Love Trap

Armani opened her eyes slowly, squinting at the shining sun that sat almost motionless in the sky. She took a deep breath and raised a hand to block the light from her eyes. Her head rested on the lap of a man wearing dark clothing and a black hat which contrasted with his pale skin. The man brushed his rough hand over Armani’s hair; she smiled and looked up at him. After a minute, she sat up and draped her arms around the man, then pecked his cheek with a kiss.

Armani sank against the man’s shoulder and held onto him, feeling the warmth of his leather coat on her face and arms. She sighed and looked out at the other visitors in the park. A tall tree had initially provided shade for the couple’s picnic, but as the sun journeyed across the vast ocean of blue, so, too, did the tree’s shadow change positions. The two were celebrating the anniversary of Armani’s promotion to Doyenne following Irving Craig’s death. Armani’s smile slowly faded as she dwelled on her thoughts.

“I feel so lost without him,” she said after a couple minutes of silence.

The man, whose eyes had also been closed, opened his eyes and looked to his partner on his shoulder. “I’ve been lost many times in my life,” he whispered in a raspy voice. “But bein’ lost can be good, for you discover things you may have otherwise overlooked before.” The man brushed a hand over Armani’s hair again.

Armani smile briefly, then let it fall once more. “But it’s been over a year since he passed and I still have dreams about him.”

“Of course, you do,” the man said. “He was like an older brother to you. He taught you everythin’ you know about bein’ a Ranger and showed you how to enjoy servin’ justice. He’ll be with you forever.”

“Yeah… I just wish he would stop haunting me…”

“I’ve told you before: you’re more than good enough. You’ve been Doyenne fer over a year and no one’s had anythin’ to complain about. In fact, you’ve earned nothin’ but praise.”

“I know, I know. It’s just…”

“You’re thinking about his killer.”

Armani paused for a moment. “There haven’t been any sightings of him since then. I still sometimes wonder if maybe Irving had fatally injured him before dying. Maybe that Outlaw died a little while later without so much as a prayer.”

“Hmph, perhaps. I don’t think you should dwell on it so much, though. I know Irving meant a lot to you, but focusing on this mystery Outlaw impacts yer other work negatively.”

“I can’t let it go! When Irving died, so did my motivation for being the best I can be. It bothers me every day that I haven’t come any closer to catching him—Midnight.”

The man’s eye twitched at the name. He stared at Armani who was watching the other park-goers. “I hate to see you worry, darlin’.”

“Oh,” she said and buried her face in his arm. “I’m sorry.” She looked up at the man. “We’ll get to celebrate our one-year soon, too.” She smiled again.

The man now watched the other park-goers, but said. “Armani, I love you.”

“I love you too,” she whispered.

“You would no matter what, yes?”

“Of course. No matter what; I always will.”

***

Fipo zipped through the air to Sly. The bird flapped around Sly’s face, making the Ranger raised his arms and swat at it. Fipo flew up and before Sly recovered, Feather raised his revolver.

“Sorry, Sly,” Feather said and took aim at his fellow Ranger.

Just as Feather rested his finger on the trigger of his gun, someone jumped from the carriage. Curtis pushed Sly out of the way of Feather’s bullet just as it left the barrel and tore through the already tattered hood, creating two more holes. Mabel was ducked inside and flinched at the sound of a bullet flying overhead. Sly fell over, but caught himself with his hands as Curtis rolled along the ground.

Curtis rolled onto one knee and drew both of his revolvers, then said, “I’m sick and tired of fightin’ everywhere we go. I’ve been wanderin’ the Mesa Frontier fer less than a week and I haven’t had but one night’s sleep in a real bed!”

Sly stood and drew his revolvers, too, saying, “Thanks, Dawn.”

Curtis ignored Sly and continued speaking to Feather. “Who are you anyway?” he asked the enemy Ranger.

“What’s it matter t’ya?” Feather said. “Yer wanderin’ ends here!”

Fipo flew high, then dove down behind Curtis and sang a quick tune. Feather responded by swiftly aiming at Curtis and firing. The bullet grazed Curtis’s cheek as he jolted to one side. Curtis’s cheek stung as the wide scratch bled.

“His name’s Raymond Webb,” Sly shouted to Curtis. “Also known as ‘Feather.’ He’s with the Band of Lovers!”

“Ah, so you’re with Payton Serrano,” Curtis said.

“The Hunter,” Feather replied. “I was surprised to hear that you two bested her, ‘specially when she had you pinned all day long. She let ‘er guard down; I won’t make that mistake.” Feather raised the barrel of his revolver to his lips and lightly tapped it with a kiss. “The four bullets left in the cylinder are all I’ll need.”

Only one revolver, huh? Sly thought. “You’ve lost your mind, Feather. Let’s get him, Dawn!”

Feather breathed slowly and felt the slight changes in air pressure as Fipo—who had flow high again after Feather shot at Curtis—dove again and chirped to guide Feather’s aim. Fipo then sharply turned and flew toward Sly, chirping again. Feather’s aim followed the bird’s chirping. He shot, first, as Curtis and knocked on the revolvers from the Outlaw’s hand, then only a second later aimed perfectly at Sly’s hand to do the same.

Curtis and Sly both stumbled and grasped their bloodied hands as Feather stood proud. Curtis watched Fipo swoop up into the air again.

That bird’s chirped before every shot Feather takes, he thought. How’s that helpin’ ‘im?

Feather raised his revolver again and kissed the barrel. “Two shots left,” he called. “One fer each o’ ya!”

Curtis thought for a moment, then turned and faced the carriage. With the revolver he still held, he emptied the cylinder to break the wooden bars that held the carriage onto Curtis’s horse. Once the bars broke and the horse was freed, Curtis yelled, “Go git ‘im!”

The metallic horse, still wrapped in its cloak, entered a full gallop almost immediately. Feather watched as the beast charged for him.

“I’m an animal lover,” Feather said. “But nothin’ stops justice in its wake!”

Feather took aim at Sly again with Fipo’s direction and fired. The bullet sliced through the inside of Sly’s right thigh and brought the Ranger to his knee. Sly squeezed his leg in an attempt to ease the pain. Curtis’s horse continued its charge much to Feather’s surprise.

It wasn’t scared by the gunshot? he thought.

The metal steed raced toward Feather and reared up in front of him, then brought its legs down with much force. The horse kicked Feather sending him back about fifteen feet. Feather lied in the sand and coughed. With every cough, he could feel cracks within his chest and the smells and taste of blood flitted in his nose and mouth. When he tried to get up, his chest hurt immensely.

“That’s a strong horse,” he whispered to himself, out of breath. “One more shot.”

Feather brought his arm out from under his body and aimed his revolver at Curtis. Fipo hesitated for a moment after seeing her keeper so quickly swept off his feet, but once she saw the Feather was ready to continue the fight, she swept through the air to Curtis. Curtis saw Fipo coming, though, and was prepared to dodge the bullet as best as he could. The bird lined itself up with Curtis’s shoulder—the same one Payton had shot and, as far as Feather knew, Curtis’s weak spot—and chirped.

But just as Feather shot his last bullet, Curtis’s horse slid between the Outlaw and the opposing Ranger. The bullet flew at the metallic steed and deflected off its gleaming skin with an echoing TANG.

“What the—!” Feather cried.

Curtis flinched, but then realized what had happened. He stared at his horse as it stood strong and huffed, then shook its head. Sly raised his head and realized, too, that Curtis’s horse had taken action to help again, then smiled.

“Damn,” Feather groaned. Then, speaking to the air, he said, “Lady Love, “‘m gonna need some help here.” The bracelet around his right wrist was warm.

“Is that so?” Armani Anderson replied. “You’re only serving as a distraction, remember?”

“Yeah,” Feather answered. “But—,”

“Fine. Slasher will help.”

Sly and Curtis both watched Feather on the ground and wondered who he had spoken to. Fipo flew back to her keeper and landed on the ground, then hopped about and chirped lightly.

“Thank you, m’lady,” Feather said before watching Fipo bounce on the sand. “I’m okay, girl.”

Meanwhile, behind a building on the edge of town, a dark, lean man stood with another man that was much taller and much bulkier.

“I guess Feather needs help,” the lean man said. “I’ll go out there. You get the girl.”

The larger man nodded.

The lean man climbed one of the three horses that also hid behind the building and rode toward Curtis. As he rode, he withdrew thin, straight blades from underneath his poncho—three in each hand. He threw the three in his right hand with incredible accuracy and impaled Curtis’s left arm up and down. Curtis spun and knelt on the ground, then looked to see the lean man jump off the horse and roll along the ground, then rush toward him. Curtis clutched his arm, but didn’t remove any of the blades.

“Who the hell’re y—,” Curtis said, but was cut off by the lean man’s attack.

The lean man engaged Curtis up-close, slashing and hacking away. Curtis fumbled back, blocking the attacks with his poncho and revolver when he could, but the lean man was fast and managed to slice Curtis a few times. Curtis lifted his leg from under his poncho and kicked at the lean man who jumped back and avoided the blow.

“That’s August Cobb,” Sly shouted. “He’s known as ‘Slasher!’”

Slasher swiftly turned to Sly and threw the three knives in his left hand at Sly, then withdrew three more with his left hand and a thicker curved blade with his right. The three thrown knives flew at Sly who rolled out of the way and stood. Curtis picked up his other gun with his bloodied hand and lunged at Slasher, using his revolvers as blunt weapons. Slasher nimbly ducked and dodged Curtis’s blows and grappled with the Outlaw.

Curtis tried to aim at Slasher and fired one of his weapons, but Slasher twisted Curtis’s arm and aimed the revolver upward so the bullet was shot into the sky. While Curtis was wrestling the knife-wielding Ranger, he called to Sly and said, “I’ll handle Slasher; go make sure Feather won’t give us anymore trouble!” Sly nodded and ran past the two of them fighting to reach Feather who still lied on the ground. His pain ached from the gunshot wound.

As he passed Curtis’s horse which then stood calm, Sly patted its neck and said, “Thank you.”

The horse huffed and seemed to nod slightly. Then, Sly approached Feather and stopped about fight feet away. He looked down at his fellow Ranger with his hands—still gripping his revolvers—on his hips.

"I told you to let us go, Feather," Sly said.

Feather groaned, then suddenly flung his arm out from under himself and threw his empty revolver at Sly. Distracted, Sly stumbled and tripped when Feather swept his legs under him. Feather quicky grabbed Sly in a choke hold, but Sly was also trained in unarmed combat at the Ranger Academy, and broke free from the grapple. He reversed the hold and pinned Feather to the ground.

Meanwhile, Slasher stabbed and cut Curtis with ease as the Outlaw tried to hit the Ranger with his revolvers; Curtis tried shooting Slasher here and there, but the Ranger was incredibly good at maneuvering around Curtis’s body to avoid the shots. Blood oozed from all of the gashes on Curtis’s body, but his poncho helped to hide it. He thought that as long as he kept moving and didn’t focus on the injuries, he wouldn’t feel them as much. He was right for the most part, but as the battle continued and Slasher landed more and more attacks, Curtis started to slow and fatigue began to take hold.

Curtis changed his strategy; he started playing defense and tried catching some of Slasher’s attacks. It was difficult because of Slasher’s dexterity, but Curtis managed to block some attacks and break away from the scuffle momentarily. Slasher was on him again in only a couple of seconds, but Curtis focused on defense and kept breaking away. Once he became more comfortable with Slasher’s attacks, he began his usual technique.

“You’re pretty fast,” Curtis said. “I’m figurin’ you out, though. You only move so quick because you practice a routine, don’tcha? I know yer type. Once y’get used to it, it’s easy enough t’work around.”

“What’s got you so cocky all the sudden?” Slasher asked while continuing his pursuit.

“This always end the same,” Curtis said. “You can’t beat us. The difference in our skills is obvious.”

“I’ve been a Ranger for eight years; you’ve only been on the run for what, a year? Though I’ll give it to ya, you’ve garnered a lot of attention in that time.”

“I’ve probably had more fightin’ experience in the last eighteen months than you have yer whole life. The difference between me and any of you Rangers comin’ after me is that I ain’t a coward afraid of wreckin’ stuff in a scramble. I don’t give up!”

Curtis and Slasher collided, Slasher thrusting his curved knife at Curtis and Curtis blocking with one of his revolvers. Curtis whispered between grunts as he held Slasher in place for a moment.

“The only way you could be me is if all of yer buddies helped you out.”

“I’ll take you out here and now,” Slasher hissed.

“Will ya? Well then let’s make it official; a proper duel.”

Curtis and Slasher moved away from each other. Curtis sighed in relief; he caught Slasher. Slasher took heavy breaths and watched Curtis step about twenty paces away.

“I’ll let you decide how we do this,” Curtis said. “You and me, no distractions.”

Fifty yards away sat the carriage to which Firefly was still strapped and inside of which Mabel stayed ducked to the floor. When she heard the commotion quiet down as Curtis and Sly were drawn farther from the cart, she slowly lifted herself and peered out of the tattered hood at the fighting. It wasn’t long, however, until she heard a noise right behind the cart. At first, she assumed it to be Firefly adjusting his footing in the sand, but when the hood was opened from the back, she realized it was a person.

Looking in on her was the large, muscular man—even more muscular than Feather. He had to slouch in order to poked his head into the hood; he looked at Mabel, backlit and imposing, and smiled a wide smile.

“Hello, little girl,” he said in a bass voice. “Please come with me. I’m a Ranger, so you’ll be safe.”

The man reached in with his hulking hands and grabbed Mabel’s wrist. He pulled her from the cart screaming.

“Stop! Let me go!” she cried.’

Mabel’s shoulder ached as the man hoisted her against her will and threw her over his shoulder. The girl kicked and screamed; her voice echoed across the sand. Curtis swallowed and faced the carriage to see the tower of a man carrying Mabel over to an equally strong horse and tossing her atop its back. Then, Feather’s voice called from behind Slasher.

“Time to go, Slasher!” he called, then Sly covered his mouth and tightened his hold.

“Woah, now,” Curtis said to Slasher. “Hold on a minute. If we’re duelin’ fair an’ square, you gotta let her go.”

Slasher’s brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed. His eyes jolted between the kidnapping and his opponent. He opened his mouth as if to call out, but Slasher thrusted his head back and removed Sly’s hand from his mouth, then shouted again.

“Slasher! You’re under his Spell!”

Curtis flinched and stepped forward. Slasher blinked a couple of times and lightly shook his head before realizing what had happened.

“Can’t believe I fell fer that,” Slasher said quietly. He looked at Curtis. “You almost had me fer real! You’re finished now!”

The towering man walked with Mabel on his shoulder to his brawny horse, but Mabel kicked and punched from the man’s shoulder. Irritated, he tossed Mabel down, but still held her arm. The girl’s arm strained from the force, but she caught herself on her feet.

“Please be quiet,” the man said before swiftly slamming the side of his fist into the side of Mabel’s neck, knocking her out instantly. The man threw her limp body onto the back of his horse’s saddle, then stepped on.

With Curtis distracted, Slasher lunged for Curtis and stabbed the top of his left shoulder, then ripped the knife from Curtis’s body and pushed the Outlaw away. He knelt and brushed the blood-soaked knife in the sand before wiping it with the outside of his poncho.

“Feel lucky,” Slasher said. “Today isn’t yer day.”

Slasher turned and mounted his horse once again. Meanwhile, Feather continued wrestling with Sly and broke away from the grapple. He forced Sly away from him and toward Curtis. The larger man rode over with Feather’s horse in tow and Fipo landed on Feather’s open hand. Feather jumped onto his horse with one hand, then tucked Fipo into a little pouch on the front of the saddle. Sly began to stand, but the large man aimed his plain revolver at Sly’s thigh and shot.

“Please stay down,” the man said in his deep voice.

Sly recoiled and grasped his leg as he had before. Slasher met with his allied Rangers and the three watched Curtis and Sly grovel for a moment.

I have to… I need to stop them, Curtis thought. I have to do it again. Curtis stood slowly and with difficulty. “I’ve never been able to do this twice in a row,” he said to nobody, “but I have to try. Hey, Slasher! Out battle ain’t done!”

Slasher watched Curtis, then said, “Go knock ‘im down, Milton.”

The bulky man nodded and rode to Curtis. The Outlaw stood his ground and called to Milton as he rode closer and closer. “I won’t give up that easily.”

“Hmph, we know yer trick,” Feather said to himself and Slasher. “It won’t work on the Wall.”

“Come and face me!” Curtis howled. A moment later, Curtis felt a sharp pain shoot through his body and an intense headache consumed his mind. He fell to his knees with his head in his hands, and before Milton reached the Outlaw, Curtis was unconscious. Milton lept down from his steed and pushed Curtis with his foot, then shrugged and mounted his horse again to ride back to his partners.

“Every Spell has it’s limits,” Feather said, “whether it’s a successful hit or not.”

“So, he can only use it once in a short time, huh?” Slasher added. “Lady Love’ll be thrilled to hear that.”

Sly watched in frustration unable to do anything as Slasher, Feather, and the Wall rode away.

“Sly,” Feather called back. “We’ll have a real match soon enough! Apply pressure to that wound and you’ll be fine! I expect to see you again!”

Sly saw the unconscious Mabel bounce gently with the galloping of the Wall’s horse as they rode through Tangate and out of sight. Sly sighed and allowed himself to collapse in the sand. His leg bled, but he didn’t care. He had failed Mabel again. He had failed Curtis, and he had failed himself.

***

It was already evening when Curtis awoke. He sat up in the carriage and saw the glow of a fire through the holes in the hood. Sly sat by the fire with rations, but he wasn’t eating when Curtis sat down across the fire from him.

Curtis’s head hurt and his memory was fuzzy, but everything came back to the Outlaw when he looked around and didn’t see Mabel anywhere. His body ached all over from the stab wounds and he noticed Sly’s leg bandaged up from being shot by the Wall. He also saw that he, too, was bandaged even though the cuts weren’t deep. Curtis wasn’t hungry, but he grabbed a ration for himself and began to eat. He looked around at the landscape and couldn’t see any sign of Tangate through the darkness. Sly spoke, but he didn’t look at Curtis; his gaze was fixed on the fire.

“We’re a few miles north of Tangate now.” He paused for a moment before speaking again. “Raymond ‘Feather’ Webb, a Ranger of my graduating class. With him were ‘Slasher,’ August Cobb, and Milton Cummings, a.k.a. ‘the Wall.’ All three are with the Band of Lovers. I think we would have beaten them if they hadn’t caught us so off guard.”

“They also knew ‘bout my Spell already,” Curtis added. “I guess this Lady Love woman has been watchin’ us. Tried usin’ it twice, but...”

“They took Mabel…”

Curtis nodded, then said, “It’s bait. They weren’t tryna kill us; just distract us, slow us down so they’d have time to grab ‘er an’ run. They want us to follow, but where?”

“Yellowtusk, most likely. They rode through Tangate at first, but then turned west. I saw the clouds of dust still when I went to follow, but they’d already gone. I also picked these up in town. The people of Tangate didn’t want anything to do with us, but were kind enough to provide them.” Sly handed Curtis two sheets of rough paper: wanted posters. One of the posters was for Curtis and read:

WANTED

CURTIS “DAWN” CONRAD

DEAD OR ALIVE

REWARD: 12 G

The poster also had an additional tag at the bottom which said: “**WARNING: this individual possesses a power known as Compulsion which allows him to force others into duels against their will; do not approach without proper training.**”

“Compulsion?” Curtis said to himself. “I guess that’s an accurate name.”

Curtis put his updated poster behind the second sheet which he noticed was also a wanted poster. The second poster read:

WANTED

NATHAN “SLY” BOWMAN

ALIVE

REWARD: 9 ALS

Curtis read the poster several times before handing the sheets back to Sly. “Sorry, Sly,” he said quietly. Sly shook his head.

“I had it coming,” he replied. “I recognized this as a possibility from the start, remember? Doesn’t make much of a difference to me; it doesn’t change who I am. You’ve shown me that some Outlaws can be regular people, maybe just with ugly pasts. I have one ugly enough for sure, but being a Ranger helped cover it up.”

Curtis nodded slightly and looked at Sly. He saw the Ranger still watching the fire and looked into the blaze himself. He followed the ashes into the air and saw how they flickered amongst the stars. He watched the night sky for a few minutes before looking back at Sly who he noticed, then, was also stargazing.

“Sly,” Curtis said. Sly brought his head down just slightly, but Curtis couldn’t see the ex-Ranger’s eyes. “I don’t wanna make any part o’ Mabel’s kidnappin’ out to be good—we’ll get ‘er back, let me make that clear—but this is the first real chance the two of us have had to talk one-on-one with no reason to hide anythin’. So, well, I’ll go first. In case you haven’t heard the full story, here’s the reason why I have such a high bounty.”

***

In the darkness of the desert, the only sound audible for almost a mile was the thumping of hooves on the soft sand. Feather, Slasher, and the Wall rode through the night; Mabel was still unconscious on the back of the Wall’s horse. The bracelet on Feather’s right wrist was warm, along with a bracelet on Slasher’s left wrist and an earring in the Wall’s right ear. Feather spoke first.

“We’ll be in Yellowtusk by daybreak,” he said

“Excellent,” Armani replied in a half-whisper from her dimmed room. “I’ll be waiting. Don’t be too long, my loves.”

“Yes, ma’am,” all three answered semi-synchronously. When their jewelry stopped radiating warmth, Slasher looked at Mabel behind the Wall.

“You didn’t kill ‘er, did ya?” he said to the hulking man.

“No,” the Wall replied. “I only knocked ‘er out.”

“Well, how long is she gonna be out?” Slasher asked.

“I don’t know. The longer, the better, right?”

“I guess so. I’m just gettin’ worried that she’s never gonna wake up. It’s been, like, half a day.”

“Milton hits hard,” Feather chimed in, “but he knows restraint. The girl’ll be fine.”

“I mean, I know that he has experience with this sort of thing, but has he ever done it to a little girl?”

“I don’t know, man,” Feather said. “We’re Rangers; we don’t have to worry about our pasts. Milton’s done his time and now the Government sees his skills as useful. I trust that he knows what he’s doin.’”

The Wall looked ahead and paid no mind to the conversation beside him.

“Okay,” Slasher said, then fell silent. He couldn’t help but glance at Mabel from time to time just to make sure she was still breathing.

***

Back north above Tangate, Sly sat silently as Curtis wrapped up his story about after Midnight left the ranch in Dry Creek and about wandering through the Southern Slick. Curtis sighed, but to his surprise—and relief—Sly didn’t seem upset. The ex-Ranger nodded at first, then took a deep breath before speaking.

“None of that makes me dislike you, Dawn,” he said from across the fire. “Frankly, I don’t give a damn about what you’ve done over the past two years, or even before that. Maybe I would have just a week ago, but these past several days have really changed my view of the world. Honestly, I was changed after our second encounter in Coyote Run.”

“What d’ya mean?” Curtis asked.

“I haven’t really told you the real reason I wanted to come with you on your travels. Yes, I did hope that I could make it back to the Big City and earn my place amongst the big wigs again, but I also knew that I would most likely be recognized by the Government as a threat after teaming up with a dangerous Outlaw and I was okay with that possibility, too. But the reason I approached you and didn’t just go on my own was…well, two things, actually. The first reason was that I was scared, honestly.” Sly chuckled. “I didn’t know what to do on my own. I’d never had a partner or anything, but the idea of fighting the system that gave me wealth and power in the first place was terrifying and I didn’t want to be the only one who suffered if I failed. It was incredibly selfish and I shouldn’t have dragged you in, but I’m grateful that you took me.

Curtis nodded. “Made no difference to me at the time. I genuinely thought you’d be useful, and I was right. So, I could say that I’m grateful, too.”

“The other reason was because you were the person who changed my view to begin with. When you beat me, I thought I was done for—both times. Any other Outlaw that I’d met by then, and honestly still, would’ve shot me down the moment they had the chance, but you didn’t. You did everything you could to spare every life you could, and it only just clicked in my mind after that second encounter. You could’ve killed the sheriff of Sunnyville, but you didn’t. You could’ve killed me when I begged you to let me follow you, but you didn’t. With the exception of Dynamite, you’ve had every opportunity to kill every Outlaw we’ve faced, but you didn’t.

“What you’ve shown me is that sometimes people are only bad when presented with circumstances that present no other option, and your tales from the Southern Slick have only proven that to me further. Do I think you could’ve avoided some of the conflicts you had there? Sure, but you were also more naïve about how being what you are works, and I think that if you went back there now, you’d leave with no more blood on your hands than when you started.”

“I ain’t ever goin’ back there.” Curtis chuckled.

“That’s probably for the best,” Sly replied, also laughing. “I believe that you’ve done everything in your power to lead a good life while on your hunt for Midnight. The Mesa Frontier had changed. There’s more danger now than ever, since the start of my life, anyway. But I guess the past is only a memory now.”

“So, what is your past, Sly?”

“Well, I’ve told you most of it, actually. Just not the bad stuff.” Curtis locked eyes with Sly, but was silent. “I used to work for a very bad man. I didn’t know he was bad until kind of recently; that’s why I was stationed in Sunnyville—to be placed as far away from the Big City as possible without being sent to my death in the Southern Slick. I was alone there because, like I said, I’ve never had any official partners. There were plenty of others, Rangers and otherwise, who worked for that same man, but I was especially guilty. I was the only person who got orders directly from him; sort of his right-hand man you could say. You might wonder how I didn’t know he was bad, then. Well, he was a very good speaker. He disguised everything we did—everything I did—as justice.

“I hurt innocent people. I removed people from their homes by force under the name of justice and the law. I witnessed terrible acts and let them happen because the younger me was so caught up in being a Ranger, something I had aspired to be for so long, that I was blind to the darker side of it all.” Sly paused. “I never killed an innocent person. Every death I’ve caused directly was in action against an Outlaw or some other criminal. But all of those innocent lives that must have been lost because the poor had no where to go and nothing to eat because of some ridiculous tax laws that that man put in place, they way on me.”

After a moment, Curtis inquired, “Who’d you used to work for? Where’s ‘e now?”

Sly lowered his head. “His name was Lester Langley.”

“I’ve heard of ‘im. He’s in hidin,’ right?”

“No one’s seen him for a year. He ran before the Government even placed a bounty for him; someone must have warned him. When the Government couldn’t arrest him, they came after his dogs; not that we would’ve gotten away with anything scot free, but they probably hit us worse than it would’ve been otherwise. Aside from being sent to Sunnyville, I was fined 102 gold. I had a lot of money, for sure, but that wasn’t a light fee. We did get an incentive for if we helped bring Langley in, but there’s been no sign of him since he disappeared.”

“Listen, Sly. To be honest, I don’t give a damn, either, whether you used to ransack the homes of the poor or bully them from their living spaces, or even if you did kill a few of ‘em. In my eyes, none o’ that’s as bad as what I’ve done. So, in my book, you, too, have done yer best to live a good life.”

“Yeah, but…” Sly hesitated. A tear streamed down his cheek and fell into the sand. Curtis watched Sly, but still didn’t say anything. After a moment, Sly sniffled, then said, “Mabel knows about Lester Langley. He’s the reason she was on the streets.”

“Did you do it?”

“No, but I would’ve if he asked.

“That’s why you’ve been actin’ weird around ‘er lately. Did she find out that you used to work fer ‘im?”

“No. A couple nights ago, she told me about her family and explained what happened. Some of Lester’s men killed them, but let her live homeless. I couldn’t stand to hear about it, so I walked out of the room and left her alone there.”

“You’ll have to tell ‘er eventually. Better that than to have her find out on ‘er own.”

Sly sniffled again and nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I agree. I just haven’t figured out when or how to do it yet.”

“Here’s what I say: just tell ‘er. Be honest; let ‘er know that you regret all of it and that you’ve been scared of what she’d think. She’ll understand.”

“Yeah, okay,” Sly said, continuing to nod. “You do the same.” He looked at Curtis. Curtis turned his gaze to the ground, then.

“I will. We’ll each take our time. For now, let’s get some rest. We’ll need all of our strength for what’s comin.’”

As the three Rangers rode through the dark, the moon being their only source of light in the open desert, they were quiet. Mabel bobbed with every full cycle of the Wall’s horse’s gallop. Slowly, her eyes opened.

***

“No matter what, I always will,” Armani confirmed. The pale man smiled and looked down at Armani.

“I’m very glad to hear that,” he said. “In that case, there is something I must tell you. Once I do, there will be no secret I have not shared with you.”

Armani sat up and faced the man completely. “I’m ready,” she said. “Anything.”

“I was the one who killed Irving Craig.”

Armani fell silent as her smile slowly fell. She heard nothing in her ears accept the gentle wind blowing through the leaves of the tree above the couple. The chirping birds, the laughing passersby, the barking dogs, it all fell quiet to her. She stared at the man she loved mouth wide and eyes watery. She said, “Why would you say that?”

“It is the truth,” the man replied. “The mysterious Outlaw called Midnight is I.”

Armani held her breathe and didn’t speak for several moments. She held back tears as best she could, but a lump formed in her throat. “You—” she choked. “You’re.…."

“You still love me, don’t you?” Midnight asked.

“I…” Armani’s thoughts raced thousands of times in her head every second. Suddenly, all of the noise around her was deafening and she could hear all of it but still none of it as it meshed together into a hurricane of sound. She saw the man in front of her change somehow and become someone different, someone she didn’t realize she recognized. Her perception of the man she loved morphed from one of pure infatuation to something incomprehensible to her fragile mind.

The noise was overwhelming and her sight confused her. She wanted to raise her hands to her ears and drown out the sounds; close her eyes and shut out everything that came to her all in that moment. She could hear Irving Craig’s voice in her head clearer than in any of her dreams and it danced with the voice of Midnight and all of the things he’s told her since they met that made her feel wanted, feel loved, feel less alone after the death of her idol. The voiced tormented her, teased her, made her feel foolish and ignorant for not realizing sooner that the man she met only months after her mentor’s death was the same man who brought about that death and—.

Silence.

“I…” Armani said just barely loud enough to hear. The noises around her returned to normal volumes and the man she saw in front of her was not the man she sought to destroy but only the man she loved and that she knew she loved with all of her heart. She swallowed and the tears that were about to erupt left her eyes, leaving her cheeks dry for a moment before they returned in full swing. But instead of wailing and shouting, the Doyenne smile and embraced Midnight. “I do.” She said. “I do still love you. No matter what.”

Midnight wrapped his arms around her, his dark clothing bringing warmth to the woman he, too, loved with all of his heart. After a minute, the two separated. Armani wiped her face and Midnight expressed his relief.

“Sadly, I must say that I have to leave soon. It’s dangerous for me to remain in one place for long.”

“But you’ll come back,” Armani hoped. “You always have, even when you’ve gone for long times.”

Midnight nodded and leaned in close. “Of course, I will,” he assured her. Then, Midnight planted a gentle kiss on Armani’s lips.

Before departing, Midnight received a pendant from Armani to wear around his neck. She kept a matching one for herself and proposed something. “My Spell,” she explained. “Rose Glasses. I can bind myself to another with this.” She touched the pendant. “That way, I may experience the senses of said person whenever I please. It will allow us to communicate from any distance, even if I don’t know where you are.”

“Experience my senses?”

“Yes! It could see what you see and hear what you hear. No matter where either of us may be in relation to one another. But that’s not all; I could… well.”

“Yes?”

“I… could… designate you as my True Love… and then I could feel, always, just how close or far you are by how warm the pendant is at rest. There are some downsides to that ability, but they don’t matter. You are my true love!”

Midnight embraced Armani again and whispered in her ear. “My love. I want nothing’ more than to always be connected with you, but I cannot. It would be dangerous for both of us if you always know where I am and could see and hear as I do.” Midnight began to remove the pendant, but Armani stopped him.

“Wait,” she pleaded. “It doesn’t have to be like that. We can just use it to communicate here and there when it’s safe to do so. I won’t share your senses without permission, and I won’t make you my True Love. Then, your location will always be a secret and I’ll never know what you’re up to.” Armani looked up at Midnight. “It’ll be enough just to talk to you every once-in-a-while, because I’ll know in my heart that you’re my one and only.”

“Okay,” Midnight said. “That’ll work. However, I need you to only respond to me when I call for you. I think it would be risky for you to contact me without notice. Okay?”

Armani nodded.

“I love you, Armani,” Midnight said in his half-whisper tone.

“I love you, too, my beautiful Moon.”

To be continued…

Map on Imgur: /a/WAhOPOo