Take the Shot
Chapter 6 of The Ballad of Abigail Lambert
They’d been traveling westward in the direction of Pike’s Basin for some time when Esperanza’s stomach grumbled. Abigail was long beyond the point of needing to keep up with regular meals—she’d go days without so much as a crumb more often than not, but hunger was a sensation she was rarely compelled to action by. The girl could not so easily tell her stomach to quiet down, as her last meal was well before she’d met Abigail’s acquaintance.
The McCalister gang was a large one, at least, before Abigail crossed their path. While a few of them reveled in the vagrancy of the outlaw lifestyle, most of them were a patchwork of families who’d lost everything they’d ever worked towards for one reason or another and found both family and security under Colin’s stead. While the men would ride out and bring back money by any means necessary, the women would stay back at wherever they’d made camp for now and prepare the group’s meals. While it was far from a regal feast, Esperanza’s mind was presently drowning in memories of Aunt Cass’s stew. The growl of her stomach was underpinned by a vicious echo, where even Jules barked in solidarity.
“Me too.” Esperanza’s legs grew heavier with every step they marched forward.
“Quit lagging.” Abigail commanded from up ahead.
“If I had some food, it might be easier for me to keep up.”
“You’re welcome to the berries in that bush over there that may or may not be poison,” Abigail said as she pointed in its direction. “Or maybe that pile of rocks over there. They look tasty.”
“Do you get a rise out of belittling people?” Esperanza asked.
“Do you get a rise out of complaining?” Abigail replied.
“Forgive me,” Esperanza said, “not all of us are trying to die of starvation.”
“That’s harder than it seems.” Abigail could just make out a black and white critter on the ground up ahead. She raised her fist, and everyone stopped moving.
“What?”
Abigail pointed at the skunk.
“You can’t be serious.”
“Are you hungry or are you not?”
Esperanza looked down at Jules. She whimpered, but whether she was agreeing with Esperanza’s apprehension or merely expressing the torture of sitting still with her bum leg while every fiber of her being pushed her to chase down the critter was anyone’s guess. Esperanza looked back up at Abigail.
“What do you expect me to do?” Esperanza asked her.
She’d wandered on her own for so long, she wasn’t used to having so much noise follow in her wake. That it didn’t even occur to this girl that she take an active role in securing her meal left Abigail without words. If it meant the girl would shut up, she’d take on the hunt herself. It would only be temporary, anyway. All she had to do was get her to Tennessee, and Abigail would have her peace.
Abigail took the rifle slung across her back and laid it against a nearby tree. She crept over toward the skunk, careful not to rustle up too much noise and scare it off. Once close enough to attack, she dived for the ground with her arms out to catch the critter but the skunk was quick on its feet. It scurried away and sprayed Abigail in the process. Esperanza couldn’t help but laugh.
“I’m guessing they kept you tied up cause you weren’t good for much else.” Abigail said.
“I’m sorry.” Esperanza covered the smirk on her face with her hand.
Abigail’s cheeks stung with the stench of a thousand foul pricks. She tried to wipe as much of the spray off her face as she could, but it did more to spread the smell than to remove it.
“Here.” Abigail grabbed the rifle and threw it at Esperanza.
“What do you want me to do with this?”
“Catch supper,” Abigail replied. “Where’s our heading?”
“West?” She squeaked.
“Was that a question?”
“West!” Esperanza took the lead, and they scoured the woods in search of their supper. They came upon a deer grazing by its lonesome, and Abigail held Esperanza back before she could get close enough to scare it off.
“Line up your shot.” Abigail whispered.
“From here? I can’t aim that far.”
“It’s a rifle, you’ll be fine.”
Esperanza raised her weapon and pointed it at the deer, still munching on grass. She pressed her cheek to the rifle to line up her sights.
“Not like that, you’re gonna bust your cheek open.” Abigail instructed.
“I’ve got it!” Esperanza pulled the rifle away from her. They stood there for some time with Esperanza’s finger hovering above the trigger, but she couldn’t bring herself to take the shot.
“What the hell’s the matter with you?”
“I can’t kill it.”
“You wanna eat, don’t you?”
“I’ll try my luck with the berries.” Esperanza tried to slip away, but Abigail grabbed her by the collar.
“Take the shot.”
Esperanza hesitantly brought the rifle back up to aim and her finger trembled over the trigger. Her stomach growled, loud enough to catch the deer’s attention. It blew at her and Esperanza, now without a second to lose, took the shot. She hit the deer in its side, but the animal stayed on its feet and did its best to stagger away.
“Kill it!” Abigail demanded.
Esperanza raised her rifle to take the kill shot. It was moving slow enough that she might land it properly this time but just before she could pull the trigger, Bill Decker emerged from behind one of the trees.
“What smells like hammered shit?” He boomed, and both the girls shouted from the surprise—Esperanza accidentally squeezed the trigger. He approached Abigail and pinched his nose. “I said God damn!” Bill fanned the air, as if that would help.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Abigail asked.
“Someone told me you were after Joseph Bacall.” He replied.
“So?”
“I couldn’t, in good conscience, let you get yourself killed.”
“That might be easier said than done, Bill.”
“You just cost us supper!” Esperanza shouted at him as she beat on his chest. He grabbed her by the wrist.
“Relax, little girl. I saw you clip that deer. It won’t be long before it bleeds out.”
“Go home, Bill.” Abigail said, cribbing the rifle from Esperanza’s hands.
“I didn’t hike halfway through this God forsaken forest to go back home empty handed.”
“Wouldn’t be the first poor choice you’ve made, now would it?” Abigail walked away.
“If we don’t do this together,” he warned, “then I’m afraid we’re competing for the same bounty.”
“Oh, is that a fact?” Abigail said.
“I’m tryin’a help you.”
“We don’t need your help.” Abigail wouldn’t even look at him. “Come on, girl.”
Esperanza followed suit.
“I ain’t followin’ you!” Bill did exactly the opposite. “We’re just headed in the same direction.”
“Oh, cut the crap!” Abigail shouted.
They all heard the strained whine of the creature up ahead. They found Esperanza’s wounded deer laying on the ground, bleeding out from its wound. Abigail and Esperanza approached it, and Abigail drew a knife from her boot. She handed it to her.
“Finish what you started.” Abigail told her.
Esperanza took to her knees beside the deer and held the knife to the animal’s throat. Her hands trembled as she stared into its eye.
“The longer you wait, the more it’ll suffer.” Abigail told her. Jules whimpered.
Esperanza pressed the tip of the knife to the deer’s throat, but she didn’t have the strength to go through with it. Bill stomped over to her, took the knife and finished the deer off himself.
“What the hell are you doing?” Abigail shouted.
“You said it yourself, no point in making the thing suffer!” He said.
“That ain’t the point! She ain’t gon’ learn if someone else’s picking up after her.”
“You don’t have to talk about me like I’m not even here.” Esperanza said, but Abigail and Bill were too caught in the heat of their argument to pay her any mind.
“It’s done.” Bill said. “Probably best to make camp here so we don’t have to drag this thing.” Abigail bit her tongue while Bill started to skin the deer for what it was worth. Esperanza, watching the scene unfold, could barely stand the sight of it.
“Good lord.” She squealed.
“Do us a favor and make a campfire, would ya, girl?” Bill asked Esperanza. Any opportunity that kept her attention from the gore unfolding before her was a welcome one, so she did just as he asked. She’d finished drawing the fire just as he wrapped up slicing a few slabs out of the deer. They roasted the meat over the open flames.
Bill handed a piece of cooked meat to her, who wasted no time ripping it out of his grasp and proceeded to chow down. Bill held out a piece to Abigail, who hesitated to take it. He shook the slab in her direction and she begrudgingly took it from his hands. She took a small bite, but as her stomach began to demand more, she couldn’t help but keep up with the rest of them.
“How did you even find us?” Esperanza asked.
“You two don’t do a very good job of hiding your tracks.” He said.
“We weren’t trying to.” Abigail said.
“I’d be surprised if you were!” Bill bit off enough to feed the three of them.
“What could we have done better?” Esperanza asked him.
Abigail shot her a look, they didn’t need him at all, let alone his advice but she held her tongue and continued to eat.
“You could try circling back into your own tracks. That’s liable to throw most anyone for a loop.” He said. Jules’s whimper caught Bill’s attention. “This ain’t for you, ya mutt.” He told her, but Jules’s gaze remained unbroken, filled with hope that the big scruffy human might bless her with a share of the spoils. Bill groaned as he got up and walked back to the deer. He reached into its sliced open chest and ripped off a rib. “Here.” He threw down the rib. It didn’t have a chance to hit the ground before Jules caught it. Bill laughed.
When they set out the next morning, it wasn’t but a few hours before they arrived at Pike’s Basin. They stood atop a massive cliff edge and looked down on what may have been a raging river many centuries ago but was nothing more now than dirt and a few scant trees, save for the tiny shack dwarfed by its rocky surroundings below. They spotted half a dozen horses hitched outside as smoke billowed out the chimney.
“This is it.” Bill said.
That was enough for Abigail.
“How do we know that’s them down there?” Esperanza asked.
“All things considered? We don’t.” Bill replied.
“We ought to make sure we know who we’re dealing with.” Esperanza said.
“I don’t disagree with ya, little missy. But with a band of killers, it ain’t so simple as knocking on the door and askin’ who’s home.”
“How else would you know?” She asked.
“We’ve gots to be careful, is all. Ain’t no way of knowing if they’re the type to shoot first and ask questions later.” As he turned his attention back to the shack at the bottom of the basin, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Someone was approaching the cabin. He looked back up, only to realize that only Esperanza and Jules were beside him. Abigail, it seems, had gone ahead.
“What the hell is she doing?” He muttered. They watched from afar as Abigail planted her feet in the ground outside the shack.
“Joseph Bacall!” She shouted, her call echoing throughout the chasm.
“Who’s askin’?” A voice called out from the shack.
“I don’t recall askin’ nothing!” She said.
“You after that bounty, aren’t ya?” He, who she could only presume was Joe, asked.
“That’s right.”
“I’ll give you one chance to turn around! It ain’t ended too well for the other folks that tried.” She looked down at the ground, to the three rotting corpses that laid face down in the dirt outside the shack.
“I see.” She said. “Tell ya what, I’ll give you one chance.”
“One chance for what?”
“To die on your feet like a man.” The whole time they’d been shouting at each other, one of the Bacall boys was lining up his shot with a long rifle, out the front window of the shack. As he readied to pull the trigger, sunlight hit the silver tip of his rifle. The glint caught Abigail’s eye. She was quick to draw her pistol, and she fired.
“This girl’s got a death wish!” Bill shouted as he ran down into the gully after her. Esperanza and Jules trailed behind him.
Abigail pressed forward, toward the shack, as bullets blasted out from within it and flew past her. She managed to shoot dead the gunner in the window, as well as the poor soul that emerged out the front door with a rifle in hand who didn’t let off so much as a single shot before he fell dead to the ground. She reloaded her pistol as she stomped onto the porch, and once all six shots were loaded, she kicked down the door and blasted away at everyone inside. By the time Bill and Esperanza finally made it all the way down to the shack, she’d made quick work of the entire Bacall gang.
“Good lord, Abigail.” Bill said.
“What was that about getting myself killed?” She asked him as she dragged one of the bodies out of the shack and into the dirt.
“When you’re right, you’re right.” Bill said. He assisted her with dragging the rest of the bodies out of the shack.
“You have a taste for violence, don’t you?” Esperanza asked her as she watched them load the bodies up onto the backs of the horses.
Abigail looked at her but had nothing to say.
The three of them carried two bodies each on the back of their horses, and Bill drug another horse by the reins behind him as they rode back to Ridgewood. They rode through the day and into the night, eventually making it to the sheriff’s station. The sheriff stepped out and watched on as Bill and Abigail dropped the bodies at his feet.
“Well, ain’t that something.” He said as he looked Joeseph Bacall in his glassy dead eyes, piled atop the rest of his buddies. “I believe I owe you a bounty,” he said, looking at Bill.
“Actually, you owe me a payment.” Abigail clarified.
“You?” The sheriff asked.
“By myself.”
The sheriff looked at Bill, who confirmed the claim with a nod.
“Well, I’ll be damned.” The sheriff retreated into the station to collect the cash. When he returned, he handed the stack to Abigail.
“Much obliged.” She said with a tip of her hat. She thumbed through the stack to count it.
“I’d say at least half of that’s mine.” Bill said.
“You didn’t do a goddamn thing!” Abigail shouted.
“I helped you cart ‘em over here, didn’t I?” He said.
“You’re getting two horses! You’ve got more than enough.” She said as she shoved the stacks of cash into her pocket.
Further down the street, Wesley found himself carried out of the saloon. One too many patrons felt he was cheating at cards, and so he was no longer welcome inside. After cursing the owner to high hell, he lit a cigarette and grumbled to himself. He took a drag as Abigail’s argument with Bill echoed down the street. He thought nothing of it at first, but his attention was fully captured when he saw them approaching the stable, with Esperanza behind them.
“I guess this is where we part ways.” Bill said as he led the last of his new horses into their pens.
“I guess it is.” Abigail said.
“Hey, Lil’ Hope.” Wesley said.
The three of them turned toward the front of the stable to see him standing in the doorway.
“Who the hell are you?” Bill asked.
“Her family.” He pointed at Esperanza. “Let’s go.”
“She ain’t going nowhere.” Abigail stepped in front of Esperanza to shield her from him.
“Nobody has to get hurt if we settle this right here and now.” Wesley said.
“We’ll settle this right here and now, but no one getting hurt is a stretch.” Abigail’s hand hovered over her gun.
“You sure that’s how you wanna play this?” Wesley’s finger twitched over his gun.
“It’s the only way I know how.” They stared at each other in silence. Wesley was the first to draw his gun, but Abigail was quick on the draw and she gunned him down.
“Sorry for the mess.” She said, holstering her gun.
“Did you have to do it in here?” He asked.
“Did it look like he was giving me much of an option?”
“Help me get him outta here.”
The two of them dragged the body toward Abigail’s horse, hitched outside. Esperanza watched as they pulled him across the dirt, his vacant dead eyes bore a hole right through her. Wesley would often be the one to talk Colin down from the fit of rage he sought to take out on the girl. It also wasn’t long ago that he’d returned from one of many nights out with Colin, covered in blood that belonged to neither of them. That happened more often than not, and despite what Wesley may have done for her, she had to remind herself of what the lot of them did to her.
Esperanza, Abigail and Bill rode on horseback out of town to a nearby riverbank. They disposed of him in the river, letting the current carry him downstream.
“You best get outta here,” he warned them. “Lord knows how close behind his friends are.”
“Thanks, Bill.”
“Oh, don’t get sentimental on me now.” He grumbled.
“Really. Thank you. For everything.” She hugged him. He embraced her.
“Take care of yourself.”
“Likewise.”
Abigail mounted her horse and rode off with Esperanza. Jules found it difficult to keep up with them as she hobbled in their wake.
“I told you she’d be a problem!” Abigail said.
Esperanza brought her horse to a stop. She dismounted and picked the dog up off the ground and seated her atop the horse. She got back on and they rode, Jules’s tongue flapping out of her mouth with a wide grin on her face as they rode on and the wind blew past them. Abigail rolled her eyes as they continued forth.
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