"So, why did you fall asleep outside last night?" Calypso asked, eagerly shoving a forkful of eggs into her mouth.
"Uhm, it's complicated," Artemis winced.
"Cally you don't ask people those sorts of questions," Zoë sighed, placing her face in her hands. "I've told you that before."
"Right, well, it's too late to take the question back so...yeah," Calypso smirked, not caring that she was talking with her mouth full.
"Let's just say, I don't get along with my father," Artemis explained, "and so I decided if he didn't want me to stick around then I wasn't going to."
"Sounds like a jerk," Calypso frowned.
"Yes, well, he is," Zoë muttered, staring intently at the table.
"How would you know?!" Calypso snorted.
"My dad kind of put your dad in prison," Artemis blurted out. "In-in case you didn't know..."
"So? Our dad is an ass!" Calypso shrugged.
"Cally." Zoë reprimanded again.
"What?! He is! I may be young but I'm not stupid, okay?" Calypso argued.
"He's still our father whether we like it or not," the oldest girl insisted. "Besides, you don't know half of anything that happened."
"Because you won't tell me."
"It's better that way. Father won't hold it against you," Zoë reminded. "What you don't know is a gift."
"I mean, how-how long has your father been in prison?" Artemis asked carefully.
"Forever," Calypso replied flatly.
"I've lost count," Zoë agreed. "It doesn't matter though. He won't be getting out anytime soon unless he sweet talks the parole officers."
"See, now I'm confused. Don't you want him out?" Artemis wondered aloud.
"Like you said, it's complicated," Zoë muttered. "Are we done here? I'll clean up."
"You didn't even eat anything," Calypso protested, lunging to cover what remained of the food. "Which is fine I guess, but I'm not finished yet. Are you, Cowboy?"
"Uhm. No. Not really, but I can take care of my own mess. You don't have to worry about me," Artemis promised.
"I wasn't going to," Zoë replied coldly. "Bring me your plate when you're done, Cally."
"I will."
— — —
"So, if you aren't going back home you can just stay the night. I have a spot on the floor I can make up for you," Calypso decided, following Artemis outside.
"I don't think your sister would like that very much," Artemis smiled gently.
"She doesn't like anything anymore. She's so grumpy all the time! It's annoying," Calypso pouted, kicking up dirt and stones as she walked.
"Go easy on her, okay?" Artemis sighed, stopping to look at the young girl. "It's hard being the older sibling. Trust me, I know. There's a lot you might take for granted."
"Maybe you're right, but still..." Calypso shrugged, her sentence trailing off. "Welp, I'm gonna ask her anyways."
"That's not what I meant," the auburn haired girl groaned. But before she could do anything Calypso had already taken off back towards house. Artemis, in the mean time walked the fields.
She enjoyed the breeze and smell of soil baking in the sun. She liked the sound of leaves brushing against one another and the twittering of birds in the large oak across the way. It was a pleasant place. Quiet and very much its own character.
"She said yes!" Calypso yelled across the field from the porch. But Artemis knew it wasn't a good kind of 'yes'. It was the 'yes' parents gave their kids just to get a moment's rest. Though Calypso's excitement made it difficult for Artemis not to find some sort of joy in the idea.
"What am I going to do with that kid, Stella?" Artemis asked as Stella trotted over. Her trusty steed seemed less interested in answering her rider's question and more interested in where her own breakfast was. "I know, I know. I'll get you something. Just be patient okay?"
Stella gave a snort of protest.
"I know. If we were home it wouldn't be an issue but we aren't. I get it. You actually miss your stall for once but I'm not going back. Not until we've at least scared him a bit."
Stella seemed to accept this answer though she wasn't too keen on it. With things settled, Artemis ventured out and away from the farmhouse. She pulled up the greenest vegetation she could find from grass with thick blades, to grass like strands of twine.
In the distance she could hear Stella whinny.
"She has to be the most impatient creature I've ever met," Artemis grumbled to herself. She had grass sticking out of her pockets, her shirt, and her arms were stuffed full of the stuff. If this didn't satisfy Stella's appetite, she doubted anything would.
And, as if to prove a point of how hungry she was, Stella began to eat the grass sticking from Artemis' pockets before letting her set anything down.
"Stella, you're very rude, you know that?" Artemis glowered. And if horses could smirk, she was certain Stella would have.
— — —
"Got any stories?" Calypso asked, following Artemis around again in the fields, only this time they were helping Zoë with evening chores.
"Plenty," Artemis assured. "What kind of story do you want?"
"One that's exciting! Full of adventure," Calypso decided.
"Okay, but you have to stay quiet and help out while I tell it. Deal?"
"Deal," Calypso grinned, shaking Artemis' outstretched hand.
"About four years ago I was out riding at night with Stella like I usually do. We ended up climbing this really steep ridge, but just as we got to the top it started raining. And I mean, it was raining cats and dogs!" Artemis began, every now and then looking at the young girl to gauge her reaction to the story. "It was going to be too slippery to even attempt riding back down the ridge until the ground dried. So we fought our way through the storm and wind to this hillside with a massive tree. It was probably the biggest tree I've ever seen in my life. "
"I doubt that," Calypso snorted.
"Would I lie to you?" Artemis asked, arching a brow.
"I suppose not. Continue."
"Well, Stella and I made a straight shot for it. We ended up hiding under it in hopes of the storm ending. When it finally did we were both soaked to the bone and cold. Then, as the sun started to come up on the horizon I see smoke in the distance. Pillars of it. At first I thought maybe lightning had started some sort of fire, but next thing I know there's a load of buffalo coming across the plains." Artemis explained, moving her hands excitedly as she talked. "Turns out it wasn't smoke but a dust devil kicked up by these big animals. I saddled up quicker than I ever have before. You should have seen it and heard it. It was like a wave of moving land coming straight at us. A full on stampede. Boy we barely got out of there in one piece."
"No way," Calypso gasped, eyes wide and excited. "You must have been so scared!"
"I wasn't scared, I was amazed. Part of me just wanted to watch them. Of course I'd have been trampled to death but man, that would've been a hell of a way to go," Artemis whistled, shaking her head.
"One day I'm gonna be just like you," Calypso breathed.
"No you won't," Zoë countered, somehow having snuck up on them. She placed a gentle hand upon her sister's shoulder. "It's a dangerous way of living."
"But it sounds so exciting," Calypso argued, leaning back against her sister.
"I know," Zoë sighed, as her expression became sad, "but sometimes exciting things have a way of getting people hurt. Okay? No more talk about Cowboy things. Not tonight, alright?"
"Is it because of your mom? Did I make you upset?" Calypso worried, turning quickly around to hug Zoë tightly.
"I'm not upset," the eldest sister replied, ruffling Calypso's hair. "Promise."
— — —
"There's your spot," Calypso huffed, having made up a place on her bedroom floor for Artemis. It consisted of a blanket and pillow.
"Thank you, it looks quite nice," Artemis lied, taking off her hat and laying down as Calypso clambered into her own bed.
"Oh! Can you blow out the lantern? Sometimes I forget and Zoë gets mad cause the house could burn down," Calypso laughed, batting her eyes at Artemis in an attempt to convince her to get up.
"Alright, but you're laying it on thick," Artemis rolled her eyes, getting to her feet and crossing the room to blow out the light. "If I trip in the dark you better catch me."
"No promises Cowboy," Calypso snickered. In the dark, Artemis could see the young girls light brown eyes sparkling with faint rays of moonlight leaking in through the shutters.
"Goodnight, Small One." Artemis mused, managing to stumble her way back to the spot on the floor.
"Night," Calypso yawned, closing her eyes and nestling down beneath the covers. Sighing, Artemis rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. She wasn't too sure what to make of this place. She liked it, she did, but there was a strange mixture of comfort and hostility. It was confusing to say the least and the more she thought about it, the worse her confusion got.
In fact, she was so wrapped up in thought, that only the sound of a door hurriedly opening and shutting stirred her. Instinctively she reached for the handgun at her belt. But something was off. She could sense it.
Swallowing tightly, she pulled on her hat and crept to the window. Ever so carefully, Artemis pulled back a shutter and peered outside. In the porchlight and moonlight she saw a set of silhouettes. One was very distinctly Zoë's. She was shorter than the others, thinner, but the indignant stance was most notably hers. But there was another person Artemis recognized, and it made her blood boil.
Before making any hasty movements, she listened carefully for the conversation at hand.
"Pay up girlie, the boys and I are hungry," sneered a gravelly voice.
"You're early," Zoë argued. "I owe you nothing yet. If you can't manage what I give you that's not my fault."
"I'm asking for our shares now. As your client, I have a right to do that."
"You have the right to kiss my ass," Zoë growled. In a lightning fast motion, the familiar figure had caught the farmgirl by the throat.
"I was playing nice. I'm not anymore."
Slipping through the window, Artemis made her way towards the altercation and without hesitating placed the cold barrel of her gun against Lycaon's head. "Drop her. Now."
"Ooooh!" Lycaon grinned wolfishly. "What have we here?"
"I said, drop her," Artemis glared, pulling back the hammer of her gun.
"I don't take orders from you-"
Before Lycaon could finish Artemis pointed her gun at one of his goons and fired a shot into the tip of his shoe without looking.
"Boss-" the man worried, looking at the hole in his shoe.
"I'm the best shot this side of the West has. Try me and I take his toes off one by one and then yours." In the moonlight, Artemis' eyes looked like silver fires. Grudgingly, Lycaon released Zoë, though his handprint was still upon her skin.
"Now, when were you going to tell me you worked for this asshole?" Artemis demanded, turning to glare at the farmgirl she'd just rescued, but she didn't move the gun's aim to Zoë. She couldn't bring herself to do it.
"I don't work for him," Zoë rasped.
"Then why is he here asking for something you owe him?"
"You do know who she is don't you?" Lycaon laughed. "This is just peachy! I mean the two of you? How have you not killed each other? I don't even need to be here."
"I know who she is. I know who her father is," Artemis insisted, turning her attention back to the insufferable man at hand. "I don't care."
"Maybe you don't but your daddy does. Wait until he hears about this." Lycaon laughed sounding like a hyena.
"Tell him. There's a reason I'm here and not there."
"You have no idea what your brother is going through in the wake of your absence do you?" Lycaon asked.
This caught Artemis offguard. Her anger faltered as did her passion. "He's a grown man. He-he can manage on his own. He doesn't need me."
"That's where you're wrong Arty-"
"Don't call me that. No one calls me that!" Artemis hissed, her hands shaking.
"Sorry, I forgot that was reserved for mommy dearest." In a flash, Artemis was upon him in a blaze of fists and anger. The two toppled about in the dirt until Artemis came out on top. Despite his bloodied face, Lycaon laughed. "Temper, temper. Just like your daddy."
"What's going on?" Calypso asked, having wandered outside.
"Nothing, we're just finishing up dear," Lycaon wheezed as Artemis stepped on him on her way up. Though they were slow to leave, Lycaon and his group of idiots slowly meandered off.
"What do you owe him?" Artemis demanded.
"Don't turn on me like I'm your enemy," Zoë frowned, "I have never owed you an explanation for anything."
"Tell me," Artemis insisted.
"My father made a deal with him just before he went to jail. They get half of what we grow and make if they keep Olympus from taking our property," Zoë rasped, her voice cracking. "Because your father wants everything and anything within reach. We didn't have a choice."
"Fucking hell," Artemis sighed, sitting on the porch steps. "I can't get away from anyone."
"You made a choice to leave, you can't choose who follows you."
"Don't lecture me." Artemis snapped. "I'm tired of being lectured."
"Would both of you stop?" Calypso demanded. "You're so mean to each other. Why?"
"Because I didn't ask for her to be here Cally," Zoë laughed without humor. "I didn't ask for any of this but here I am."
"Yeah, well why didn't you let me freeze when I was under that tree? If you didn't want me around why save me from my own stupidity?" Artemis asked, standing up and turning around to face the girl that had been the source of her recent troubles.
"Because-"
"Because why?" Artemis demanded.
"Because you remind me of my mom okay?" Zoë's eyes fell to the floor boards. "Because she was like you and I thought-I don't know! That maybe she somehow sent you here? That maybe she was actually looking out for me but I was stupid and foolish to think someone like you would actually be a blessing."
"Don't sell me short," Artemis shook her head. "I'm not someone to hate. I've done nothing but be kind."
"But you have! Don't you get it? Ever since you've been here it's been trouble. And now Lycaon-" Zoë couldn't bring herself to finish. She wiped furiously at her eyes. "God I can't believe I'm crying in front of you."
"I'll handle Lycaon," Artemis promised. "I won't let me dad take this place away from you if that's what you're afraid of."
"It's not the house I'm afraid of them taking," Zoë choked out, and it was then that Artemis realized how tightly the farmgirl was gripping her little sister's hand.
"Small One?" Artemis asked.
"Yeah?" Calypso looked expectantly at the auburn haired girl.
"Can you get the matches from my saddle bag inside and relight the lanterns inside?"
"Yeah!" Calypso nodded, eager to help as she ran inside.
"She won't be gone long," Zoë noted.
"Yes, well, I don't have any matches so she'll be looking for forever," Artemis admitted, moving slowly to pull the other girl into a hug. "What have they threatened you with?"
"My dad offered her as collateral," Zoë whispered, unable to bring herself to pull away. She hadn't been held like this in years. Not since her mother died. "If things fell through here and we couldn't pay our debts then Lycaon and his gang could take her instead."
"Does she know?"
"No. How could I tell her that?" Zoë asked, meeting the damned 'cowboy's' eyes. She was surprised to see how sad they were.
"I'm not going to let them take her. I'd die before I let that happen. She's a child. Even if she wasn't a friend I'd kill a man before letting him touch a little girl." Artemis' voice was firm and her determination brought some small form of comfort to Zoë.
"You're just one person."
"I have the temper of a thousand moons," Artemis replied.
"Don't you mean sun?"
"No, because a moon is never angry. So when they are, the rage is far worse than any sun's," Artemis countered, pulling back from the hug and collecting her hat.
"Where are you going?" Zoë asked, unprepared for the cold in Artemis' absence of an embrace.
"Home. I have a score to settle with my father."