âYeahâŠâ he says, carefully.
Heâs reluctant to leave the other man, lest William die while heâs away, or disappear in a cloud of dust, which Lawrence is half convinced William might be able to do, shot or not.
âI ainât gonnaâŠwhatever usâŠquittinâ is, anytime soon,â Lawrence explains, clumsily. He knows theyâŠsomething. A deep and dreamless sleep. Freeze all motor functions. He is wary of saying the words out loud, just in case they still work on him. They might as well be death.
âYou got the energy to get up on a horse if I do find âem?â Lawrence asks.
But he does surrender William to the wall of a small shack eventually, then makes his way towards where they left the horses. He does not let himself look back.
They are, thankfully, more or less where they had been left, and look no worse for having been left to their own devices. Lawrenceâs little chestnut mare is making short work of the leaves or any nearby trees, and Williamâs tall black beast is grazing more gracefully and appropriately. Lawrenceâs grabâs the black horseâs reins, then drags it over to his own mare, and swings into her saddle. He sets off, back towards William, keenly aware that they have little cover out here.
William responded with a nod. Yes his energy was failing but heâd spent years getting on horses and it was a much easier option than walking.Â
He watches as Lawrence goes round the back and as soon as heâs out of sight he leans against the cabin, letting the wall support some of his weight. He had too much pride to collapse in front of the man. He couldnât see himself getting out of the park this time but did he really want to. Honestly only Emily would care and after what happened with Juliet he doubted that would very much. The only thing he needed to do first was destroy the forge and with Lawrenceâs help that should be manageable. Destroy the forge. Then let whatever was going to happen happen. It seemed like a good plan to him.Â
Somehow he managed to stay up and he stood like that until he heard Lawrence returning, the sound of horses hooves a comfort. Thank fuck for that. He pushed against the wall a little to stand tall, taking a few steps away and towards where he assumed the horses would be shortly.Â
âAt least somethingâs gone right for us today.â He pretty much grunted as Lawrence came within earshot. He moved over to his own horse, the one heâd had for nearly two decades now, and mounted her, groaning a bit in pain once he was up.Â