14 They're Coming
1002 Words
The night settled thick and absolute.
No fire.
No light.
Just cold air and the slow rhythm of the horses shifting nearby.
Elijah walked the perimeter.
Quiet.
Measured.
Every step placed with intention, eyes scanning the dark like he expected it to move back.
Inside the small pocket of camp,
Noah lay on the ground beside Clara, one blanket beneath them, another pulled over both.
Clara's eyes were open.
She wasn't asleep.
There was no way she was sleeping.
"Relax," Noah murmured softly.
"I am relaxed."
"You're thinkin' loud."
She exhaled slowly.
"I just told my husband I have feelings for his brother," she whispered. "I think I'm allowed to think loudly."
Noah's mouth curved faintly in the dark.
"Fair."
Then quieter,
"You cold?"
Clara hesitated.
"...yes."
The word barely made it out.
Noah shifted slightly, pulling the blanket tighter around them, his arm sliding over her, letting her press her body into him, just enough to trap warmth between them.
His hand slid up her side,
then paused.
Just long enough to make her breath catch.
Then dropped back to her waist.
"Later," he murmured in the back of her neck.
Clara swallowed.
Didn't move away.
Because it helped.
And because,
right now,
She needed it.
A sound cut through the quiet.
Soft.
Wrong.
Noah's body went rigid instantly.
Every line of him tightening.
Clara felt it.
"What, "
his other arm locked around her, pulling her tight against him,
not for closeness,
for silence
for safety
for control
She froze.
Boots.
Close.
Too close.
A branch snapped.
"...damn horses," a voice muttered from the dark.
Clara's heart slammed.
Noah moved fast.
He grabbed the edge of the blanket and rolled them both into the brush, pulling Clara with him in one smooth motion.
Leaves.
Dirt.
Cold ground pressing up around them.
His body over hers now.
Shielding.
Hidden.
Still.
Clara didn't breathe.
Didn't move.
Didn't think.
Another set of footsteps joined the first.
"You find 'em?" a second voice asked.
"Yeah," the first muttered. "Right where we lost 'em."
Clara's eyes widened.
The horses.
They were looking at their horses.
Right there.
Right in their camp.
Noah didn't move.
Didn't shift from covering her.
His breath is steady.
Controlled.
"Waste of time," the second man grumbled. "Should've just hit that ranch as we planned."
Clara felt that.
Felt Noah feel it.
Even without looking at him.
"The brothers got more cattle than anyone in this valley," the first one added. "Would've been easy pickin'."
Clara's stomach dropped.
Oh.
Oh no.
This wasn't random.
This wasn't an opportunity.
This was targeted.
Noah's hand tightened slightly over her mouth.
Not to silence,
To steady.
The men moved closer.
Too close.
Clara could see their boots now through the brush.
Could hear the irritation in their voices.
"They're probably still out there chasin' ghosts," the second one said.
"Good," the first replied. "Gives us time to, "
A shape moved in the trees.
Fast.
Silent.
Elijah.
He came out of the dark like he belonged to it.
The rock in his hand came down hard,
A sickening c***k.
The first bandit dropped without a sound.
The second man barely had time to turn,
Before Noah moved.
Gone from above her in a single motion.
Knife flashing.
A sharp grunt,
Then silence.
Clara pushed up on her elbows, breath coming fast as the world rushed back in.
Both men were down.
Still.
The quiet returned like it had never left.
Elijah stood over them, chest rising slow, controlled.
Noah straightened a second later, wiping his blade clean on the man's coat without ceremony.
No words.
Just understanding.
Clara climbed out of the hiding spot. Elijah opened his arms and caught her in his embrace.
"...they were coming for you," she said.
Her voice sounded distant to her own ears.
"For your cattle."
Elijah nodded once.
"Yeah."
Noah glanced toward Elijah, holding Clara.
"Not just us," he said. "The whole valley if they get bold enough."
He looked right at Clara. "That is right?"
She nodded her head
Fast.
Sharp.
"They're scouting first," she said. "Testing the area. If they hit you, if they take your herd, "
"They don't stop," Elijah finished.
Clara nodded.
"Yes."
Silence settled again.
But this time,
It wasn't empty.
It was a decision.
Noah moved first.
Already grabbing the reins.
"We move now."
Elijah didn't argue.
"What about the rest of them?" Clara asked.
"They'll come lookin' for these two," Noah said. "We ain't here when they do."
Clara looked between them.
Her chest tight.
"They were always coming for you," she said again.
Elijah's jaw tightened.
"Then we make sure they don't find nothin' worth takin'."
Clara's breath caught.
"...you're not just moving the herd."
Noah glanced at her.
"We're takin' it out."
All of it.
Clara's heart kicked.
"That's the largest herd in the valley."
"Exactly," Elijah said.
"If it's gone," Noah added, "they follow it."
Clara stared at them.
Understanding clicked into place.
"You're going to pull them away."
Elijah met her eyes.
"From everyone."
Clara swallowed.
"That's not just risky, that's, "
"Necessary," Noah said.
Then softer,
"Unless you got a better idea."
Clara didn't.
And she hated that.
Because they were right.
She nodded slowly.
"...then we do it right."
Elijah's mouth curved faintly.
"That's the plan."
They moved fast.
No wasted motion.
No second-guessing.
Clara swung up onto the horse with Noah this time without argument.
Without hesitation.
His hand stayed at her waist as the horse moved.
Not wandering.
Not pushing.
Just... holding her there.
Like he knew exactly how easy it would be to lose her in the dark.
Elijah mounted beside them.
"Stay close," he said.
Clara nodded.
"I will."
Noah's voice dropped just behind her.
"I've got you."
Clara laid her arm over his, feeling safe in the darkness.
The horses surged forward.
Out of the clearing.
Into the dark.
Three riders.
One plan.
And behind them,
The beginning of something much bigger than any of them had planned.
- Writer
