no sense to her.
"Why?"
He shrugged, "Let's just say I got what was coming to me, and leave it at that."
Nick dropped her eyes to the floor, he had said something about Andy telling her to stay away from him. She had concluded that Tate had overheard their conversation in the barn, but why had he attacked Rock and not Andy. She didn't understand, and why had it made him so upset. He always seemed so calm, even when they were fighting.
"Guess we are going to have to push back out next outing for a few days." Nick told him.
He slowly nodded his head, "Yeah, sorry, Nick."
"Guess you'll think twice about picking a brawl with Rock too."
She saw him grin, and it broke one of the scabs on his lip. "Owe."
Picking up the wet cloth, she wiped the blood away.
"I'll start a fight with anyone, no matter what their size, if I think they are doing you wrong." Tate said, grabbing her wrist again, "That hurts."
"Next time, ask me if I feel wronged before you do, ok?"
He gave a short not, before Nick heard the familiar sounds of his heavy breathing. He had fallen asleep again, which made her wonder if he had understood what had just been said. Standing up, Nick sighed as she looked down at the broken man before she left the room, she had thought she saw Natalie riding up through the window. As the door shut, Tate opened his eye and stared at the closed door. Throwing his hand over his face, he told himself what an idiot he had been. Now, she knew for sure that he was a bad tempered criminal.
---***---
Walking out of the cabin, Nick waved at the woman riding up on horseback. She immediately noticed the hair on the woman was red, and not black like Natalie's. It was Penny from the first night they had arrived in Redrock. Nick came out to greet her, and helped her from her horse."Thank you, darling." Penny said.
Nick hadn't realized how old she looked until that moment. Penny seemed to be closer to Tate's age then her own. "You here to visit with Tate?" Nick finally asked, as the two of them stared each other down.
"Yes, I heard that he was had taken a beating." She looked towards the cabin, seeing Rose sleeping in her rocking chair with a rifle on her lap. "Is he doing any better?"
Nick grinned, "He was just talking to me right before you rode up. He fell back asleep, but head upstairs to his room. I'm sure that he'll be glad to see you, I'll take your horse to the barn."
"Thank you, darling. After what Natalie said, I didn't expect you to be…" Penny stopped speaking, "I'll go see Tate now."
She rose her eyebrow curiously as she watched the red head walk up the porch steps, Rose didn't even flinch as the door squeaked as it opened. Taking the horse to the barn, she gave it to Andy who was still cleaning up. Nick wondered where Rock had wandered off to, but was more worried about Penny had meant.
Heading into the cabin, she walked up to stairs, and found Tate's door was closed. She wondered if she should enter in, but decided to wait out in the hall. If Tate needed anything then he would have Penny come for her. She could of waited down by the fireplace and read a book, but something made her want to stay in the hallway. Perhaps, Teresa's desire to eavesdrop was finally rubbing off on her. After a moment, she stepped closer to the door, and pressed her ear against the wood.
"Tate, you need to stop this right now. You don't owe that girl anything, and I promise you this is just a taste of what is to come if Brody catches you." Penny's voice said.
"I know what Brody will do to me, if he catches me, Penny. I've been running from him for a long time. It's got to end. This has nothing to do with the girl. All she did was give me the incentive to come back here." Tate spoke the words in pain, Rock had pounded his fists into his chest just as much as he did Tate's face. "Brody needs to be stopped, I finally see that now."
She swallowed, "We have known each other a long time, Tate. You use to tell me things that you never told anyone else, remember?"
"I remember."
"What happened? I knew that when you left for California, you weren't ever going to send for me."
Tate sighed, "You knew, did you?"
Penny didn't make a sound, and Nick thought perhaps she was nodding.
"I've always lied to ya, Penny. I think you knew that too. All these years, you didn't mean nearly as much to me as I lead you to believe."
She chuckled, "I always knew that, Tate. Doesn't mean we still can't try. In California, we could get hitched, and settle down somewhere. You can learn to love me, I know that I can get you too."
"I don't know, Penny."
She sighed loudly, "Natalie told me about the girl and you. She's just a baby, Tate. You can't be serious."
"She's not a baby, I mean she can't be more then ten years younger then me." Tate snorted, "Besides, Natalie doesn't know what she's talking about."
There was a moment of silence, and Nick wondered if Penny was going to open the door. She thought about stepping back, but wanted to wait until she heard footsteps.
"Tate, listen to me. You are an outlaw, you are a dirty man. God ain't going to bless you with a woman like that, so come out of your damn dreams. I may not be the Virgin Mary, but I do love you, and that's more then you can say for the girl."
Tate remained quiet.
"Well, can you tell me that she wants you? Sure, doesn't seem that way. She practically threw me upstairs with you when I arrived, so she wouldn't have to be with you anymore."
Nick was appalled, and wanted to run inside the room to tell Tate that she was lying, but then she would have to admit to eavesdropping.
Tate chuckled, "Now, you are the one lying, Penny. Nick is a nice girl. I've never seen her act rude to anyone who didn't deserve it. You came to see me, and I'm sure she was just being kind by sending you up here, alone."
Penny sighed loudly, again. "Fine, Tate. But remember what I said, it ain't going to work between the two of you. Just promise me that you'll think about the two of us in California."
"I will."
"No, Tate, I mean it. Give it serious thought, you and me are the type of people to get married. I can handle your lies and your cheating ways, she can't."
"I said I will, woman, what more do you want?"
Nick heard Penny's chair scoot back, and she knew she was leaving.
"And Penny?"
"Yeah?"
"I just think she a good girl, alright? I already knew that nothing else could happen."
There was a smile in Penny's voice, "Alright, Tate." The door opened, and Nick quickly threw up her hand to act like she was about to knock on the door.
Penny was surprised to see her standing there. "Miss Nicolette." She said, Penny had heard Natalie talk about the girl like she was some sort of saint that would save Tate's soul. She didn't see anything special about the girl. Nick seemed like the same kind of woman that tossed her nose up at the working women of the brothel, only difference was Nick wore pants instead of a dress.
"I was just about to knock, and see if Tate needed anything." Nick told her, "Are you leaving so soon, Miss Penny?"
Penny cocked her head to the side to look at Tate, "You are right, Tate, she is a good girl." With that Penny stepped outside into the hall, and Nick went into the bedroom.
"We have some stew downstairs, you think you could eat some?" Nick asked.
Tate nodded, and tried to sit up.
Coming over to the bed, Nick helped him up by grabbing his shoulder, then putting her hand on his back. Tate felt uncomfortable to her touch, as unintimate as it was. Every time Nick had touched him, it always left a sensation on his skin that lasted the rest of the day. She pulled the pillows up to support his back, and helped lean him back. He wanted to tell her that he could do it on his own, but enjoyed that Nick was caring for him. It reminded him of when Rock had been drunk. Nick took care of the large man then, and had told Tate that everyone needed to be cared for.
"I'll be right back." She said as she cleared her throat, growing uncomfortable with the way Tate was looking at her.
He watched her leave the room with the door still opened, he grinned. She was right sometimes relying on other people was rather nice, although he was certain that he didn't want to do it all the time. He was surprised with how understanding Nick had been with the fight between him and Rock, though he wondered if she was just waiting for him to recover.
---***---
Fifteen minutes later, Nick came up the stairs with a tray and his stew. She placed it on the bed over his lap, and sat down in the chair. There was a book on the tray as well, that Nick picked up once she was had his food in place."You are going to sit there, while I eat?" Tate questioned after looking over his food.
Nick grinned, "Yes, why do you want me to leave?"
He shook his head, "Just seems strange is all."
Shrugging her shoulders, she opened the book up and began to read. Tate watched her for a moment, as her lips began to move slightly as she read along. She wasn't that much younger then him, he didn't know what Penny was talking about. Although, Penny had some years on her, and any woman younger then her would be too young for him according to Penny. Of course any woman who wasn't Penny wouldn't be right for him by Penny's philosophy.
"How old are ya, Nick?" He asked the questioned before he even realized the words had been spoken.
"I'm twenty four, why?"
He rose an eyebrow, "Twenty four? Are you kidding?"
"No, why?"
"You look a lot younger then that. Like seventeen or eighteen."
Nick smiled, "That compliment only works on women who are in their late twenties and beyond, Tate." The words made him smile as she went back to reading, then dropped her hands and the book into her lap. "How old are you, Tate?"
He laughed, "I knew you would ask me that. In my thirties, that's all you need to know."
"Like thirty three?"
He nodded, "About that."
"You look a lot older." Nick said as she lifted the book back up.
Tate snorted, "Older? How much older?"
She shrugged, "I thought you were at least forty two when I first met you."
His mouth dropped, "You thought I was how old?"
Nick started to giggle, still reading her book.
"Oh, you are teasing me. I get it." He concealed his smiled, then looked down to his food. It was obviously the meal from the night before, but he was use to eating left overs. Rose didn't seem to know how to make or want to make anything other then stew, which was fine by Nick, because she didn't know how to make anything else either. "Nick?"
She dropped the book to her lap, and looked slightly annoyed, "You need to eat your food before it gets cold, I'm not going all the way back downstairs to heat it up again."
"Mind getting me some bread then?" He snapped, before realizing that she was just trying to care for him.
Sighing, she placed the book on her chair and headed for the door.
"Nick?"
"What?" She turned around to look at him.
"You know that Rock is sweet on you, right?"
Slowly she nodded her head, "Yeah, I know."
He dropped his eyes to his food and took a bite.
"I know you are too." He heard Nick's voice say, but when he looked up she was already gone. He felt his heart had stopped beating for a moment, and found comfort that Nick had left the room.
Her words had made him curious to whether or not she was trying to say that she had feelings for him as well. There was an uncertainty in her voice when she spoke, like she was hesitate to admit it. In the barn, the way she had spoken to Andy about him, it had made him wonder. Even if she did return his affection, Penny had been right and so had Andy, they were too different people. He would only bring her heart break and trouble, neither of those things he could bare to do unto her.
Nick returned with some bread and laid it on his tray, sitting down she began to read her book again. There were no words spoken, and to Tate's surprise he didn't feel uncomfortable sitting their beside her. It felt as if she had always known, and suddenly he didn't feel humiliated by the desire that was starting to sprout in his heart.