Erica stared down at the man tied up on the ground. That couldn't possibly be true, could it? That would be some insane coincidence, some crazy plot twist from...well, about half of all time-travel stories, actually. Fictional precedent notwithstanding, it was a wild conclusion to jump to...but the time-storm or whatever it was in the sky above them had to be caused by something, didn't it?
She tried to quiet the instinctive revulsion at the idea that she might be the descendant of this crass thief and murderer, tried to focus. The facts as she knew them..."Bandit Keith" escaped custody and was never heard from again, yet they'd successfully captured him. She'd just learned that they shared a surname...a very common one, admittedly, but considering that she knew that her family had an ancestor from this area around this time that her great-grandma didn't like to talk about...
It was still hard to say for certain that that was the case, but if that storm-thing was any indication, this was not a matter to be taking any chances with. Even if it wasn't her that stood to lose from this, she didn't want to go around accidentally erasing people from history. But...how in the world could she explain this to...to Samuel? She couldn't even begin to think of a plausible rationale for letting him go. Then perhaps...she would have to tell him the truth.
"S-Sam," she said, feeling nervous about the very idea of proposing this, wondering what he would think of her, "Samuel, I have to tell you this. It's gonna sound crazy, but I swear it's the truth..."
Samuel's expression turned serious. "Erica," he said, "you ain't given me reason not to trust you. Anyway, I'll believe most anything at this point..."
The teenage skunk-girl nodded and took a deep breath. "Nikki and I...we're from the future," she said. "A bit over a hundred and twenty years from now...something happened to Hedgeton, and all these holes, kinda like that one, they opened up...Nikki came out of one of 'em and said she was lost, then I tried to take her back and we wound up here..."
"That's a bit strange, all right," the young deputy said. "But what's this worthless coyote got to do with it?"
She gulped. "I...I think he might be my ancestor. I know that he's supposed to escape and disappear, not get hanged..."
He balked quite visibly. "How d'ya figure that?" he asked. "After everythin' he's done?"
Erica shook her head. "I don't like the idea either," she said. "But if he's got descendants who haven't been born yet, what happens to them if he gets killed before conceiving 'em? They might...just disappear...never have existed..."
Nikki shuddered and clung to her leg, and she gently brushed the little girl's hair. Samuel, meanwhile, tried to figure this out. It was a whole lot to take in...he trusted Erica, but this whole "being from the future" business was hard to take seriously. She was serious about it, though, and if she was right, if he might wind up erasing her from the world altogether by taking Keith off to his fate...but it was his job, the last task he'd set for himself after Ironhand was killed...
Keith couldn't believe his luck. He'd found a jagged rock jutting up underneath him, perfect for the task. And all of a sudden these three had just started some stupid discussion about the freak-girl's crazy-talk, and they weren't even focusing on him. His hands were damn near raw from the rubbing by the time he cut through the last of his wrist bonds, and it was hard to make his chafed fingers untie the ropes from his feet, but he was free! He tried to stand up as quietly as possible...
Unfortunately for him, Cutler was starting to recover from exposure to the skunk-girls' spray, and noticed him making his escape. The dog was a bit too dazed to actually move to stop him, but gave a snarl nonetheless. The three captors whirled around to see him just regaining his feet.
Shit! This was not what Keith had wanted. The pile of confiscated firearms was on the other side of that punk deputy, who was armed - his gun wasn't drawn, but Keith was in no mood to be testing anyone's quick-draw skills. He'd have to do without a gun for now, and steal one later. He whipped around and bolted, doing his damnedest to get away as quickly as possible. Samuel got off a couple shots before he made it out of sight around one of the bends in the forest path, but neither of them hit.
Samuel wanted to shout, curse, grab something and start beating something else with it. Damnation, how could this have happened? But there were ladies present, and a little girl at that, and he just barely managed to keep his calm by gazing at Erica. But her lower lip was trembling, and in mere moments she had burst into tears.
"Omigawd, Sam, I'm sorry!" she sobbed. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry...I never meant for that to...to..."
He had to admit, it hurt to think that he might never get the chance to see justice done on his mentor's killer. But...it wasn't her fault. he had been paying just as little attention, and she wasn't the killer here. Besides...
The young man took the teenage skunk-girl in his arms. "It's not your fault, Erica," he said. "'Sides, I couldn't sacrifice a future generation just to see my job done...'specially not if it's you."
She dried her eyes a bit, then returned the embrace.
