Chapter 56: The Wonder of You
Bonnie lay on the bed, pants off, looking the other way with the back of her hand pressed over her mouth. At the foot of the bed stood Victoria with needle and thread to suture the wounds. The thin metal needle passed through Bonnie's skin, stained with blood.
'Damn it, damn it! This hurts so much!'
If the coyote bite had already been painful, this was practically pouring salt directly into the wound. And that wasn't the end of it — the alcohol burned against her skin, scorching from inside. Now she understood why Evelyn had cried that night. This hurt like absolute hell.
Seated beside Bonnie, Evelyn stayed quiet, looking out the window at the moon as it slipped behind the clouds. Cat, behind her, curled up near Bonnie's head and licked her hair, while Lady organized the suture tools.
"A bullet graze is nothing compared to this, girl… I'm surprised you're not crying right now."
"I think crying is exactly what Bonnie wants to do right now," said Evelyn.
'Please, stop talking, or I actually will.'
Lady prepared a damp cloth and cleaned the wound as the stitches were set one by one. With the wound sutured, Victoria tossed the bed blanket over Bonnie so she could cover up, then wiped the blood from her own hands with the damp cloth and stood up.
"Alright — that's everything. Now you're going to need a lot of sleep, because when you wake up, we're getting out of here. Farther this time. So you won't have to look Marcus in the face again. He said he'd kill you next time, so it's better to be safe than sorry."
"Rest up, Bonnie," said Lady, leaving the room.
Victoria was about to follow — but stopped short.
"By the way — since you're out of money, I'll think of something that might help you out," she said, moving toward the door. "But you'll have to give me a cut for helping."
And with that, she was gone. Once again, Bonnie and Evelyn were alone. It almost seemed like something the other two had quietly arranged — because it was always curious how Victoria and Lady would slip away as if it meant nothing.
That made Bonnie wonder what those women were thinking — but Cat's meow pulled her attention away, and moments later the little creature's tongue brushed against her cheek. Evelyn let out a soft laugh and stroked the small creature's head.
"He really likes you. The only people he's ever licked are me and the girls. I guess he considers you one of us now."
"Really?" Bonnie asked, pulling the sheet up around her waist.
"Yeah. I mean, he's a very shrewd little thing. He knows when a person is bad — though sometimes he gets it wrong, just like me."
"I see…" She was curious about that. "Is the cat something completely separate from you, or is he part of you? I've noticed so many times that it seems like you two are connected somehow."
"Well, I could say yes — but if I told you more precisely, I'd be breaking my promise not to tell anyone. You know, outlaw secrets that keep me out of danger."
"…"
"What I can say is that the world is full of strange things. You'll figure that out someday. There's more out there than Cults, Ballads, and lunatics killing each other. Who knows — maybe you'll get to see some of it alongside us before you have to go your own way."
"My own way, huh…"
Bonnie closed her eyes, still exhausted.
"What's wrong? Are you thinking about staying with us?"
"What? No!" Bonnie sat up sharply. "Ow…"
The wound stung just enough to make her wince. She checked her calf, half-expecting it to have opened again — but fortunately, that wasn't the case. She sighed, let the thought go, and said:
"That's not it. Staying with you all isn't something I'm even considering. For one thing, we're not much more than acquaintances brought together by nothing but the coincidence of you crossing my path. And also — unlike you, I don't know Victoria and Lady very well, especially Lady. I think you three have something between you that I just don't share."
"That something you're talking about is the kind of thing that builds over time, Bonnie. You've only been with us for a few days — that's never enough for anyone. You'd have to be really foolish to trust someone that fast."
"I know that, which is why I said—"
"But," Evelyn cut in, moving behind Bonnie, kneeling on the bed, and covering her eyes with her hands. "That's something time can fix. Victoria and Lady have already agreed to keep you around until you're ready — they know better than anyone what it means to be an outlaw woman in this world. So you don't have anything to worry about."
Thieving Cat uncovered Bonnie's eyes and finished:
"Only time will tell whether you're someone all of us can fully accept. Look at me. One day I walked into Lady's and Victoria's lives, and I never walked back out. Maybe it'll be the same for you."
"It sounds really lovely when you put it that way."
Evelyn let out a small laugh and lay back fully on the bed. Cat climbed up onto her chest.
"I didn't say anything that wasn't true. In this crazy life, anything can happen. From a man who shoots you four times to an adorable redhead in my grandmother's inn. Maybe there's something stronger than chance that brought us together. I think that's what happened the day I met Victoria."
'That sounds like an interesting story, but…' she thought, watching Thieving Cat close her eyes, relaxed, sinking into the sheets. 'I know you're not going to tell me.'
The mysterious Thieving Cat. That mystery — strange as it was — had a pull to it, because every time the subject came up, Bonnie couldn't shake it no matter how many other things were happening at the time. Evelyn had that particular talent for keeping everything in the shadows — and maybe that was what was so captivating about her. It wasn't just her smile, which Bonnie could picture every time she looked at her. It wasn't just her terrible jokes or her irony about the most disturbing corners of the outlaw world. It was everything about her.
Bonnie let all of those thoughts go and turned to one of her bags. There was that dress that reminded her of where she'd started — but the dress wasn't what she wanted. She pulled out the pajamas she'd bought and put them on. She hadn't had a chance to wear them since she bought them, but now seemed like the right time.
Slightly embarrassed, she glanced over to check whether Evelyn still had her eyes closed. In fact, the woman looked like she was falling asleep. Of course — it had been a long night of strange events, and it was completely understandable she was tired. But this wasn't her room. Either way, Bonnie took the moment to pull off her shirt and get the pajamas on in one quick motion, then made her way to the bed and looked straight at Thieving Cat.
"Hey — Evelyn?"
"Hmm…" Thieving Cat murmured. Cat imitated her with a quiet meow.
A crooked smile tugged at Bonnie's lips at the sight of these… cats in her bed.
"This is my bed and I want to sleep in it. Could you go to your own room?"
"Hmm? How shameless of you, trying to kick me out after everything I did for you?" she grumbled without opening her eyes. Cat played along, doing the same. Then she patted the space beside her twice. "Just come here. Lie down and rest."
"Come on, I'm not Lady — I'm not about to curl up next to you."
"I like having the warmth of another person at night. Come here and stop complaining, sweetheart. We're friends, aren't we? It shouldn't be a problem."
'That's not the problem.'
Before being a damsel of the Wild West, she was the soul of a young adult trapped in a girl's body. The very thought of sleeping this close to Evelyn — who looked very… beautiful in that moment — was something else entirely. Still, Bonnie found the perfect excuse to get herself out of it.
"I'm still injured, and sudden movements could tear the stitches. You'd better go sleep in your own room."
Evelyn answered by patting the bed twice again. Bonnie sighed.
'And then you call me stubborn.'
Giving in, she lay down next to Evelyn — but as far away as the bed allowed, practically hanging off the edge to avoid any contact. Eyes closed, Thieving Cat furrowed her brow, stretched her hand out, and patted around until she found Bonnie's head. There, with a gentle pull, she slipped her arm under Bonnie's neck and drew her closer.
'Hey, hey — what are you doing?!'
"There we go. Let's sleep."
Evelyn was warm — soft in some places, hard as steel in others. She was a woman forged by a difficult life in the desert, and the slightly toned arm beneath Bonnie's neck was proof of it. Meanwhile, Bonnie herself felt like a soft, pillowy marshmallow by comparison.
Cat got up and settled in between the two of them, its scarlet eyes fixed on Bonnie's.
"Meow," said Thieving Cat. Then she let out a small laugh. "Don't be nervous, Bonnie. Close your eyes and sleep. It's time to relax and let go of everything you've been carrying around in your head. I know you're tired. I know you're broken into pieces…"
"What…?"
What was this? Bonnie looked at Evelyn, who smiled softly with her eyes still closed. Her breathing was just as calm as Cat's, and her hands — calloused from nothing but hard effort — were just as comforting as the creature's soft fur.
"It's been hard, hasn't it?"
"I don't know what you—"
"The blood you spilled. How frightened you were. All the desperation you went through. The times you wanted to cry, and the moment you finally let all of it out in that scream at the hotel…"
Bonnie's breathing trembled. She turned to face the other way, so she wouldn't have to look at that smile — but Evelyn's warm voice still reached her ears like a gentle breeze.
"I know what it feels like — and I know how you're feeling after tonight. And it's okay. I'm going to be here, because even if it's just by a little, maybe I'm the only person you've spoken to honestly about any of this. Thank you for trusting me with that part of yourself. Now close your eyes and get some real rest. No Devil's Cult tonight. No tragedy. Just for tonight — let yourself think about nothing."
Dead silence. Then Bonnie's shoulders drew in, trembling, followed by a quiet cry.
They were warm — Bonnie's tears, spilling over Evelyn's arm. Warm was the soft feeling of being this close to someone who said with certainty that they would be there for her. In that moment on the train, this was what the real Bonnie had been holding back — the sudden rain had been the image of her tears out there on the plain, and the rainbow in the distance was what she was still hoping to see.
'Seriously…'
Bonnie nestled into Evelyn's arm.
'You can't just say all those things right now…'
Her crying faded out gradually as the exhaustion pulled her under. There, Evelyn stroked her hair — like an older sister comforting her little sister who fell down and scraped her knees.