Page 30 of Hard Bounty

“We don’t have to go.”

The words hit Mary like a bullet, nearly knocking her from the saddle.

“What?”

John stopped his horse and gigged it around until he was facing her. There wasn’t another soul around, only trees, fresh air, and bright sunshine.

A cardinal flew to a nearby branch and rested upon it, as if listening to the conversation.

“We can ride away, Mary. Me and you. We don’t have to go to Fort Smith.”

“John! You’re a…I can’t ask you to…” She wasn’t sure what to say. Finally, she just said, “Your duty.”

He nudged his horse a little closer, causing the animal to snicker. The bird stayed right where it was in the tree.

“I’ll forsake it all for you. None of it matters. The badge. My duty. I’ll give everything up. For you, Mary.”

“But Judge Parker—”

“Judge Parker be damned.”

So many thoughts were running through her mind. It now seemed like an eternity since she’d tried to escape from him, though in reality it hadn’t been hardly any time at all.

Now, though, she had a chance to escapewithhim.

But something wasn’t right. Her mind kept turning it all over as she contemplated everything.

They sat there in the sun, silent and still, for so long that the cardinal eventually flew away. The horses raised their heads at the fluttering sound of the bird zipping off.

“We’d look over our shoulders the rest of our days,” she said. “And then you’d be wanted, too.”

“Wouldn’t matter,” he told her. “Because we’d go so far that no one would know who we were. I hear there’s gold in California. Let’s go and try to find us some.” He smiled. “Or I’ll go and get a job tending some store or something. I can hire myself out on a ranch. Hell, I’m best when riding herd. As long as I’m with you, I reckon what I’m doing doesn’t matter.”

Mary reflected on it all for another moment. “No.”

“No?”

She nodded.

“Why?” He seemed so deflated.

“Because that would make you a…what’s the word? When you drag someone into your evil ways and make them a criminal?”

He smiled. “Accomplice.”

“That’s it. It would make you an accomplice. And I love you too much to do that to you.”

John’s horse came closer at his urging. “I love you, too, Mary Dunn Rose. That’s why I can’t lose you.”

The thought of going to prison—or worse, meeting her end at the end of a hangman’s rope—tore her up inside. How could she say goodbye to the love of her life? They’d just found each other!

“John, if we ran, I’d always be afraid. I’d always wonder if the next person that rode up to our house was some marshal coming to take me away. And since you helped me, they’d most likely take you away, too.” She shook her head. “No. I have to do this right. Maybe the judge will…”

He nodded. “I respect that.” A grin lit up his face. “And I have an idea that just might work. Come on, honey. Let’s get on to Fort Smith. If you insist on doing this, then we might as well get to it.

“I’m ready to get this over with.”

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