See ya, Cowboy! by KJ Micheal (top 10 books to read txt) 📕

"Quick thinking on my part, don'tcha think?"

James pulled his attention away from her clothing and up to her dimly lit face, "W-What?"

"Ya know...getting help from the Natives?" She sounded annoyed; as if he should have already known the answer.

"W-Wha- How did you even-" He was at a loss for words.

Emma began to walk around him, "Nevermind that...let's get you freed."

He could feel the rope tied around him begin to tug as the sound of Emma's efforts gave him little hope of escape. He turned his attention back to the people who continued to dance to the rhythmic pounding of the drums. James listened to the drums beat over and over again, as a strange feeling began to grow inside of him. He suddenly felt anxious; he felt afraid. His heart began to beat faster as the drums pounded harder. He felt uncomfortable; he felt ill. The people continued to dance to the horrid sound as if they were mocking him; as if they were cheering on the source of his agony. The pounding of the drums began to change...It began to morph into something else...Something so different yet so familiar. His hands began to sweat profusely as he clenched his fists; digging his fingernails into the palms of his hands; gripping something that wasn't there. He heard a girl's voice...he heard her voice. She cried out to him but he didn't listen; he couldn't listen because he felt that he had no other choice, and that would cost him...it would cost him another life...It would cost him her...

James was released from the mental torture as the ropes tied around him dropped onto his lap.

"There we go." Emma said with a forced grunt as she pushed herself up.

James looked down at the rope and then at his hands - They were no longer bound.

"You coming or what?" Emma once again stood at his feet, looking down at him.

From his right, James could hear Micah struggling to make a sentence.

"Wha- how- you're-"

James stood up and followed behind Emma. He stared at the back of her head, thinking.

Micah pleaded, "Wait! James! Buddy! Untie me!"

James continued behind Emma, still staring at the back of her head; the drums still pounding. She turned around to face him; a smile rested across her face and her hand stretched out towards him, "Come and dance with me, Cowboy!"

The morning sun's bright, bothersome light peirced through the trees and into James's bloodshot eyes. He walked next to Emma, who was still dressed in the Natives clothing. She walked with a skip in her step; she seemed happy.

"How are your wounds holding up?" Emma asked, and before he could respond, "It was really kind of them to fix you up!" She continued on, "I wish I could have stayed longer, they were really-"

 James cut her off, "Who are you?"

 "Wha- That was sudden..." She said, letting out a nervous laugh.

 "I remember what happened." James said; stopping in his tracks.

 "You do?" She asked, "W-What do you remember?" She stopped and turned to face him.

 "Not much...Though, I think I remember how I ended up at the bottom of that cliff."

 Emma said, "Oh, you do?"

 James said, "Yeah, and I remember you were there with me when I fell.

 Emma stood in silence; she appeared to James as if she was lost in thought. She finally spoke, "You're right...I was with you when you fell, and just like you, I survived the fall. When I came to, you were still unconscious and I couldn't move you, so I left to get help."

 James asked, "Before we fell...You cried out for me to stop...Why?"

 Emma said, "W-Well...You were in such a rush to save your brother that you were unable to make rational decisions. I was aware of the dangers along that path and the rain didn't help at all."

 James stood still, thinking before speaking up, "Emma...I...I also remember who I used to be...Or who I am...I don't know..." He looked down at his feet in shame.

 "What's the matter? What do you remember?" Emma asked.

 James spoke, "I remember who I was and what I had become...because of my hatred for the world around me..." He looked up from his feet and into Emmas eyes. "...And the people I hurt because of it..."

 Emma noticed the pain in his eyes and asked, "Well...how do you feel about the things you've done?" She was intrigued, eagerly waiting for a response.

 James said, "I hate who I was...I hate the violence I caused to others. The harm I did to those people can never be taken back." Scenes played out within his mind that he couldn't erase. "...For me to take away from others what I so desperately wanted for myself was completely and utterly selfish of me."

 Emma spoke, "The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving...Do you think you're deserving of his forgiveness?"

 James looked up at the red and blue morning sky and then back down at her, " 'merciful and forgiving,' huh?" He chuckled. "I deserve no forgiveness from anyone." He walked past her, feeling her eyes on him. "C'mon, It'll be noon before we know it." ...And after a moment, he could hear her starting after him and he called back, "Hey, what's this town we're heading to called anyways?"

 Emma spoke from behind, "It's a little town along the river called 'Lew'...Heard of it?"

The sun's harsh light rose above James and Emma as they pushed through the forest.

"The town should be around here somewhere..." Emma said, trying her best to sound reassuring as she searched around. "Err...Ah, there it is!" She pointed.

James looked in the direction of her outstretched hand, and barely visible through the trees was the town of Lew. The town sat, backed up to the river and only consisted of a single dirt road with structures lined up on either side.

"That's Lew?" James asked absent mindedly.

"Yeah, that's Lew." Emma responded. 

James stood in silence, not batting an eye from the town as Emma walked past him.

She noticed him standing still and turned to face him, "You coming? It's almost noon and-"

"Look - you can cut the act...I know my brothers in no danger." James said, looking into her eyes. "He hasn't been in any danger since he passed on." He continued, "...And I also remember what I had done to you..."

Emma stood in silence before speaking up, "So what are you going to do now? Are you going to run away?"

James looked away from her gaze before speaking, "All I've ever done in my life was run...I ran from my problems, and if anyone got in my way, I didn't hesitate to deal with them. It was all for my own well being...I killed for my own well being and there's nothing I can do now to bring them back. What i've done in the past should never be forgiven by any man, or God." James looked back into Emma's eyes. "I'm deeply sorry for what happened." James started for the town, walking past Emma, who stood in silence. He stopped for a moment, turning his head to face the back of hers, "Emma..." He wanted to say something else, but no words were forming. He watched Emma slowly lower her head as she became choked up; tears dripping from her face. 

James turned away from her and fled towards the town. Listening to her cries made him hate himself even more than he already had. It also made him hate the world around him. The world that shead no light to anyone, even for those who had dedicated their lives trying to walk within it. He hated that it was him that wronged her, though he knew that if not him, then it would have been someone else. He could hear her cries become distant as he entered the town. He walked down the road, noticing the few people who walked along it with him. To his left, a man struggled with his horse as it bucked everytime he grew near; the man cursed. James looked to his right where a single wagon rested in front of a general store. Next to the store's entrance, above a wooden bench, James noticed a poster with a man's face on it...with his face on it. He walked over towards it, ripping the thin piece of paper off of the wooden plank it was nailed to. He looked down at the sketching of his face in disgust; below the sketching was his name printed in bold letters, and below it was the bounty.

He thought, Ten thousand...That's it?

From his left, he heard the shop door opened up followed by an audible gasp and a scream. James looked over at the fleeing woman as she screamed out for help. He looked back down at the poster and crumpled it up, dropping it to the floor and sitting down on the bench. Waiting.

James leaned back on the bench, tilting his head up. The curtains were to soon come to a close on his journey tainted in blood and greed. A journey full of running...endless fleeing. He tried to outrun it all but in the end, there was no outrunning himself. So why waste the energy...Embrace it.

He knew there were more like him. He knew the pain would never stop...the suffering would never stop, and until the end of times, there will always be people who will take the path of temptation like he had. Oh, only if the spotlight could cover greater distances...only if it could bring light to all the evil in the world...maybe, just maybe there will finally be everlasting peace. James smiled at the thought.

"THERE! HE'S RIGHT THERE!" A woman's voice cried out.

James raised his hands as a deep voice picked up in front of him. James looked down at the sheriff as he was pulled from the bench. The sheriff took him across the road and to a small, square building where he was brought inside and tossed into a cell. The door squeaked shut behind him.

"I thought it'd be harder to catch ya..." The sheriff said, his mustache twitched. "I didn't think you'd waltz into town looking like horse shit, and take a nap infront of the busiest palce in Lew." The sheriff laughed. "Were ya studying to be a half-wit while you were on the run?"

James sat in silence.

"Ya know, ya almost scared the life outta ole' miss Gardner back there...Ya owe her a formal apology for that." And then, "Perhaps I can arrange that tomorrow morning before you acquaintance yourself with God... or the Devil. Yeah, Probably the Devil...He's more your style." The