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Orion doesn’t see the world as I do. All this seems new to me, fresh nature in abundance. But to Orion every bit of ground, every road Is just part of his web of getaway paths and hiding places.
“Here,” he says, pulling a bag free from the dirt. “Take this.”
I take it, because he’s given it to me. But it’s heavy. And it jingles. The leather tie at the top is loose, and I as I try to balance it in my hands, the tie falls away to reveal a gleaming collection of jewels and gold.
“What… oh my…”
“That’s my insurance stash. My life savings, you might call it. Take it,” he says. “Take it and ride to the port. Use it to bribe your way onto the first transporter out of here. Doesn’t matter where.”
“I’m not going to just run away with your money.”
“Why not? That has been your plan this entire time.”
“My plan was to get your help to get the right documents so I could leave and start a new life properly. It wasn’t to bump into the sheriff, panic, and flee.”
He looks at me with a smirk. “Is that what you think I’m doing? Panicking and running away?”
“I think that’s literally what you just did.”
He reaches out and snatches the bag from me. “You need to learn some respect, girl.”
“No. I’ve got lots of respect,” I correct him, not knowing where this boldness is coming from, but going with it. “And I’m scared, but I’m not so scared that I’m going to let the fear of Atticus change everything.”
“Change what?” Orion pulls his hat off, runs his fingers through his hair, and puts his hat back on. “We were riding for the ranch. Now you don’t want to do that either.”
“You want to ride for the ranch, we’ll ride for the ranch,” I say. “And you can keep your jewelry, I don’t wear the stuff.”
I don’t want to leave his side. This big bag full of money, sure, it might get me off the planet. Might not, too. Might get me robbed and murdered. Might get me arrested and hung. I’ve learned now that it doesn’t matter what I do, the consequences are always negative. There are no good outcomes for a girl like me. Except, maybe, having the love of a man like Orion.
“Oh I can, can I?” He narrows his gaze at me, but I can tell he’s not actually angry.
“Yeah. You can.”
“We might have slept together, girl, and we might be on the brink of complete disaster, but I will still whip you if you get out of hand.”
“I’m not out of hand.”
“Maybe yer not,” he admits, plucking his hat from his head and dashing it to the ground. “Dammit! Now that Atticus found us, this entire plan is going to have to be reworked. He’s got to guess where we were headed.”
“Or maybe it just became a race,” I suggest. “If he’s trying to get to my Pa’s ranch first…”
“He can do that with an air ship,” Orion growls. “He’s doing a ground search for a reason. He knows we’re not in the air.”
“Paris was.”
“Paris doesn’t play by the rules.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t either. Maybe we should get on a ship and fly.”
“Uh huh,” he picks his hat back up and dusts it off on his knee with a series of slaps. “And how are we going to do that, precisely?”
“We stop going forward. We go back. We head to the nearest airport and we catch a rig. Maybe an agricultural one. We fly there. We see if my rat bastard of a father is still breathing.”
Orion nods slowly. I can see him calming down as he takes my words in.
“That’s not a bad idea,” he says. “Much faster, and Atticus won’t expect it. Let’s head for Flugzeug and see if we can steal one of their blimp ships. Not as fast as other forms of travel, but assuming we take the captain with us, we’ll avoid being caught, I reckon.”
Orion
There’s something I have to say before we ride again. It’s not something I’d usually say. I don’t live a life that lends itself to apologies. But I think I owe one to her. I lost my nerve there for a second, seeing Atticus Bunch and knowing that I couldn’t save her. If it wasn’t for Paris, we’d both be dead meat right now, and I reckon I won’t never forget nor forgive myself for that. But that doesn’t mean sending her off planet with more money than God. It means something else. It means taking what I want, and making damn sure I keep it.
“Josie.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry.”
She looks completely confused. “For what?”
“For…” I search for a word that I like better than the one that comes to mind and find myself at a loss. “Panicking.”
