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I slowly raise my bow, my body crouched to the floor as my eyes refuse to move from the deer stood before me. It’s long limbs cascading down into the mossy forest floor, it’s eyes scanning through the trees, as though it knows danger is near.Slowly, I begin to draw back my arrow, my breathing slowing as I align my aim towards the neck of the beautiful animal, almost wishing I wasn’t starving enough to have to kill it.I finally exhale, one eye closed whilst my other locks in on the animal. And I let go. The arrow whips past the trees and strikes the deer in the neck. A perfect kill, once again.I slowly raise to my feet, striding over to the carcass with a twang of guilt in my heart. It was only young, but it had been weeks since I’d eaten anything other than berries and herbs, along with a tiny bit of stringy meat and some crackers. I was looking forward to feeling full once again.As I picked up the animal and slung it over my shoulder, a crack sounded behind me. My head whipped around, scanning through the trees to see any signs of life – animals or human. After not seeing or hearing anything else, I decided that maybe it was just me.4 months out on your own is bound to make you go crazy at some point.I walked over to my horse, Betsy, a stunning Missouri Fox Trotter, her grey and white dappled coat slightly tarnished with a few days worth of mud splattered across her coat. “Here, girl.” I spoke lowly, as I rounded to the back of my horse. “You can take the extra weight, can’t you?” I asked rhetorically.A small grunt sounded out of her, which I take as approval. I quickly began to stow the deer onto the horse, before pulling myself onto the saddle and riding away, trying to find a suitable place for camp. After a few hours riding, the sun began to set, casting a golden glow across the landscape. New Hanover – a place I hadn’t been in a long time. The past few months, I’d been up in the Grizzlies, enjoying the quiet life, despite the wolves and horses that you inevitably run into.New Hanover seemed more civilised, as I’d passed by a place I knew as Emerald Ranch as I travelled south-west. Finally finding a space near twin stack pass, I set up camp for the night. I would have preferred to camp somewhere more secluded, however the heartlands seemed very wide and open.As I got the fire going, only a tinge of sunlight was still present in the sky, and the air grew cold and bitter. However, I couldn’t keep counting my woes, as I began carving away at the deer carcass.I could sell its skin for some cash, buy some more provisions for the horse and stock up on my ammo. I could also sell some of the extra meat to the butcher, and buy some new clothes. My own button up dark blue shirt and black ranch pants had multiple holes and tears in them, so I was due an upgrade. Finally, I was left with the venison. I stabbed my knife into the meat, and pushed it onto the iron grill, hearing the sweet sizzling sound of the meat and smelling the beautiful aroma of thyme. My stomach grumbled in response.Finally, I filled my belly with the meat, a small whimper escaping my mouth and the amazing taste. “God, this is incredible.” I stated to myself, listening to the crackling fire mixed with the small thump of my horses hooves as she dug at the ground.With my stomach full, a wave of fatigue hit me, causing my eyes to feel heavy. I slowly reached for my sleeping bag, shuffling into the fabric and laying on my back. I looked at the sky, stars now scattered across the dark backdrop. It was beautiful.I’d spent so many nights in tents or under trees that I’d forgotten how stunning the night sky could be. As much as I wanted to lay and stargaze for many more hours, my tiredness quickly took over me, and I drifted to sleep. The next morning, I was awoken by the distant sound of drilling and clanking. An oil rig stood tall and proud in the middle of the clearing. “Great,” I grumbled, groggily sitting upright and rubbing the sleep from my eyes, “cant leave a girl to sleep?”I quickly put out the fire, rolled up my sleeping bag, and grabbed some crackers from my satchel to snack on. I pulled myself onto Betsy, nudging her into a slow walk as we headed west, away from the horrible sound.After only a 30 minute ride, we found ourselves at the brink of civilisation. A small town, Valentine, stood before us, a large passenger train pulled in at the station. Sounds adorned my ears - newspaper boys shouting out in attempt to sell, livestock being bought and sold in the barn, horses hooves trotting through the thick mud in the streets. And the worst sound of all – drunk men. You could hear them from a mile away, and smell them from even further.Reluctantly, I pushed Betsy forward into the town. It was a quaint little place, old yet still slightly charming in that typical western type of way. It reminded me of where I grew up, however this little place hadn’t been riddled with bad memories. Well, not yet anyway.My hair swayed in the breeze as I crossed over the tracks, walking along the street and passing by a saloon. Men sprawled across the porch, watching with judgemental eyes as everyone walked past them, acting as though they were tougher than the rest of us.I gradually made my way to the Main Street. Making note of different places for me to visit. The gunsmith – I desperately needed some gun oil and a heck of a lot more ammo. The general store – Betsy was increasingly underweight, so provisions are essential. I also needed some new clothes, but they weren’t a priority just yet.As I rounded to the other side of the town, I found the butcher. A small smile crept to my face. I finally could get some money. I had all of about $100 to my name, enough to get me by but not enough to survive.I swung my leg over the back of the horse to climb off, turning to walk towards the butcher. “Hi there,” my strong western accent greeted happily, “I gots some stuff here I think you might like.”The butcher eyed me up and down, probably noting how dirty and damaged my clothes were. “Sure…” he began hesitantly, “let’s see what you got.”I felt around in my satchel, finding an assortment of plumes, herbs, wolf hearts, meat, and animal fat. I then reached to Betsy, pulling the deer skin off of her back, placing it down onto the butchers table.His eyes scanned over the products, before his composure softened, “these look good, nice pelts, good quality meats. Which man did you steal these from?”My eyebrows furrowed, confused by his question. “Steal? What makes you think I stole them?”He scoffed dramatically, one arm holding him up against the table whilst the other gestured sloppily towards me. “What, you want me to believe that a woman like you can perfectly skin a deer? Or kill a wolf? I ain’t no fool.”My jaw clenched together slightly at his comment, as I eyed him up and down. A woman like me? What does that even mean?My head tilted to the side, a sarcastic smile creeping up onto my face. “Yeah, you got me!” I laughed softly, watching as he laughed too. “Yeah, you should’ve seen the look on the guys face when I killed him for that wolf heart. Oh- and the look on the other guys face when I killed him for the deer pelt!”The butchers face dropped, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly at a loss for words. I stepped forward slightly, still holding my slightly creepy smile as I watched him. “You know, if I were you, I’d take what I’ve given you and give me my money.” I stated sweetly. “I wouldn’t want any more male blood on my hands.”His eyes widened as he fumbled in his lockbox, grabbing any cash he could find and practically throwing it at me. “H-here, take it, just, leave my stall, please.”I stashed the money into my satchel, watching as he practically pissed his pants in fear. If there’s one thing that I know about this world, it’s that the only thing men fear more than a woman who knows how to handle herself, is a woman who kills. Especially a woman who kills men.How fucking pathetic.I effortlessly hopped back onto my horse, turning her around and heading back up the Main Street towards the general store. I hopped off once again, striding into the shop, listening to the small ding of the bell above my head.“Ah, welcome.” The shopkeeper started, his expression unreadable as he examined me from head to toe. “A new face, I don’t think I’ve seen you before, ma’am.”I slowly walked around the store, scanning each of the shelves to look for anything I needed. “What could I interest you in?” The man started again, “you look in need of some new clothes. Lucky for you, we have a wide range of clothes for you to choose from!”I picked up a few packets of oat cakes, some apples, and a few carrots, before turning back towards the counter. “Sure, I could have a look at some clothes.”My fingers flicked through the pages, looking at the different men’s clothing they offered. I pointed at a shirt and pair of pants similar to the ones I already wore, along with a second button up shirt that was white.“Fine choices,” the shopkeeper chirruped, rustling around in the cabinets behind him. “There’s a changing room around the corner if you’d like to get out of the clothes you’re currently wearing. If you don’t mind me saying, they’re looking a little worn.”I handed the man the cash, nearly all of the money I’d just made already disappearing from my satchel.After changing, I threw out my old clothes. There was no hope in saving them. I then walked up the street to the gunsmith, quickly buying some gun oil and ammunition. That surely put a dent in my earnings. As I walked out of the shop, I noticed the sheriffs office across the street. Maybe I could pick up some bounty work? It’s easy enough money.I sauntered over, opening the door to find the sheriff nodding off in his seat, feet up on the desk and small snores sounding from his large face. “Excuse me.”He startled awake, feet shooting to the floor as though someone had just scolded him for having his feet on the furniture. “What- uh… hello ma’am. I didn’t see you there.” He spoke as he smoothed down his shirt. “What can I do for you?”My hands rested on my holster as I sank into my hips, eyes scanning the office. “I was wondering if you got any bounty work needs doin’? I’m lookin’ for some easy cash.”The sheriff eyed me, something that I was slowly getting sick of. “You? Bounty hunting?” He scoffed slightly under his breath. “Listen, you want some easy money? How’s about you go down to the hotel and sell yourself there. We ain’t lookin’ for no woman bounty hunter that’s bound to be a train wreck and get herself killed.”Really, prostitution? “I ain’t getting myself killed, not yet anyway.” I started, spite biting at my tongue. “I’m a good bounty hunter. I done it before, I can do it now. All you gotta do is tell me who I’m getting.”The sheriff straightened in his seat, his eye twitching in slight irritation. “Hm… fine. Posters are on that wall behind you- but don’t come running to me when you get killed.”I rolled my eyes as I turned to look at the wall, pulling the poster off and stuffing it into my satchel. “Thanks.” I quickly stated, quickly scurrying off to capture my first bounty in new hanover. Around 2 hours later, I returned with the felon stowed on the back of my horse, his constant whining and grumbling getting on my nerves. “Would you shut the hell up back there? You’re givin’ me a goddamn headache.”I drowned out the sound of his snide comments, his empty threats, and his small whimpers of fear, instead deciding to focus on the sound of Betsy’s hooves clomping against the floor. We quickly approached Valentine, and I just as quickly became slightly uncomfortable under the many eyes gazing towards me, confusion and astonishment filling the air as people noticed that a woman had a criminal stowed on her horse.I pulled up outside the office, dragging the man off of Betsy as he hit the ground with a thud, mud covering the whole of his left side. “You’re gonna regret this, lady! When I get outta here-““Oh you’re never getting out of here, and if you do, I’ll kill you myself.” I interrupted, leaning in by his ear towards the end of the sentence, as he struggled against my grip.I dragged him through the door, watching as the sheriffs eyes widened in shock. “You- you found him?” He asked, bewildered at the sight of him.“Sure did, sheriff.” His mouth hung agape, as his arms slowly reached out towards the felon and dragged him towards the cells. “Well…” he started, locking the cell door behind the man. “I stand corrected. It seems that you haven’t gotten yourself killed.” The sheriff turned back towards me. “Maybe we’ll make a little bounty hunter out of you.”I cleared my throat as I stood at the door, watching as the sheriff strode to the other side of his desk. “I don’t know about that, mister. I probably won’t hang around here long. I’m just making a little extra money to get by.” My hands rested on my holster once again, the sheriff took his seat and his feet propped up on top of the desk. “Speaking of, you got my money?”The sheriffs eyes closed slightly in confusion, before a look of realisation hit his face. “Oh, yes of course. Here you go, $70 as promised.”He handed me the money clip, which I quickly shoved into the holster, before turning and heading out of the front door.As daylight blinded my eyes, I looked around the town for a moment, whilst my stomach began rumbling at me once again. My eyes wandered towards the saloon deciding to spend some of my newly earned money on a nice warm meal. I entered the saloon, the beautiful sound of a piano radiated through the space. To my right, a group of men played poker, a few discouraged grunts sounded as two of the four players folded. I walked over to the bar, ordering myself some food which I quickly wolfed down at a table tucked away in the corner.I then returned to the bar, deciding to take the weight off and enjoy the sound of other people. It had been so long since I’d been around anyone else that I’d almost forgotten what it was like to see other people.A couple of men down at the end of the bar caught my eye. One had dark skin, with a small braid in his hair. The other had slightly lighter skin, with a dark moustache and a sweet Spanish accent. Both of the men stood around, ogling at a couple of working girls who “flirted” with the two of them.I rolled my eyes at the men’s foolishness. Do they actually think that the women like anything about them other than the fact that they have money?Both men seemed to get distracted by another person who must have entered the saloon, and I turned my gaze back to the bar in front of me, my fingers slowly spinning the bottle of beer sat in front of me.Suddenly, I felt a hand on my lower back, causing my posture to straighten out of shock and discomfort. My hair fell down the sides of my face, so I couldn’t see who it was stood next to me. My nose however could certainly smell the alcohol on the persons breath.“Hello there little lady,” a male voice slurred into my ear, causing my hand to tighten around my beer bottle. “How’s about I buys you a drink.”I tilted my body away from the man, attempting to show him my disinterest. “No thanks, I’m fine with this one.”A moment of silence passed between us, before the man chuckled slightly. “Haha, you see lady, it weren’t a question.”His hand traced lower on my back, causing me to instinctively and slowly move the hand that rest against my thigh to hold the handle of my knife. “You see, mister, I said I’m fine.” I turned my head to look at him from under my hat, the 40-something year old looking man wobbled in front of me, his face seething at my rejection. “Leave me alone.”His free hand raised to point a finger in my face, and without thinking I smashed the bottle of beer in my hand against the bar, and stuck the bottleneck into his throat, watching his blood quickly start to seep out and drip to the floor. I then pulled the glass from his neck, watching his body fall to the floor as he bled out.I then dropped the glass, my eyes scanning the room as all eyes watched me in disgust. I turned to the bartender, giving him a short apologetic look with my face, before walking out towards the front door. The only sound in the whole saloon seemed to be my spurs clanging with each step I took, and the distant gurgling choke of the pervert laid on the floor. As I rode back out towards the heartlands to set up camp, I couldn’t help but feel that someone was watching me. Every few seconds, I turned around to check that no law had followed me, no friends of the pervert man had decided to take their revenge, or anything else of the sort.Once I got the fire going, I finally began to relax slightly. I raised my head to the sky, watching as the stars twinkled once again. I don’t think they could ever fail to make me feel comfort.I quickly dozed off as I curled up in my sleeping bag to sleep. However I couldn’t help but feel like I should keep one eye open tonight.
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The next morning, I decided to ride back into the town and buy some more provisions with the extra money I had made, before heading out to look around the surrounding country of Valentine, trying to find any rabbits or fox I could to kill and sell.As I rode around, the ominous feeling of being watched continued to hang over my shoulders. I kept brushing it off as paranoia – nobody knew who I was. Most people in that shithole were probably drunk anyway and won’t remember the commotion I caused. I’m fine. As the afternoon turned to evening, I made my way back over to the heartlands. It seemed as though that had become my current favourite camping spot. At least for now, until I move again.I had a habit of doing the same thing over and over. Find somewhere decent, live there for a few days, make some cash, steal from folk, and then move on to the next place where I can do it all over again.I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. Eventually, I decided to see if I was right; see if someone was following me.As I passed through the twin stacks, I quickly pulled off into the shadows and hid behind a bush, Betsy hiding behind a bulge in the stacks. I waited patiently, arrow at the ready, waiting for someone or something to follow me.Just as I began to think I was genuinely going insane, a pair of horses rode along the path. On one horse sat an older man, with a slender face and grey hair. On the other, sat a younger man, possibly in his 30s, with brown hair and stubble adorning his face.“Can you see her?” The older man hushed. “No, she must’ve pulled off up that hill somewhere. We should get off our horses and go on foot from here.” the younger man whispered in a deep voice as both of them slid off of the horses.They’re talking about me.They’re following me.My heart began to beat loudly, my mind racing trying to figure out what I should do. Eventually, I decided to be confrontational.I poked out from the bushes, bow raised and at the ready. “Stop right there.” I called out, my voice low in attempt to seem more intimidating. “Raise your hands and turn towards me. Slowly.”Both men obliged, turning to look at me as my face hid in a shadow cast by my hat. “You two following me?”The younger man shuffled slightly, looking to his right towards the older man as if to beg him to answer. “I’m sorry, miss,” the older man spoke, “we were just passing through, trying to find our way towards emerald ranch. We didn’t mean to startle you-““No I heard you, saying you didn’t know where I went.” I interrupted, raising my bow higher towards the too men. “Tell me what you want from me, and I might not kill you.”The younger man scoffed, causing a mischievous rage to rattle through me. I quickly moved my aim towards the gap between his feet, firing an arrow and watching has he jumped into the air.“Scoffing won’t get you anywhere, cowboy.” Both men looked startled as I drew another arrow from my quiver. “Why are you following me.” I enunciated each word, becoming impatient.The older man spoke up once again, “miss, we mean you no harm, I assure you.” Both his hands were held out towards me, attempting to calm me down. “My associate here, he saw you. A-at the saloon yesterday.”I raised my head slightly, as if to usher him to continue speaking. The younger man finally spoke up, “You killed that man. We were just wondering why.”My eyes flicked between the two men as my brain spun with different thoughts, eventually landing on me scoffing. “You were wondering?” I stated. “You… were wondering?” My voice raised slightly, confusion and anger coursing through my body.Both men shared a look at each other, as my head tilted to the side. “That man was a filthy perverted cunt.” I spat angrily. “If you ask me, he had a kind death.” Both men shared a look once again, however this time, it almost looked… happy?Before either man could say anything else, I continued. “Now you know why. So what the fuck do you want with me?”The younger man took a step forward, allowing me to see his face slightly more clearly. His sharp facial features were almost breathtaking, his blue eyes glistening like stars in the moonlight. “We want to offer you a job.”My breathing faltered. A job? “What kind of job?”The older man spoke up again, seeming to take the lead against the younger one. He approached me slightly, getting closer and closer with every step. “We have a… community. Very tight knit. We think that you’d fit in.” He approached closer once again. “You’d live with us, we’d feed you and clean your clothes. In return, you do some work for us. Just some light debt collection, that’s all!”My eyes scanned the man up and down, trying to figure him out. “Sounds like you’re less of a community and more of a gang.” I declared. “Are you part of a gang, mister?”He faltered slightly, which told me everything I needed to know. “I’m not interested in joining a gang. I’m perfectly fine out here on my own.”Out of the corner of my eye, Betsy slowly approached me, her head to the floor as she grazed on the grass. “It’s dangerous out here, miss,” the younger man spoke, “especially for a lady on her own.”“I’m pretty sure that my little demonstration at the saloon shows that I ain’t no ordinary lady.” I replied sarcastically. “I can take care of myself, and I’ve been doing just fine on my own.”The man continued to approach me, close enough now that I put my bow away, instead resting my hand on my revolver. “We need someone like you. And nobody can last out here on their own. Not forever anyway.”I shuffled on the spot, my gaze still flicking between both men, before deeply exhaling. “And what makes you better than any other gang that I could go and join?”The younger man, who I now noticed was ruggedly handsome, continued to watch me from under his hat, speaking up again.“Loyalty.”
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All three of us rode along the road, both men walking in front of me whilst I hung behind. Despite the fact that I had agreed to join their gang, I was still very reluctant to relax around the two strangers, my shoulders tense as one of my hands clutched the rains, whilst the other rested on my revolver. The older man, who’s name I’d learned to be Hosea Matthews, seemed kind enough. He engaged in a lot of small talk with me – small talk which I did not respond to. Why would I want a complete stranger to know about my life?The handsome man was called Arthur Morgan. He seemed more reserved than the older gentleman, mainly responding in minimal detail and a small “hmm”, “sure” or “yeah”. He did frequently turn around to check on me though – whether that be out of concern or out of weariness, I’m not too sure.We eventually approached a wooded area, where we rode single file along a small track. Out in front of me, I heard Mr Matthew’s say “it’s us, Charles. And we have a guest.”I peeked over the shoulders of the two men in front of me, and my eyes found a figure – Charles – who seemed familiar to me. I soon realised that it was the man from the saloon. The one with the prostitutes.“Does Dutch know? If not, you’re going to ruin his evening.”“He will. In about 5 minutes.” Mr Morgan wittily replied to the man. Soon, the trees cleared and opened up to a rather large camp. The sound of drunken women singing and a guitar echoed through the clearing as I slid off of my horse and hitched her to the hitching post.Small cheers from camp members bellowed through the night, celebrating mr Mathews and Mr Morgan for their returns. However, it soon dropped almost silent once people’s eyes landed on me.The only sound seemed to be the crackle from the fire, and the sound of my heart pounding in my chest.What was I thinking coming here? To a gang? These things always ended badly.“Jesus, did everyone die out here or what?” A mature voice bellowed from the other side of the camp. A man dressed in relatively formal black and red attire appeared from within a large tent, a cigar held between his fingers as he strode through camp. “Hosea! Arthur! So good to have you-“His eyes met with mine and he immediately stopped walking towards us. I held my head high as if to assert some kind of dominance over the stranger, as if to warn him not to piss me off.He eyed me up and down, taking a draught of his cigar, before gesturing towards me. “What is this?”Hosea and Arthur looked at one another, before Hosea spoke up, “She’s a new member of the camp. She’s a good one, Dutch. Real brutal, just what we need.”Dutch looked between me and Hosea, causing me to shuffle under his gaze. He then fully turned his attention to me, “is that so? What exactly is it that you can do, darlin’?”My eyes scanned the camp, taking in the faces of many of the gang members. A few women sat in a huddle together, watching intently as the scene unfolded in front of them. One larger man with dark hair and a large beard sat at a table, seemingly in the middle of playing five finger filet. Another man with blonde hair and a moustache leaned against a tree over in the distance, scowling towards me. Sat on a tree log was a man sat with a guitar, the other man from the saloon.I took a deep breath and held eye contact with Dutch. “I can hunt. I can shoot. And I sure as hell can kill.”Arthur spoke up beside me. “She killed a man in the saloon, that same one who was giving one of the girls a hard time the other day.” I glanced towards the group of girls, wondering which of them he had approached. “She also collected a bounty. That feller with $70 on his head. He’s been running from the law for years, some started calling him Houdini – nobody could find the bastard.”My brows furrowed as he spoke of my bounty collection. Maybe he’d seen me when I came through town with the bounty? Though I couldn’t remember seeing him.A loud clap pulled me from my thoughts as Dutch clapped his hands together, head nodding in approval. “Good… we could use an extra hand around here to bring in some money. You sure she’s trustworthy?”Hosea chimed in, “she’s been out on her own for a while as far as we can tell. She can handle herself.”A nod of approval seemed to urge the camp back into action, as the Mexican man began strumming his guitar and the ladies began to sing again. I however had no idea what to do with myself.I wasn’t in the mood to mingle. I was tired. I wanted to sleep, but I couldn’t with all of these new people here. Who knows, someone might try to kill me.I walked around the edge of the camp, making my way to a cliff edge and sitting down against a tree, watching as the moon loomed over the mountains in the distance. “Hey!” A sweet voice pitched up from behind me, startling me slightly.I looked up to my left to see a woman with brown, curled hair clasping onto a book in her arms, stood staring down at me. “It’s been a while since we’ve had a newcomer to the camp! Well, except Micah but, nobody likes him.”I looked up at her as she spoke. She seemed sweet enough, possibly a good candidate for a friend. “Well, I hope I don’t end up being unliked too.” I slightly joked, however part of me did worry that I would have the same fate as this Micah man.“Oh no, don’t worry about that. Nobody likes Micah because he’s a suck up to Dutch. And he’s super creepy to us girls, especially when he’s drunk.” The woman went on. “We don’t put up with it though. He often wakes up with bruises on his face from us punching him to shut him up.”I laughed lightly, wondering who this wonderful character must me. “I’m Mary-Beth by the way. I don’t think I caught your name?”That’s when I realised – nobody had even asked my name yet. “Oh, uhh, yeah I’m y/n.” I held out my hand to shake Mary-Beth’s, which she took gracefully.“Y/n, we are going to enjoy having you here so much.” Mary-Beth exclaimed. “Especially Sadie; I have a feeling the two of you will get along pretty well.”I slowly stood up to become eye level with the woman in front of me, as she took my hand and pulled me back towards the camp. “Come on, the other girls are dying to meet you!” Each of the girls gushed over me as they introduced themselves. I had learned that the blonde drunk lady was Karen, who had a tendency to sing even when not drunk. There was Tilly, who seemed very sweet, and Sadie who kept to herself quite a bit. “Over there, the one with the boy, that’s Abigail. She’s with John, the man with the scar. And her son, he’s called Jack.” Tilly exclaimed. “Oh, and that’s Mrs Grimshaw. Be glad you’re not doing the woman tasks like the rest of us, she’s so horrible!” Each of the girls laughed to themselves, as they each exchanged imitations of ms grimshaw.“Oh- well, at least you have a job in this camp, unlike some people.” Karen slurred, causing the other girls to giggle away. Karen saw my confused look, and pointed towards the tent that Dutch emerged from, where a beautiful woman with long ginger hair and a decorated hand fan stood by herself. “That’s Molly O’Shea. She’s the pretty princess who can’t get her nails dirty otherwise she might collapse!”All of the girls burst into laughter, making me feel slightly bad for the ginger woman. “Why doesn’t she work? Aren’t there other people in the camp who don’t work?”Tilly leaned in towards me and began explaining, “well, Molly is in a weird relationship thing with Dutch – not that any of us know why he keeps her around. All he seems to do is complain about the woman!”“I think we ALL know why he keeps her around, Tilly.” Karen broadcast, before leaning down and whisper-shouting at all of us. “Where else is the man going to get his dick wet?” With that, all of the girls erupted into laughter, including myself slightly.“Anywayyy, y/n,” Mary-Beth turned to me once she had composed herself, “how come the guys brought you here? Don’t you have any family, a gang of your own? Anything?”Her question made me anxious. I never liked dwelling on the past, never mind talking about it. “Umm, no, not really. I’ve kinda just been on my own.”Each of the girls looked at each other, confusion covering their faces. “But, you’re 28 years old, how long have you been on your own?”I didn’t want to tell these girls the truth; after all, I barely know any of them, and I certainly don’t want to get banished from the camp the same day as I joined. “Listen, it’s getting late I should probably head to sleep.” I announced as I stood from the log I’d been sat on. Mary-Beth flushed slightly out of embarrassment, knowing that she’d asked me an uncomfortable question.“Oh, okay,” she spoke quietly, before standing herself. “Here, I’ll show you to where you’re staying. It’s not much at the moment, but we’ll buy you your own cot to sleep in soon.”Mary-Beth guided me towards a tent, inside it had two sleeping bags. “We’ll have to share for now, I hope that’s okay?” She inquired sweetly, seemingly nervous after my mild rejection of her.“Thank you, Mary-Beth.” Spoke, not really knowing what else to say. It had been a while since I’d had any company, even longer since I’d had any friends.“It’s no problem at all, y/n.” May-Beth smiled warmly towards me. “I’ll let you get settled. Have a nice night.”
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I woke up earlier than the rest of camp, only a small dusting of sunlight scattered across the horizon as I crawled out of the tent, careful not to wake Mary-Beth.I slowly strolled over to the campfire and added some logs, making sure the fire didn’t burn out. I then walked over to the cliff edge, looking down over the fields and trees as foxes chased after rabbits and deer bound through the meadows. I pulled my journal out from my satchel, deciding to update the pages on my new arrival in a gang camp, before sketching the landscape in front of me.Footsteps echoed behind me, causing me to turn around and look up at the tall figure. It was Hosea, one of the men who encouraged me to join the gang. “Good morning, miss y/l/n. I hope you slept well?” He enquired.I slowly rose to my feet as he spoke to me, trying to force a small greeting smile onto my face. “Yes, thank you.” I stood next to the tree I had previously been leaning against, as Hosea walked past me and stood to look over the landscape.“I was wondering if you’d like to come hunting with me today.” He declared, his back towards me. “I heard of a bear up in the Grizzlies, I’d like to get my hands on that pelt!”I leaned against the tree, my arms folded in front of me. “Sure, I heard of it. Though I’m pretty sure you’re not the first person to try and kill that beast.” I’d heard many stories when passing people up in the Grizzlies about friends of friends who had been mauled to death trying to kill that bear. “You gotta be a pretty damn good aim.”“And that’s why I’m asking you to come along.” Hosea turned to look at me, walking towards me slowly. “I noticed that your weapon of choice is an arrow, although I assume you’re no stranger to a gun?”“No sir, I’m not.” I chucked slightly under my breath.Hosea then moved closer to me, standing by my side and looking out over the horizon again. “Between you and me,” he started, lowering his voice, “Mr Morgan could use some extra training with a bow and arrow.” My head turned to look at him as he spoke. “Maybe you could help him perfect his arrow skills whilst we’re out there, and in return he could help you with your shooting skills.”He spoke in less of an inquiring tone and more of an instructive tone. “Sure, why not.” I spoke, my head whipping around behind me as I heard more footsteps approaching.Hosea heard too, as he turned around and started talking to the tall figure behind us. “Arthur! Just the man I was looking for.” Arthur tipped his head down towards Hosea before slightly smiling at the old man. “How’d you like to go out hunting with us today?”Arthur’s eyes flicked between me and Hosea, eying me up and down before speaking. “Both of you? What we hunting for?”Hoses began explaining the legendary bear that he’d heard of, “… and y/n here is an incredible archer, so she can help you to polish off those dusty shooting skills of yours, Arthur.”Arthur’s face twisted in a mixture of humour and offence, before raising one of his hands out to gesture towards me. “I-I don’t need any help with my archery skills, Hosea.”“Oh, of course not, son.” Hosea sarcastically replied as he began walking over towards his horse, causing the both of us to follow after him. “But I think I know who I’d place my bets on if you and y/n had a competition for who shoots the best.” We all began readying our horses, making sure we each had the correct weapons and ammunition for our journey. “Honestly, I’m not that great of a shot.” I began, feeling slightly pressured by their assumption that I’m some kind of perfect shot. “I can shoot just as well as the next person.”Both boys scoffed at my response, Hosea laughing as he spoke, “yeah, and I’m sure that anyone else could cause scary old Mr Morgan here to leap into the air by firing an arrow between his feet.” This caused a small scowl to creep onto Arthur’s face. “Miss y/l/n, you really should give yourself more credit where it’s due.”I rolled my eyes at his remark, recalling the way that Arthur did in fact leap into the air at my shot. I smirked to myself, replaying his leap over and over in my head as we began to ride away from camp, the warm glow of the campfire fading out as we passed through the trees and out to the other side, making our way north towards the Grizzlies. We eventually made it out to the last place that the large Grizzly had been seen – taking a much longer route than I normally would have, however we followed Hosea’s lead as I didn’t want to explain to them that I’d been living in the Grizzlies for quite some time. I practically knew the area like the back of my hand.“Let’s get off here,” Hosea brought his horse to a halt and slid off, looking towards me and Arthur as we both did the same. “Arthur, grab your bow. We can catch some rabbits whilst we’re here to take back to camp.”Arthur did as he was told, grabbing his bow and quiver, flinging it over his shoulder. “Sure, maybe Pearson can make us some half decent stew for once.” Arthur spoke mischievously.Hosea looked towards me, raising his head to gesture to me as he spoke. “Y/n, how about you show Arthur how to properly hold is bow and arrow. Even after all these years, his form is still off.”I laughed slightly at his small dig at Arthur – their relationship reminded me of a father and his son, bickering at each other, yet filled with love at the same time. “Of course, Mr Matthew’s.” I slowly walked over towards where Arthur stood, my bow in hand as my eyes scanned across the floor. “Theres some tracks that head over that way,” I spoke, gesturing over to the right where some mounds of grass stood in the ground, “let’s follow them, should be a lot of rabbits nearby.”I followed the tracks, my knees bent slightly as my eyes scanned the floor, before some movement over in the distance caught my eye. “Over there, seems like quite a few of them.” I pointed over in front of us, as many rabbits bound around in the grass, peeping in and out of holes in the ground.I looked back at Arthur, who was following close behind me, and I gestures to him to crouch down to the floor and come up beside me.He did so quickly, watching the rabbits as he drew an arrow from his quiver. Immediately, I cringed as I looked at his form. Can someone even shoot like that? I dropped my bow on the floor before quietly moving around to be behind Arthur, one of my hands resting on his drawing elbow, whilst my other rest on his lower back.“Straighten your posture, tilt your head up.” I spoke softly as he followed my instruction. “Raise your elbow to be level with your arrow, not down by your waist.” He continued to watch each rabbit carefully, raising his elbow as I instructed him to.“Now, calm your breathing.” I whispered softly as my hands left his body, making my way back around to be beside Arthur. “Exhale deeply, and when you’re ready, just release the arrow.”I watched as his breathing slowed, his blue eyes narrowing as he locked in on one of the rabbits. I grabbed my bow again, readying myself to kill my own rabbit, but letting Arthur take his turn at his own pace first. The last thing you want to do is rush him.He exhaled deeply, just as I had explained, and released the arrow. One of the rabbits collapsed to the ground, an arrow shooting clean into the rabbits head. “Wonderful shot, Mr Morgan.” His head turned to look at me, as I drew my arrow and pulled back the bowstring, one eye closing as I exhaled deeply.One rabbit was down, then two, then three. Each shot just as clean as the last, Arthur and Hosea watching in awe as all three shots hit each rabbit right in the eye. As most of the rabbits scurried away, I rose to my feet and began striding over to catch my game.Arthur followed suit, picking up one of my rabbits for me as I carried the other two, stowing them onto Betsy. Hosea spoke up as we approached him, “Great improvement, Arthur. And y/n, that was even better than I had imagined!” He grinned towards me as a small smile appeared on my face, flattered by his compliment. “You really should give yourself more credit.”“Thank you, Mr Matthew’s.” I spoke, pulling myself onto my horse ready to continue on our search for the legendary bear.“Please, call me Hosea.” He dismissed my statement with his hand, “no need for the formalities. You’re one of us now.”I rode alongside Arthur, as Hosea took the lead in front. Arthur didn’t seem to be much of a talker, however I could feel him glancing over at me from time to time. The silence became overwhelming, causing me to feel the need to spark up conversation.“You did well, Mr Morgan. I’m sure with a little practice you’ll be able to take down any animal with a bow and arrow.” I smiled slightly in his direction, though he didn’t look towards me as I spoke.“I’d much rather use a gun, personally.” He spoke, looking forward as his eyes scanned the landscape, looking for any sign of the bear. “But, thank you. You really did help me today, Miss y/l/n.”Silence befell on us once again, causing me to rattle my head to think of anything else to speak about. “You know, I’m not so good at shooting a gun.” I started, peaking his interest as his gaze moved over to me. This caused me to shuffle, something about him made me nervous under his gaze. “Maybe you could teach me at some point how to be a better sharpshooter.”His eyes wandered over me, seemingly analysing my posture as I sat on the horse. I couldn’t help but do the same to him, tearing my eyes away as they became glued to the motion of his hips rocking backwards and forwards in his saddle. “Sure, why not.” He announced, my eyes raising back up to look at him hopefully. “You’ll need to be good with a gun if you wanna survive in our gang.”Realistically, I knew how to shoot a gun. I could shoot well, but I’d also seen better. It couldn’t hurt to be tutored by someone who probably had a gun in his hand from birth. “Thank you, Mr Morgan.”He opened his mouth to speak to me, although he hesitated and his mouth shut again. Instead, a small smile adorned his face. We approached a small clearing in the trees, where the deep grumble of a Grizzly bear sounded in the distance. “Let’s get off here.” Hosea spoke, as each of us slid off of our horses. “Arthur, grab that predator bait out of your satchel. We’ll use it to attract the beast.”Arthur quickly rummaged through his satchel, pulling out a brown paper back with some kind of meat mixture inside. He passed it to Hosea, who quickly placed it in the middle of the clearing and ushered each of us to hide behind some rocks in the distance.As we waited, Arthur and Hosea both pulled out their guns, urging myself to do the same. As we crouched behind the rock, we all tensed as the large furry figure approached the bait in the middle of the clearing. “Good lord,” Hosea breathed to my left, as Arthur shuffled to my right. “Look at the scars on that thing. It’s even bigger than people made it out to be!”My breathing quickened at the sight of the animal, blood splattered across its coat, it’s great white teeth glistening as it chomped through the bait. “Maybe this was a bad idea.” I spoke wearily, my mind racing through the many conversations I’d overheard and warnings I’d been given by folk whilst I was up here. Everyone said the same thing. All that bear wanted to do was kill.“We’ve come all this way and you wanna back out now?” Arthur spoke beside me, his eyes never leaving the bear. “You’ll be fine, trust me. We just keep shooting until that thing drops dead.”I nodded in attempt to convince myself that I would be fine, taking a deep breath before raising my Lancaster revolver towards the bear.Hosea did the same, raising his gun and speaking quietly enough that only we could hear him. “On the count of 3, each of us shoots that thing in the head. If it doesn’t go down, we all shoot again. Got it?”I shakily breathed out, nodding my head once again, as Arthur agreed with Hosea.“One… two…”As though the bear had heard my heart pounding through my chest, the beast suddenly turned and stared at each of us, charging towards all of us hiding behind the rocks.“Three!”Each of us opened fire, which momentarily stopped the bear, however it didn’t go down. It only seemed to anger the animal. My hands shook as I clutched onto the gun, opening fire once again, hitting the bear in the face. Yet it still continued.Arthur quickly pushed me to start running at the same time as Hosea pulled on my arm, dragging me away from to rocks to make a run for it back to the horses. All three of us ran for our lives, however both men seemed to run significantly faster than me as I lagged behind.A hot pain shot through my back as a set of claws scratched along my skin, sending me tumbling to the ground. I rolled over onto my back, my eyes widening in fear as I was met with the face of the bear.“Y/n!” Arthur’s voice bellowed in the distance, yet all I could hear was my blood rushing through my ears, fear paralysing my whole body. Come on, y/n, grab your knife. But I couldn’t. My arms were frozen, my breathing was erratic, and all I could see were the gleaming white daggers that were soon to tear me to shreds.But nothing tore me to shreds. Instead, a hot, thick, sticky liquid poured over my body, dripping onto my face, before the beast rolled over to the side and left me laid on the ground on my own. My eyes looked up above me, to be met with a tall figure clutching a knife.Arthur had slit the bears throat and saved my life. He made his way around to be in front of me as I began to sit up straight, blood dripping from my clothes and my face contorting into a painful wince as the scratches down my back stung with each movement. He held his hand out to me, which I took as he pulled me up to my feet.“You okay, miss?” Arthur asked, genuine concern lining his eyes as he scanned me from head to toe. My free hand wiped along my shirt in attempt to rid myself of as much bear blood as possible. However, all it seemed to do was spread.“Yes, thanks to you, Mr Morgan.” I looked away in embarrassment at the fact that he had to save me. “I’d be dead if it weren’t for you.”The sound of footsteps appeared behind us, Hosea running up to check if I was ok. At the sound of another person, I suddenly became very aware that I was still holding onto Arthur’s hand. I quickly retracted my hand and began wiping more of the blood off my arms and face.“Y/n, are you alright?” Hosea asked hurriedly. “And Arthur, you did well.” Arthur tipped his hat slightly before crouching beside the beast, stabbing the hunting knife into the bears flesh as he began carving away.“I’m fine, thank you.” I looked down at my shirt, still wincing at the pain in my back. “Just a couple of scratches, that’s all.”A look of guilt overcame Hosea’s face. “I’m terribly sorry, y/n. I should have known better than to put you in danger.”I looked back up at him, pulling an encouraging smile onto my face. “Hey, at least I’m still alive, right? All thanks to Mr Morgan.”I looked over towards the man, still cutting away at the bears pelt, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing his forearms. I could see him smile slightly from beneath his hat, though he didn’t look up from the work he was focused on.“Yes, young Arthur has always been a courageous one, haven’t you son?” Hosea asked rhetorically, before speaking again. “We best head off back to camp, get you all cleaned up Miss y/l/n. Arthur, meet us back at the horses once your done with that pelt.”Me and Hosea strode over to the horses, a small hiss coming from my mouth as I pulled myself onto Betsy, a sharp pain sparking through my back. Arthur followed closely behind us, stowing the large pelt onto the back of his own horse, before pulling himself onto the saddle.With all three of us on horseback, we head back down south towards horseshoe overlook. The whole journey, all I could do was keep looking over at Arthur – I felt bad that he’d had to save me, almost embarrassed too. I needed to prove my strength to this gang if I wanted to stay, so being mauled and saved on my first day wasn’t a particularly good start.It seemed as though Arthur had felt my staring, as he glanced over in my direction. I quickly pulled my gaze away, instead focusing on the sunset in front of me. It’s golden glow shone brightly through the trees, casting dark shadows of mountains and woodland across the floor.I was all too aware of the blood that was now drying onto my clothes and skin. My shirt felt solid and crusty, whilst my face began to itch from the blood starting to flake off in small pieces. Hopefully, I could get cleaned up once we get back to camp.
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We soon arrived at camp, the sun finally setting over the mountains leaving only a pinkish tint in the sky. As both Hosea and Arthur slid off their horses, I took my time, careful not to pull my back as the scratches were starting to dry over.Arthur saw my hesitation, deciding to come around to the side of my horse and offering to help me dismount. “Here, I’ll help you down.” He held his hand out towards me, which I took as I slowly swung my leg over the back of the horse. I winced slightly as my foot hit the ground, my body aching as the feeling as my back began to straighten out.Once I had fully dismounted, I turned towards Arthur, pulling my hand away to fix my had on top of my head. “Thank you, Mr Morgan.”His weight shifted from one foot to the other, a small sympathetic smile creeping onto his face. “Please, call me Arthur.”I watched him as he looked at me, contemplating his proposal of calling him by his first name. My eyes scanned his face; each of his features were equally as stunning as the next. Granted, I hadn’t seen many people in a long time, so maybe my standards had slipped. However, I felt as though he was just a purely handsome man.I smiled towards him, turning back towards Betsy and releasing my rabbit carcasses from the saddle. “I’m going to take these to Pearson.” I declared. “How’s about you bring yours too, Mr Morgan.”I turned back to look at him, looking as a small smirk played on his face. “Sure, Miss y/l/n.”I strode towards Pearsons wagon, where I set down both rabbits onto the table. Pearson turned to look at me, before his eyes moved down to the table before him. His eyes widened, analysing the carcasses. “Wow, seems like you know how to shoot.”Arthur joined me by my side, placing both mine and his rabbits down. “She’s a good shot,” Arthur began, “you’ll be getting some good game from her, Pearson.”Pearson nodded in agreement, picking up each carcass and thanking us both, before beginning to carve away at the rabbits. My eyes trailed over three figures that were eagerly walking over towards me.Mary-Beth, Karen, and Tilly all strode over to me, furrowed brows and faces drowned in worry as they all spoke out at the same time.“My god, what happened to you?”“Are you alright?”“Christ, I hope that ain’t all you’re blood.”I stood awkwardly as each of the women approached me, attempting to smile in order to reassure them that I was ok. “I’m fine, really. Just a couple scratches on my back, but apart from that I’m fine.”Tilly gently rest a hand on my shoulder whilst the other fell to hold my own hand, concern in her eyes as she looked at me. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up. Mary-Beth, can you grab the first aid kit? Karen, where’d you put the whisky? We’ll need it to disinfect her wounds.”Both girls dashed around camp, gathering supplies to help me as Tilly guided me towards a wagon at the edge of camp, in a more secluded area for privacy. “Here, sit on the edge of this bed. I’ll grab your extra shirt and you take that one off before we start getting you cleaned up.”I did as I was told, though I do admit I was uncomfortable sitting shirtless on a bed surrounded by women I didn’t know. I carefully peeled the bloodied dark blue shirt off of my body, revealing just my undergarments,, laying the bloodied shirt on a nearby stool before sitting down on the edge of the bed, my arms coming around to cover as much of my bare skin as possible.Mary-Beth returned with a first aid kit, quickly followed by Karen who held 2 bottles of whiskey in her hands. Tilly then returned too, a bucket of water and a sponge in her hands, along with my new white shirt slung over her shoulder.Tilly stood before me, placing the bucket of water on the floor before dipping the sponge in, and wiping the damp sponge over my face. “God,” Tilly began speaking, “I can’t believe you went out to kill that thing. You’re lucky you’re alive.”The sponge continued wiping over my face, relief washing over me as the itchy irritation began to calm down. “I know, without Mr Morgan I wouldn’t be standing here right now.”Tilly shared a look with Mary-Beth and Karen, who all began avoiding eye contact with each other and stifling grins off of their faces.My brows furrowed in confusion as their reaction. “What? Why are you all looking like that?”Tilly continued wiping my face, whilst Karen began snickering from next to me. “No reason, y/n. It’s just…”Tilly droned off, seemingly trying to find the right words to explain her reaction. Mary-Beth then interrupted, taking the lead. “We noticed last night that Arthur seemed to be watching over you quite a bit.”I didn’t respond initially; I wasn’t quite sure what they were entailing. “Well, I am new. It’s not unlike anyone to be cautious of a new gang member.” I explained the only explanation I could allow myself to believe in.This caused more laughter to erupt from the girls, before Karen took her turn in speaking. “Oh, sweetie, you’re so naïve.” I shuffled in my seat, eyeing the girls from the corner of my eye as Tilly continued to clean down my neck. “Arthur went out and encouraged you to join our gang, he kept looking at you all night last night, and then he saved your life today. What, you think that’s just being cautious?”My eyes flicked between each of the girls, my nails picking at the skin on my fingers as I thought to myself. “He wanted me to join the gang so that I could help out with debt collection and hunting. He was watching me probably to make sure I didn’t do anything to endanger the gang, and he saved my life because… well who wouldn’t?”Neither of the girls replied to my response, instead rolling their eyes at my apparent naivety. “Hm, I guess you’re right.” Karen spoke lowly, “maybe we were wrong. You know, the people who have known Arthur for years and know for certain that he’s not really one for just letting in any random person off the street.” Her voice was laced with sarcasm, causing me to roll my eyes.Tilly dropped the sponge into the bucket, before wiping my damp face with a dry cloth. “Okay, I need you to lay on your front now, okay? You might want to take a swig of this whiskey before we start cleaning your cuts though.”I eagerly grabbed the bottle from Karen’s hand, taking a couple of large gulps of the burning liquid before turning to lay on my front. I could already feel the cuts pulling apart where they had dried together as I moved, causing me to wince in pain.Tilly then grabbed the bottle from my hand, dousing her hands to sanitise them before speaking out to me. “I’m going to pour this over your back now, okay? It’ll sting.”The burning hot liquid caused me to clutch onto the sheets below me, a small whimper coming out of my mouth from the pain. “Sorry.” Tilly whispered quietly, as Mary-Beth and Karen watched from a few feet away.Tilly worked away at my back, cleaning and dressing my wounds with care, wiping my skin clean with the sponge and water that sit by the cot.After around 30 minutes of torture, I was finally being bandaged up, my back sore from the alcohol that had been poured into my open wounds. “Thank you, Tilly. Hopefully now these wounds won’t get infected.”Tilly granted me a kind smile, before I slowly walked away towards my own tent, where I flopped down instantly and drifted off to sleep. The next morning, I woke up much later in the day, people seemingly allowing me to sleep due to my injuries. I felt helpless, useless. My first few days of being part of the gang and I was already bedridden.I crawled out from the tent, my bandages restricting my movement as I straightened and stood up, looking around camp as all of the girls were put to work. All except Molly O’Shea.Out of curiosity, I decided to approach the Irish woman, as she stood fanning herself over by a tree in the shade. “Miss O’Shea?” I approached her carefully, trying to be as polite as I could. I was met with a slight scowl from the woman, mixed with a look of confusion as she looked at me. “Hi, I’m y/n. I don’t think we’ve met yet.”She looked me up and down, analysing my clothing in comparison to her own. She wore stunning attire: a beautiful red corset top with a dark green skirt, coming down to her ankles to show off her sparkling white boots. I, on the other hand, wore a white button down shirt with black ranch pants and riding boots. You could tell just by looking at us who did work and who didn’t.“No, we haven’t met.” She spoke out, her thick Irish accent strangely comforting to listen to. “Why are you speaking to me?”She was quite reserved, almost defensive as she spoke to me. “I just thought we ought to get acquainted, I saw you around camp the other night, but I wasn’t particularly in the mood to mingle.”Molly cut off the end of my sentence, her voice raising slightly. “Did the girls put you up to this?” My brows furrowed, as I questioned what she meant. “Don’t think I don’t know what them girls say about me – always poking fun at me, imitating me. Well I don’t want none of it.”I stood a few paces away from her, but I approached her slightly as I spoke to her, “I’m not here to poke fun at you, Miss O’Shea.” I declared, speaking calmly. “I just thought that maybe I could become better acquainted with you.”Her eyes met mine as her dramatic fanning of herself slowed briefly. She seemed bewildered that I actually wanted to speak with her. “Oh…” she spoke, eyes now scanning the floor, “well, of course. As long as this isn’t some joke.”“I promise, it’s not a joke.” I spoke kindly. Part of me felt bad for the woman. I didn’t know any of these women very well, so it was only fair that I give each of them an equal chance, instead of judging one woman by another woman’s gossip. “Well, I guess I’ll see you around then.”She smiled towards me, before turning away and continuing to fan herself. I too walked away over to Pearsons wagon, grabbing myself a bowl and filling it with stew. As I sat by the campfire,I noticed that the stew wasn’t all that bad – much better than the berries and herbs I’d been rationing for the past few months. The sound of galloping hooves approached in the distance. Arthur appeared out of the woods, clambering down off the back of his horse before striding through camp and over to his own wagon. My eyes followed his movements, noting how he glanced over at the tent me and Mary-Beth both share. He didn’t seem to notice that I was sat by the campfire.Once I had finished the stew, I sauntered over to Arthur’s wagon, approaching slowly and quietly, before knocking my fist against the wooden wheel. “Mr Morgan?” I popped my head around to see him, watching as he straightened his posture and closed his journal to turn and face me.“Y/n,” he replied quietly, standing to his feet as I rounded towards him. “I didn’t realise you were awake.”My eyes looked to the floor in embarrassment. “I haven’t been awake long.”His eyes cast over me, noticing the way I held my back in order to not move it out of fear it would cause unnecessary pain. “How’s your back? Tilly said some of the cuts looked pretty nasty.”Why did Tilly have to speak to him about that? “Uh, yeah, it hurt pretty bad whilst she was cleaning them, but they should be better in a couple of days. Probably just some light hunting or chores until then.”We both stood in silence, awkwardness feeling thick in the air, startling me to spark more conversation. “I was thinking,” his eyes raised to mine, eager to listen to my proposal, “maybe you could help me with shooting? Only if you have time, of course.”Arthur fumbled over his words slightly, trying to come up with a response that wouldn’t totally offend me. “Sure, but it’s probably better to wait until your wounds have healed more.” Arthurs hands raised to rest on his holster, my eyes drawing towards them before peeling my gaze away to look back up at Arthur. “Wouldn’t want you getting hurt.”I nodded in response, although part of me felt a slight sadness as the idea of having to wait for our lessons to begin. “Yeah, you’re right.” I took a step forward towards Arthur, my weight shifting onto my left leg as I too stood with my hands on my holster.“I just wanted to say…” I paused momentarily, watching as Arthur’s eyes studied my own, my heart beating faster at the sight of him. “I wanted to say thank you, for yesterday. You really did save my life.”Arthur shook his head slightly, glancing towards the floor before looking back at me. “What was I going to do, let you die?” He sarcastically replied. “It was no problem, really. If anything, you made a good distraction for me to be able to kill that Bear.”His sarcasm caused a laugh to burst out of my chest, catching me off guard. “Yeah, who needs predator bait when you got me, right?” I giggled as I spoke, watching as he laughed along with me. “Seriously though, thank you.”Arthur smiled and nodded at me, and I reluctantly turned away to walk back towards the campfire. Arthur’s deep voice then spoke up behind me. “Thank you for helping me with the archery,” he began sheepishly, “I know Hosea asked you to do it, but you really did help. Thank you.”I watched him as he shuffled awkwardly, his eyes avoiding contact with my own. “Any time, cowboy.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
After a week of being instructed to only stay home, I was finally free to start doing some real work. Which also meant I was able to get myself booked in with Arthur for some shooting lessons.“You ready to go?” A deep yet kind voice sounded from behind me, causing my heart to quicken. It was Arthur, stood with a pistol in his hand, his other hand resting on his gun belt.“Sure.” I replied, pacing towards Betsy and pulling myself up. Truthfully, my back still hurt slightly, however I had convinced the other gang members that I was good as new, though I sensed that Tilly and the other girls could see through my lies.Arthur and I rode off through the woods, giving a short wave to Bill who was on guard duty. We headed down south of the railway lines towards some rocky areas, excitement rushing through me as I spent some extra time with Arthur.The girls had been teasing me all week – all of them were convinced that Arthur had a thing for me, but I kept brushing it off. However, I did find myself trying to make myself look more presentable when he was around. I kind of liked the idea that maybe he found me attractive in some way, although I’d always believed myself to look quite plain.Arthur slowed his horse by a large tree, before sliding off the saddle with a small thud to the ground. I did the same, hearing the jingle of my spurs as my feet hit the ground. “Wait here, I’ll go and set up.”Arthur wandered over to a rocky ledge, digging some old bottles out of his bag and placing them across the rock face, before coming back over to where I stood.“Let’s start with a revolver,” he spoke, pulling out his own Cattleman Revolver from his holster. I did the same, feeling nervous as I held my gun in my right hand. “Show me what you got, and we’ll work from there.”My palms became clammy as I looked over at Arthur, fidgeting on the spot as I began moving into position. I raised my arms, one hand holding the gun whilst the other held my hand in place. I began aligning my aim towards one of the bottles, becoming increasingly nervous as I felt Arthur’s gaze cast over me.I began shooting, my first shot just skimming past the bottle. I tried to hide my disappointment as I shot again, this time hitting the glass as it shattered, sending flying green shards into the air.I lowered my arms, slight embarrassment coming over me as I looked over towards Arthur. He then moved closer towards me, raising his own gun. “Make sure that your body is on a right angle to where you’re shootin’,” he began, holding his gun with just one hand. “Close one eye, and align the iron sights with where you wanna shoot.”A loud bang shot through my ears as he pulled the trigger, sending more shards of glass flying into the air. He lowered his arm, looking back towards me as I stood in awe. “Give it another go – this time, just use the one hand.”I bit on the insides of my cheek as I began getting myself into the position he showed me, closing one eye and using the iron sights as he explained. I exhaled, shooting at one of the bottles.To my surprise, I hit first time, looking over towards Arthur who nodded encouragingly. “See, you’re a natural.”He then returned back to his horse, pulling the Lancaster Repeater from under the saddle. “Let’s see how you do with this one.” Arthur spoke as he walked back over to me, holding the gun out for me to use.I took the gun from him; I had used the Lancaster repeater before, although I was never that good of a shot in comparison to when I used my bow. I moved into the position I believed to be correct, however I soon felt Arthur’s hands up against my lower back and elbow.“You gotta… hold steady, and firm.” He spoke softly towards me, my breath quickening as I felt his warmth behind me. His hand straightened my back slightly, as his other hand lifted my elbow. “You just focus, breathe slowly,” his voice dropped low, vibrating through me as he spoke. His hands both moved to my shoulders to hold me in place, before slowly moving away, “and always pull the trigger on empty lungs.”I forced myself to calm my breathing, the faint smell of his cologne still lingering in the air around me. I exhaled, my skin growing cold at the absence of Arthur’s touch, and I aligned my gun with one of the bottles.Fragments of glass scattered across the floor as the bottle erupted, my mouth opening slightly in awe. I’d never hit a target so accurately with a gun – especially not a repeater. I turned to look towards Arthur, who’s eyes were already watching me.As though I caught him in the middle of a crime, he looked down towards the floor, eyes roaming over the small shards of glass twinkling in the sunlight. “Not bad,” he declared, his voice notably louder than it had been just a moment ago. “Not bad at all, y/n.”I smiled slightly to myself, a sense of relief overcoming me as the embarrassment faded away. I locked eyes with Arthur once again, noting how his eyes seemed hooded as they were looking into mine. “Thank you, Arthur.”His eyes seemed to widen slightly at my use of his first name – it was the first time that I hadn’t referred to him as “Mr Morgan”. I suppose I was starting to feel more comfortable with him.“You’ll make a fine outlaw,” he started again, walking back over to where the glass bottles once stood, adding more to the ledge. “As long as you keep practicing.”I readied myself once again, raising my arms and fixing my stance as Arthur made his way back over to me. “I’ll keep practicing,” I started, a small smirk playing on my face, “as long as you keep teaching me.”I shot another round towards the ledge, hitting the bottle perfectly once again. A small ringing began in my ears at the repetitive booming of the gun, as my eyes winced slightly in pain. The recoil of the guns must have caused some of the wounds on my back to reopen again, as a stinging pain rushed along my spine.“You alright?” Arthur asked, approaching me from the left.“Yeah, I’m fine,” I started, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “Just… I must have split open one of the scratches on my back.”Arthur’s body moved slightly to cast a glance over my back, his brows furrowing in concern. “Maybe we should take a break. Wait for some of the birds to come back. Then you can have some moving targets.”I nodded in agreement, lowering my arms and handing the repeater back to Arthur, before taking a seat leaning against a tree to the right. Arthur followed closely, taking a seat beside me. We sat in a somewhat comfortable silence as I snacked on some crackers, offering a few to Arthur in the process, which he took gracefully. The pain in my back started to ease as I shuffled against the tree behind me.“So,” Arthur began, looking out into the distance as he sat beside me, “how long you been out here on your own?”I swallowed a small lump in the back of my throat at his question. I didn’t want to tell him about my past, but by the looks of it, I’d probably be in this gang for a while. Maybe it couldn’t hurt to talk to him?“Uhh…” I started, thinking back to the many years I’d spent on my own, “maybe, 3 years?” I enquired, not even sure myself. “I dunno, it’s been a while.”Arthur chucked slightly beside me, seemingly humoured by my statement. “A while? Not many could survive that long on their own.”“Not many do.” I spoke lowly, turning my head to face in his direction, “that’s why I’m still alive.” I implied the fact that I’d had to kill many people whilst I was out on my own. “It’s kill or be killed when you’re alone. That’s why I weren’t so fond of two stalkers following me back to camp.”We both recalled the day Arthur and Hosea decided to follow me – they were lucky I didn’t shoot them on the spot. Or maybe I was the lucky one? After all, thanks to them I now have a new camp to call home and people to call friends.Arthur shuffled on the ground, one of his legs lowering to be straight on the floor whilst the other stayed upright. “What about before then? You with family?”I thought back to my years before isolation – being a kid, growing up, stealing and thieving to get by.“No, not exactly.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Bottles and glasses crashed to the floor as one of the shelves snapped off the wall, blood splattered across the wooden floorboards as a male voice wailed in pain.
“You leave me the hell alone!” A woman shouted in his face, towering over the large man who analysed his cuts across the palms of his hands. “I took your bullshit for years,” the woman started again, striding over to the corner of the room where a tall cabinet stood. She rooted through the drawer, hands clutching around a large knife.. “Well I’m fucking sick of it. It ends now.”
The man wailed on the floor – a man who looked so much like my father. Yet he was covered in blood and bruised, face swollen and eyes glistening from crying. He wasn’t shouting, he wasn’t hitting, he wasn’t seething like he normally was. It’s almost like everything that made him so terrifying was gone, and he was just left as a shell of a person leaning against the kitchen cabinet.
“You don’t know what you’re doing, Darlene.” The man begged with a shaky voice. “You’re making a mistake. I-I was just doing what was best for you. Best for our girl-“
“You think beatin’ me black n’ blue is what’s best for our girl?” The woman raised the knife above her head, bringing it down onto the man’s large stomach. “You think fuckin’ some workin’ girl from the saloon in Valentine is what’s best for our girl?” She raised her arms once again, blood splattering over her face before the knife came crashing down into the man’s abdomen. “You think this… is what’s best for our girl?”
She pulled the knife out, brining it down one final time onto the man’s chest, watching as blood began to pool out of his mouth and down his chin. The room was filled with the sound of his gargles as he choked, his laboured breaths slowing to a halt as the woman still stood over him. “Sack of shit…” the woman mumbled to herself.
My hands shook as I crouched in the doorway, watching as the life drained from my fathers eyes – scared of my mother and her outburst. However nothing was as scary as the realisation that I had just watched my own father die a brutal death, and yet all I felt was relief. No guilt, no sadness. A slight smile and an overwhelming sense of relief was all I felt.
My mother, who had been subject to the palm of my fathers hand for the best part of 15 years, stood with her head dipped down, staring at the lifeless body in front of her. Her hand still clutched onto the knife, blood coating her skin and dripping from the steel blade.
As she stood there, her shoulders began to shake, and small sobs escaped her mouth. She fell to her knees, dropping the knife as she leaned over her dead husbands body, clutching onto his clothes. “Harold…” she whispered quietly, shaking his body in attempt to awaken him. “Harold, oh god Harold I’m so sorry.” She wailed in pain, the realisation of her action taking over her.
“Momma?” My voice escaped from my chest, not even intending to call out to my grieving mother as her head whipped around to look at me. Her eyes glistened with tears as they started streaming down her blood-splattered face, widening at the realisation that her daughter had watched her brutally murder her father.
“Y/n, honey…” she trailed off, slowly walking over to me with arms stretched out. I stood to my feet, part of me wanting to run away, whilst the rest of me wanted to thank her for killing my abusive father. “I-I didn’t mean to. He was being mean again, you know how he is when he’s drunk.”
I leapt into her arms, hugging her tightly as I felt my fathers blood against my skin, pulling away slightly as my mother began to speak again. “You go to your room, sweetheart. Momma will clean up and you get off to sleep.”
I did as I was told, my eyes casting over the lifeless body laying in a pool of blood on the floor. My mother ushered me out of the kitchen, as I walked along the hall back towards my room. A metallic smell struck my nose, causing me to look down to see a crimson smudge smeared across my nightshirt.
As I crawled back into bed, I couldn’t help but picture my fathers face as he lay on the floor, motionless. Surely it wasn’t normal to lack any sadness when someone kills your father, even if he was a drunk, a cheat, and an abuser. He was still my father.
As my eyes began to close, they suddenly shot back open again, hearing a loud bang in the distance. I rose out of bed quickly, dashing towards my bedroom door before opening it slowly. My eyes dragged along the hallway floor back towards the kitchen, where the door was ajar, casting a small glow of light into the hallway.
I stalked along the hallway, wondering if my mother needed any help with disposing of my fathers body. “Momma, do you need any help?”
As I pushed open the door, a faint smell of gunpowder tickled my nose, and my eyes cast across the room, before landing on my mother. She sat on a dining chair, slumped against the table as she laid her head down.
I approached her slowly, “Momma? Are you okay?” My voice began to drift away as I heard a dripping sound, looking to the floor as a red liquid dripped from the table onto the floorboards. My gaze then raised back to my mother, where her head rest in a pool of blood.
As I closed in on her, the smell of gunpowder became stronger, along with a metallic scent similar to the one stained on my clothes. I rounded to the other side of the chair, looking at my mothers face. Her eyes wide, staring at nothing. Her hand holding onto a gun, resting against the table, blood dripping from a small hole in her head.
I touched her skin, it’s warmth slowly fading away. I pulled the gun from her hand, analysing the carvings on the handle which had become sticky as it sat in the blood. Her blood.
My mind raced as I looked at her body, and back over to my father. Why would she do this? She freed herself, and now she’s gone? What was the point?
All I could think about was how I was now alone. Tears pricked in my eyes as I looked at my mothers lifeless face, which once held so much joy, a bruise still present on her jaw from one of the times my father had abused her.
I had to run.
5 years later
“Hey, watch it!” A male voice sounded out from beside me as I ‘accidentally’ walked into a man. He held his top hat with one hand as it threatened to fall from his head, his other hand resting against his large stomach.
“Sorry mister.” I apologised, briefly glancing over my shoulder at the man, before continuing forward. I shoved my hands into my pockets, depositing the brand new platinum pocket watch and money clip before anyone could notice my crime.
I sauntered through the streets of Saint Denis, looking around in attempt to pinpoint my next victim. I usually went after the more well-to-do people, who often dressed in formal clothing and weren’t shy about showing their wealth off to the world.
Suddenly, I heard whistles sounding out after me, followed by men shouting. “Hey, stop that girl!”
I quickly dashed towards a horse stood at the side of the road, pulling myself up and urging the horse to move away hastily. The horse hesitated before jolting forward, twisting and turning to avoid pedestrians scurrying through the busy streets.
Whistles continued in the distance as gunshots flew past my ears, the sounds being drowned out by the clicking of my horses hooves against the cobbled street. Wind whipped through my hair, causing my loose braid to fall apart as I urged the horse to keep moving faster. Eventually, I made it out of Saint Denis, yet the officers stayed hot on my heels.
I continued North, passing through Bluewater Marsh and out towards Annesburg, before heading up into the trees for some kind of shelter. We eventually came to a river as horse beneath me began grunting out of exhaustion. The sound of footsteps behind me seemed to have disappeared, as the horse began to drink from the river.
There were no more signs of blue uniforms chasing after me – instead, three men on horseback rode up towards me along the riverbank. Each of them seemed rugged and dirty, laden with guns and ammunition strapped to their bodies.
As I sat on my newly claimed horse, I pulled the reins to back her up away from the strangers. My hand rested on the handle of a small handgun tucked in the waistband of my torn jeans, as I spoke loudly at the men. “Who are you? What you want?”
Two of the men seemed older, possibly in their 40’s, whilst the other man in the back seemed significantly younger, maybe 18 or 19 years old. He put on a brave face as he hid behind the older men, as though to give himself the confidence to feel confrontational.
One of the men closer to me spoke out, “We saw that little stunt you pulled back there, along with the many little stunts you’ve been pulling for the last few weeks, terrorising the wealthy citizens of Saint Denis.” He chimed in a melodic tone. “We’ve also seen your… not-so-small stunts that you’ve been pulling.”
I looked the man up and down, straightening my back to maintain a strong appearance, showing the men that I wasn’t afraid of their implied threats. “Yeah, what about it? You telling me the rich ain’t got enough money to go around?”
The other older man chuckled, shaking his head and smiling beneath his hat, before looking over at his associate with amusement. “We ain’t here to lecture you, kid.” The man spoke in a thick southern accent, barely even discernible. “By the looks of it, you’re barely getting by. You’re just a sack of skin and bones sat on top of that horse – who I must mention is also a sack of skin and bones.”
I looked down at my arms, one still holding the reins of the malnourished horse beneath me. I was skinny, unhealthily so. I hadn’t eaten properly in weeks, and nearly all the cash I was stealing was being spent straight away on food that couldn’t keep me full for more than 5 minutes. The horse on the other hand, she didn’t belong to me. Her ribs were very prominent through her grey and white dappled coat – she looked like a Missouri fox trotter. An expensive horse, shocking that she wasn’t well looked after.
“We got a camp, few people live there. Men, women, some kids just like you.” I looked up at the man, my eyes narrowing as he spoke, “We can take you in, you’d get a safe place to sleep, eat some real food, and not have to be sleeping on the dirty streets of Saint Denis every night.”
“Yeah, that sounds great and all, but I ain’t really lookin’ to whore myself out to your group for a couple of warm meals and a sleeping bag.” I replied sarcastically, turning the horse in attempt to walk away from the gang. “And by the way, this ain’t my horse. I ain’t starvin’ the thing to death.”
The younger boy pulled forward in front of the older men, getting closer to me. Upon seeing his face, I noticed that he had a scratch along his cheekbone, and deep brown eyes that looked enchanting in the sunlight. “We don’t want you to join our gang for sex, miss-”
“Ohh so you’re a gang?” I interrupted, looking around at each of the men before my eyes landed back on the younger boy. “You see, I thought you were making it out to be a little sanctuary for lost souls, but I guess not, right?”
The older men rolled their eyes at the younger boy, who had evidently slipped up in their plan. I continued speaking, eyes shortening at the boy in front of me, “If you don’t want me for sex, then what do you want me for?”
“A lot of the women and kids in our gang steal, it’s an easy way to make money.” He spoke, avoiding eye contact with me. “You join us, then you get a place to eat and sleep, and in return… you steal.”
I nodded slightly, understanding the deal. “Okay…”
One of the older men moved forward to come to the side of the boy, catching my eye. “Of course, you won’t just be committing petty theft,” he started, eyes scanning the landscape as he spoke, “we have bigger opportunities to make some money. Laaarge scams: casinos, train robberies, you name it. You’d play a small part in a big game.”
I slowly nodded, my hand loosening from the revolver behind my back, and coming around to hold the reins. “What the hell, I’m gunna die out here anyway.”
8 years later
“Come on… you’re 24! At least live a little.” Samantha chimed from beside me, as we both rode into Saint Denis on our horses. “Just because we’re on the job, don’t mean you can’t have a little fun.”
“Yeah well, with all due respect I don’t find one night stands to be my idea of ‘fun’.” I rolled my eyes at my close friends remark – she had been on my ass about still having my virginity for weeks.
“Fine, but when you’re turning 30 and still haven’t felt a man’s embrace, don’t come crying to me-“
“I’m not going to be a 30 year old virgin- and besides, virginity is a myth.” I felt Samantha sigh in exasperation as she rolled her eyes. We’d had this conversation multiple times, to the point where she could almost quote me word-for-word. “It’s just a social construct created by men to make them feel like they have some kind of power over us, like they have something to take away and make us less of a human- which they don’t even see us as anyway! They just see us as objects.” I spoke, my voice becoming louder as I ranted on.
“Yeah yeah I know…” Samantha looked away from me, before turning back. “Still, there’s nothing wrong with sex, you know. It doesn’t have to mean anything-“
“Then why are you putting so much pressure on me?” I replied bluntly, annoyed by her constant nagging.
Samantha’s mouth pulled into a straight line, seemingly realising that she was in fact being pushy. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be controlling.” I pulled a small smile as she began her apology, showing that I forgive her. “I just don’t want you to regret putting it off for so long.”
As we rode along the streets, the docks came into view in the distance, small glows from a large boat lighting up the harbour. “I know you’re just trying to be supportive, I get it.” I’d known Samantha since I first joined the gang 8 years ago, and she was my go-to partner for heists of a larger scale. We insisted on going on every mission with each other.
Tonight, we were going to rig the casino, steal their money, and run off into the sunset with shit tonnes of money stashed in our skirts. We purposefully wore very revealing dresses for the event, myself wearing a navy blue corset which severely pushed up my breasts, giving the guys a little something to ogle at. Hopefully, it would work as a distraction as other members of our gang read cards over their shoulders.
As we approached the pier, the two of us slid off of our horses, moving them to stand near the post office where we could easily hop on them once we had completed our task. I patted the side of my thigh, ensuring that the gun I had on a holster was still secure under my skirt, whilst a knife rest against my ankle in my boot.
With a small nod of approval towards my friend, we both made our way towards the boat. I cast a glance over the crowd, making eye contact with one of our other gang members – Nick. He was a few years older than me, and was there with Carl and Wilfred the day that I was asked to join the gang. He was a sweet boy, one who I secretly had been dating for a few weeks.
The poor boy begged me to keep it a secret, saying that he didn’t want our relationship to influence whether or not we got put on missions together. We’d even had sex – however Samantha is completely unaware, hence her constant harping.
He smiled slightly at me, causing me to blush and turn away, instead scanning the crowd for potential victims. I eyed some older men, who already ogled in my direction with their eyes glued to my chest. God, men are disgusting.
A few hours passed, and we were finally reigning in the cash. Wilfred was excellent at poker, and with the helping hands of 6 other gang members scattered across the boat, he was winning a lot. Maybe a little too much. Some of the guards seemed to become suspicious of our activities, as I noticed some officers watching me closely. It seemed as though Samantha noticed too, as she eyed me from across the room.
I made my rounds again, coughing behind Wilfred’s back as I passed him – a sign that it was time to move on. However, at the end of the round, he bought in again. I attempted to feign my confusion, but I cast a glance over towards Nick. He had seen the signal, he had seen Wilfred disobey. This was completely unlike him; he knew when to call it quits.
I slowly walked over to Nick, pretending to try and interest him in a “fun time” as I discussed the situation with him. “What the fuck does Wilf think he’s doing?” I spoke quietly, placing a seductive smile on my face as I spoke.
Nick acted with his face, pulling some money from his pocket as if to “pay me for my services”. “I don’t know, if we don’t get outta here soon, it’s going to be a full shoot out.” His eyes scanned my chest, before he leaned in to whisper in my ear. “I must say, I wish you’d dress like this for me.”
I giggled softly, upholding my act as a prostitute. “Maybe if you let me tell people about us, we could be more open about our little situation.” I then leaned into his ear, my hand reaching down to his crotch area, “then maybe I could wear a dress for you… or maybe wear even less.”
A small grunt left his mouth as I pulled away, my hand flipping my fan open as I waft my chest seductively. “Either way, if we wanna do any of that we gotta get off this boat.” I spoke again, looking over at Wilfred. “And we can’t do that if we’re all dead.”
Nick hummed lightly to himself, whilst my mind became distant as thoughts ran through my head. As I decided on the most effective course of action, I sauntered away into a hallway towards the back of the ship where nobody else was to be seen.
In the corner of the small room, a small gas lamp stood unlit. I dug around in my corset, feeling for the box of matches that I had stored away. Taking a deep breath, I struck the match, lit the lamp, and smashed it onto the floor, before scurrying off back to the main event.
Approaching the main room, I slipped back inside without anyone noticing, and waited for disaster to strike. Only a few moments later, a guard who was doing his rounds came rushing into the room, calling for an evacuation. “Fire! There’s a fire on the boat!”
Other guards looked around confused, before sweeping across the boat and encouraging their wealthy clientele to head towards the main exit. “Please, no need for alarm. Collect your belongings and exit the boat.”
As I head towards the door, I looked over to see Wilfred, slowly standing from the table and collecting his money, eyes locked onto mine as he seethed silently. I knew I was in for it when we got back to camp, but it was the best thing for all of us.
After a couple of hours, we all finally met back at the camp. Wilfred and Carl had both arrived first, igniting the celebration from all the other camp members. Samantha and some of the other people arrived a while after, taking longer as they all did some light pickpocketing on their way out of the boat.
Me and Nick returned last, after sneaking away for a quick fuck with a side of dinner at one of the saloons in the city. What can I say, conning people turns me on.
The sound of singing welcomed my ears back to camp, looking at all the joyous faces dancing around together. I slid from my horse, feeding her a few oatcakes as a reward for doing so well.
As I strode into camp, a wide smile plastered onto my face, I felt a large hand grab my shoulder, spinning me around to face him. It was Wilfred, stinking of booze and wobbling on his feet. He held me in place with one hand, whilst the other pointed a thick finger in my face. “Who the fuck do you think you are? Messing with my plan? I had everything in place, I knew what I was doing!”
He spat and slurred as he spoke, using me as a crutch to hold himself upright as he wobbled about. I looked over my shoulder, noting how the whole camp had stopped their signing and dancing, all watching me and the camp leader instead.
I turned back towards him, his eyes blinking slowly with his finger still pointing in my face. I raised my hand and pushed his finger down, speaking as I did so. “I gave you the signal, people were starting to notice that something was up.” His face contorted into a look of anger and pure drunkenness, letting go of me and scoffing dramatically. “It was getting risky. We got the money, didn’t we-“
“Yeah well we could’ve got a shit load more if it weren’t for you and you’re little arson act!” He boomed at the top of his voice, arms flailing around as he began striding towards me. “You know, maybe if you spent a little less time whoring around with that little boyfriend of yours,” he announced, his arm shakily pointing towards Nick, “then maybe you’d have realised that I had everything handled!”
My face flushed bright red, looking between Wilfred and Nick, wondering how he figured it out. Were we really that obvious? “H-how did y-“
“You think nobody ‘round here noticed that little Nicky has been a little too perky lately? Or that you two have been coming back to camp later because you’ve been doing some ‘extra pickpocketing’?” He asked rhetorically, raising his hands to make sarcastic air quotations.
I backed away from the drunken man, becoming exceedingly embarrassed at my public shaming. “Wilfred, this is besides the point. We agreed that once I give the signal, we leave. You broke that promise.”
Wilfred’s laugh boomed across camp, before morphing into a cough as he stumbled around. “I’m the goddamn leader of this camp, not you!” He pulled a revolver from his gun belt, aiming the gun towards me as his arms swung from side to side. “You think you’re the boss of me, woman?”
Carl interjected, putting himself in front of me as he spoke to his friend. “Wilfred,” the man spoke softly, holding his hands out towards the leader. Carl was Wilfred’s second in command, making him a very influential figure in all of Wilfred’s decisions. “You’re drunk, put the gun down and let’s get some rest.”
Wilfred still held his gun out, eyes narrowing and widening as though he was trying to stay awake instead of falling into a drunken slumber. Just as his arm started to lower, another man from the camp moved to my side, the smell of cigar ash lingered over him, causing me to cough slightly.
It was Roy, a newer addition to the camp who I despised. He was the rat in our camp, the snake in our Eden – and yet Wilfred didn’t seem to see it. In fact, he loved the sly bastard. Thought he was “a fresh addition to our family”. Really, he’s just the devil on our gang leaders shoulder.
“Maybe he’s right, Wilfred.” Roy chimed loudly, a little too close to me for comfort. “Maybe you’re just drunk.”
Although it seemed as though Roy was agreeing with us, a smirk crept up onto his face, indicating that he had nothing but trouble and manipulation hiding up his sleeves. “Or maybe… maybe Carl here just wants to control you, feel like he’s the gang leader.”
Arms still raised in attempt to calm Wilfred, Carl scoffed and looked over towards Roy, watching as he took a draught of his cigar, flicking ash onto the floor. “That’s ridiculous- Wilfred, we’re good friends, and you’re in need of some rest.”
You could almost see the cogs whirring behind Wilfred’s eyes and they scanned the floor, his body slightly hunched over as he coughed and spluttered on his own saliva. His gun raised once again, pointing between Carl and Roy, “friends… yeah we’re friends. But y-you know, you really been on my ass lately about shit, shit that don’t even matter!”
His voice slurred as he continued to speak, Roy’s smile growing wider as his influence grew. Carl began to move further forward towards Wilfred, speaking lowly. “Wilfred, put the gun down-“
“Yeah Wilfred, listen to your little buddy here.” Roy started up again, sarcasm lacing his every word. “Listen to how he wants to control you.”
Conflict danced around behind those drunken eyes, his hand shaking slightly as he held his revolver. He pointed it towards Carl, causing gasps to escape from the camp members behind us. “Control… he wants to control me…”
Carl spoke again, “Wilf, you know that’s not true-“
Wilfred’s head shook, his free hand raising to wipe sweat off of his head, “he wants to lead the gang… he wants to take over from me.”
Roy made sounds of agreement, whilst Carl continued to move further forward, speaking quietly as he reassured Wilfred that he was not trying to control him.
“Don’t listen to Roy, okay? Just lower the gun-“
A large bang sounded through the camp, as the man in front of me dropped to the floor. A splatter of hot liquid sprayed across my face and body, and my eyes opened slowly to see Carls body, lifeless on the floor.
Smoke escaped from Wilfred’s gun, his fat hands shaking before his arm dropped, stumbling over towards Roy, who was already grinning from ear to ear. “Good job friend! With him out the way, you got nothin’ to worry about.”
I stood in shock, as small wails sounded from behind me. Sniffles and cries rang out from other gang members as Roy revelled in his success, and a small tear dropped from my eye and burned down my face.
I dropped to the ground next to Carl, resting a hand against his arm as I flipped his body over to look at his face, eyes wide and still. My mind flashed back to images of my own father, laid lifeless on the floor, his eyes staring in shock in a similar way.
A small hand laid on my back, who I instantly recognised to be Nick. He sniffled slightly – an indicator that he too had begun crying. Carl was like a father to Nick, but so was Wilfred. He must have been so confused and angry at what was happening.
My heart raced as anger pulsed through me, the only thing I could now focus on being the image of Roy’s coy grin, the way he’s practically celebrated at the death of a man whom everyone at the camp had grown to love and care for.
I wanted him dead.
10 months later
We returned from our latest heist, one which Wilfred and his second in command Roy had insisted was “vital to our gangs survival”. I was covered from head to toe in blood, as were many of the people who were instructed to go out and massacre one of our rival gangs hideouts.
It was bad. We were wildly outnumbered, and they just seemed to keep on coming. Man after man after man dropped to the floor, including some of our own. Yet none of that seemed to matter to our “caring” camp leaders.
The worst part of all – they barely had anything for us to bring back to camp. No provisions, no money or valuables aside from the occasional ring or belt clamp. And certainly no evidence on where we could find their main camp.
“You’re back,” Wilfred dully declared, “where’s Evans?”
I spoke quietly, sadness taking over me as I recalled how his body was mutilated by bullets. “He… died, sir.”
Wilfred looked at me, seemingly unbothered at the loss of his gang member. “Well… it was bound to happen sooner or later.” My mouth hung agape as my brows furrowed in shock and fury at his reaction – were we all just pawns in his little game of chess? Disposable pieces of wood that he could replace with the flick of a wrist? “So, you got anything for me?”
I shook my head as I deepened my voice, becoming increasingly irritated at Wilfred’s demeanour. Ever since he killed Carl a year ago, he’s been completely different. “Not really, just a couple of sellable items-“
“Well that’s not good enough. I expected more from you, y/n.”
He strode away from me, leaving me angered and restless as I stood in the middle of camp, watching as the gang began to fill up again, people sharing stories of how brutal and bloody the latest fight was.
I moved over to my wagon, changing my shirt and climbing into bed. I figured that if I was going to be angry, I might as well do it whilst I try and sleep instead of sitting around a fire, staring daggers at Wilfred and Roy.
What I would give to kill that rat bastard.
Nick appeared at the side of my cot, crawling under the sheets with me and holding my body, one hand smoothing down my hair as the other held his head up. “You ok? I heard you talking with Wilfred.”
“I really don’t wanna talk about it.” I mumbled, closing my eyes as I nuzzled my head into his chest. “He fucking infuriates me.”
“I know,” he whispered, the heat of his body warming my own skin.
I pondered slightly, before asking him, “Do you wanna leave?”
I felt his breathing pause momentarily, urging me to continue speaking. “Me, you, Samantha… maybe some of the others too. We could leave camp, find somewhere new to start again. Leave Wilfred and Ratty Roy to fend for themselves.”
I felt Nicks heart quicken, conflict pulsing through him. “I don’t think I can, y/n.” He guiltily confessed. “As much as I’d love to leave, I belong here. I belong as part of a gang.”
I nodded in understanding. He’d grown up in a gang, it was all he’d ever known. “I get it. Never mind, it was a stupid thought.”
“No no, it’s not stupid.” Nick sounded out, his voice vibrating through his chest. “Listen, as much as I’d like to stay here and fantasise with you, this cot ain’t big enough for the both of us.”
I groaned in response as he began shuffling back out of the bed, leaving me cold and alone. “Don’t leave, stay a little longer.”
Nick chuckled in response, slowly backing away from my wagon. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
His figure disappeared into the distance, as my eyes slowly began to close, darkness overcoming me as my body gave into my fatigue.
I was awoken by the sounds of whinnying horses, feet stomping against the ground and fire crackling loudly. A warm heat greeted my skin as I threw the blanket off of my body, rubbing my eyes with my hands.
My eyes opened, and I expected to be met with the sunrise, yet instead I was met with tall flames engulfing the far side of the camp. My ears began hurting as screams of agony sounded through camp, and my eyes dashed around trying to make sense of what was happening.
I bolted over to my gun chest, pulling out my shotgun and aiming at some strangers dashing around the camp. They were pulling men, women and children out from their tents and mutilating their bodies with knives. I shot frantically at the strangers, careful not to venture too close to the flames as I moved around camp, hiding behind crates to dodge gunfire from the enemies.
It was the Hawthornes – the gang who’s camp we had wiped out the night before. They must have followed us back to camp. Either that, or someone let slip where we were staying for the time being.
I kept shooting, the kickback from my gun causing my shoulder to ache. Dodging bullets and enemies as I manoeuvred my way through camp, I finally began closing in on Nicks tent, which he popped out of and quickly began shooting at the Hawthornes.
“Nick!” I called out, catching his attention before he went back to shooting. There was a lot of them, far too many for us to kill. They had us surrounded, whether it be by guns or by fire. If we wanted to make it out, it would have to be a free for all. There was no way we could save the rest of camp members and get out of here alive.
Nick eventually made it over to me, “have you seen Samantha?” I asked, eyes still darting across the camp, taking out enemies wherever I could see them.
“No, she might still be in her tent.” He questioned, still shooting the Hawthornes as he spoke.
At his assumption, I decided to make my way over to Samantha’s tent, where I saw her hiding under one of the wagons nearby. “Samantha, over here!” The sound of guns and crackling fire made it hard for me to communicate with her without anyone else hearing.
She crawled out from under the wagon, rushing over to us as we all hid behind the provision wagon. “We need to make it around to the horses. From there, we should be able to ride out. We just need to keep on shooting until we’re in the clear.” I planned, looking at the horses which were about 20 meters away.
“You two go,” Nick started, refilling his revolver as he spoke, “I’ll cover you both. Once you’re on the horses. The two of you cover me. Then we make a run for it.”
We all nodded in unison, fear causing my eyes to widen as I looked over at Nick. “I’ll see you at the horses.”
Taking a deep breath, I grasped onto my shotgun as I began running, knees crouched and my back slightly bent to try and hide as best as I possibly could. Me and Samantha made it around to the horses, and I waved at Nick to signal him to start running.
Me and Samantha opened fire, shooting any enemies that were getting too close to Nick, making sure that we also watched our own backs. As I looked around, I noticed that some of the horses were missing. One belonging to Roy, the other belonging to Wilfred. My blood boiled as realisation hit me – they’d set us up. They knew the Hawthornes were coming, and they left us all here to die.
A loud wail rattled through my body, causing me to look over to my left, startled. Nick was shot, right in the abdomen. My eyes widened as they locked with his, tears began streaming down his face as he started over at me. He lowered his eyes and looked down, his hands clutched around his middle, blood pouring from his stomach and down his leg as he crouched on the floor.
As he looked back up at me, I froze. Everything around me fell silent. All I could hear was my own erratic breathing, my eyes focused on his own. But then they stopped. They no longer looked at me; he no longer held his stomach.
He hit the floor, lifeless. A bullet hole marked his forehead, his chest no longer rising and falling in panic. He was the only thing I could see, as everything around me faded away.
I rose to my feet, a wail of pain rattling through my chest, before another hand pulled me backwards to face Betsy.
“We have to go, come on!” A familiar voice pleaded with me, it was Samantha. She dragged herself onto her horse, as I did the same slowly. I felt numb, confused, angry. “I’m sorry, but we have to go!”
Samantha rode off in front of me, gun at the ready as she started shooting other gang members that began closing in on the remains of our camp. I did the same, looking back at my lovers body, sprawled out on the floor, completely alone.
It was my fault. I was meant to cover him. I killed him.
We continued riding through the trees, bullets zipping past as the Hawthornes tried to shoot us down. To my right, Samantha grunted in pain, a bullet hitting her in the back.
“Samantha!” I screamed, her body becoming sluggish and weighted, yet she continued riding on. We eventually came to a clearing, riding along a road that would take us up towards Annesburg. I forced us both to pull over, dragging Samantha from her horse and placing her on the floor.
She began to cough, her blood splattering onto my clothes and down her chin, her breathing becoming laboured and painful. “Samantha, please…” I cried, holding her head in my hands, “please don’t leave me, don’t leave me on my own, please.”
I begged for her to hold on, begged for the life to stay in her eyes. “Please, I can’t lose you too.” Tears streamed from my face and down onto hers, her breathing slowing as she continued to splutter and choke on her own blood.
Moments later, her breathing stopped. Her eyes became distant and her body became heavy. Rage filled my body, my mind filling with homicidal thoughts as I pictured Roy’s smirk.
Almost like a manifestation, galloping hooves sounded from behind me, and I turned around to see that fiery ginger hair, alongside an old fat man, both of them on horseback, scampering away from camp. I rose to my feet, leaving Samantha’s body by the side of the road, pulling myself onto Betsy.
“Roy!” I called out, urging Betsy into a gallop as the two men continued to ride away from me.
After chasing the two men up past Annesburg, we came to a cliff edge. Wilfred and Roy, realising they have no way out, turned their horses to look straight at me. “Y/n, you’re still alive.” Roy laughed to himself, his hands reaching for the revolver in his holster.
“Of course I’m alive,” I announced, raising my gun and shooting at Roy’s hand, disarming him. “How am I going to kill you if I’m dead?” I tilted my head at the men, bearing my teeth at the both of them in anger.
“I don’t know, y/n.” Roy chimed, that typical smirk raising back into his face once again. “How about we kill you, and then you let us know how you get on?”
I shot the man in the stomach, doing the same to Wilfred as both men fell off their horses, which shortly galloped away from being spooked. I slid off my own horse, approaching the men with my revolver still in hand.
“You killed Nick, you killed Samantha, and you ratted out our whole camp to the Hawthornes.” I slowly closed in on both men, watching them scramble in attempt to get away. “I’ve been waiting so long to kill you both.”
Wilfred scrambled to my left, clasping his hands together as if to beg for forgiveness, “please, y/n, I didn’t mean to harm you or your friends-“
“Yeah, sure you didn’t,” I interrupted, “what next? You gonna tell me you didn’t mean to kill Carl either?”
Wilfreds eyes widened, his face becoming pale as guilt washed over him. I looked over towards Roy, a large scowl contorting his face to look even uglier than it usually would. “I gotta hand it to ya Roy, you really did a good job at manipulating this little bastard. Too bad it was all for nothing.”
Both men stayed silent, as I raided the revolver in my hand to analyse the handle. An engraving of a deer was on the handle, the grooves tarnished with splatters of blood. “Do you know how many people have died at the hand of this gun?” I asked rhetorically.
Both men shook their heads, anticipating my answer. “Me neither, I’ve killed far too many to count.” I paused, twirling the gun around my finger as I began speaking again. “However, there is one person who died by this gun that I remember most.”
I stopped spinning the gun, holding it firm in my grasp. “She was my mother.”
A shot rang out as I pulled the trigger, a bullet landing straight between Wilfred’s eyes, his body splaying out on the ground. My gaze turned to Roy, a sociopathic smirk plastered across his face. “She killed herself at the hands of this gun, right after she killed my abusive father. I always wondered, why would she kill herself right after she’d granted herself freedom?”
I now stood over Roy, who leaned back on his elbows has he looked up at me. His stomach continued bleeding out as he began to choke on his blood. “Then I realised, she’s spent so long living in fear of someone else, that maybe she couldn’t remember how to live on her own. Me on the other hand? I think I’ll do just fine on my own. No gang, no parents, no friends, no partner. And no one to fear.”
With that, a final shot rang out, sending a bullet through Roy’s throat. Both bodies laid on the floor, blood soaking the grass below them as the sun began to rise over the mountains. Betsy whinnied from behind me, spurring me into action as I put my revolver back into my holster, pulling myself up onto the saddle.
As I looked down at the two bodies for one last time, I felt nothing. No guilt, no glee. I was just numb. I thought of all the people back at camp who had inevitably been slaughtered, all because of Wilfred and Roy’s greed.
At least now, they’re all at peace.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
I picked the grass beside me, my eyes staring into the distance as I recalled the last 20 years of my life. It was filled with so much pain, so much loss. It was a miracle I’d lasted this long. “Y/n?” Arthur’s voice rang from beside me, pulling me from my thoughts. I looked over to him, his hat covering his eyes slightly as he tilted his head to look at me. “You okay?” I shook my head in dismissal, my hand raising to wipe against my eyes. Tears threatened to spill over, the thoughts of my past making me emotional. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” I forced a smile onto my face, noting how Arthur’s eyes scanned me, his brows furrowed in concentration. “Y’know, everybody’s got a past.” He started, moving his head to look ahead of him. “I get it if you don’t wanna talk about it… if you just wanna forget everything that’s happened before.” I pondered at his evaluation, taking a deep breath as I began to speak again. “I had a family, but my pa was abusive and momma couldn’t handle it anymore.” I fiddled with a strand of grass between my fingers, picking it into small pieces. “They both died, so I travelled west and lived in Saint Denis for a few years. On the streets, thievin’ and stealin’.” Arthur remained quiet beside me, as I continued. “After a while, a gang took me in. Showed me how to work as a group. I was with them for… 9 years? 10 maybe?” Arthur chuckled beside me, his head dipped down as he spoke, “that’s a long time to be in a gang. Why’d you leave?” I exhaled deeply, thinking back over the terror that washed over our camp in the last couple of years. “I didn’t leave… our leader, well, he became hungry for more. More money, more power. Didn’t help that he had a devil whispering into his ear, guiding him towards chaos.” Arthur mumbled at the side of me, “huh, sounds like somebody I know.” Referring to Micah. “He killed his second in command, started putting our gang at risk when we went out on jobs.” I could feel my throat begin to tighten, images of Carl, Nick and Samantha’s cold, lifeless faces filling my mind. “They sold us out to our rival gang. They came in the night, torched our camp, shot us up. It was a miracle I made it out alive.” I decided to omit the fact that my lover and best friend were murdered in the process. They were my past, and I wanted to leave them there. I wanted to stop remembering them for how they died, and instead remember them for the people they used to be. Arthur grumbled at the side of me, his curiosity getting the better of him. “Why’d they sell you out?” His voice remained low, respectful. “What’d they get out of murdering everyone that followed them?” “Uhh… I don’t know.” My head raised to look at the landscape ahead of me, my hat shielding my eyes from the sun beaming down overhead. “People were starting to get restless, doubting their strategies and decisions. I guess they wanted to take the money and run. Start over.” “Why didn’t you leave? You know… before everything went to shit.” I recalled the night I laid in Nicks arms, begging him to leave with me. “Some people can’t live any other way.” I started, my eyes staring into the distance. I felt Arthur staring at me, tears pricking in my eyes. I was close to completely forgetting Nicks face – all that remained of him in my mind was his eyes. That beautiful brown and amber swirl that captivated me. Arthur tore his gaze away from me, clearing his throat. “So uhh… what happened to that leader of yours and his rat?” A small smile rose onto my face, barely noticeable but there nonetheless. “I hunted them down, and I killed them.” Silence fell over the both of us, my ears picking up on the small chirps of songbirds in the distance. I turned my head to look at the ledge, “Those birds of yours have turned up.” Arthur paused momentarily, his eyes scanning my side profile as he was deep in thought. “Yeah, they have.” I turned around to look at him, eyes narrowing at his lack of urgency to get back to teaching me how to shoot. He suddenly sprung into action, raising to his feet and offering a hand to help me up again. “Let’s uhh, have a go at shooting some birds then.” Arthur passed me a varmint rifle, it’s small bullets and sharp aim making it perfect for small game hunting. “Here’s what we’ll do, I’ll shoot a bullet into the air, and you shoot as many birds you can.” I nodded in agreement, readying myself in the stance that Arthur had previously shown me. He looked me over, making sure my stance was correct. With a small hum of approval, he raised his hand into the air, shooting a bullet from his revolver to startle the birds. I closed my eye, watching the birds shoot into the air as time seemed to slow down. I positioned my gun to aim at a small bluejay, instantly shooting it down. To the right, a northern cardinal eagerly flapped its wings in the air, before plummeting to the ground as my bullet struck it. One after another, bluejays and robins and northern cardinals dropped to the floor, only one bullet missing its target. I dropped my arms , watching as the other birds flew off into the distance. Arthur stood to my left, his hands resting on his holster and eyes scanning over me, nodding his head slowly. “Pretty good, y/l/n.” He began to stalk over to where the birds had dropped, picking each one up before returning to me. He moved around to my right, his large hands opening the flap of my satchel and tucking the carcasses inside. He towered over me, my eyes looking up at him as my heart quickened. His hands reached out towards me, his gaze not leaving my own. A small force tugged on my hands, causing me to look down as he grabbed the rifle in my grasp. I let go, watching as he slowly moved away from me, creating a painful distance between us both. My hand raised to push my hat down onto my head, trying to compose myself as he cleared his throat. “We aught to get back to camp,” he started, his voice vibrating through me. “You need to rest your back.” I silently nodded, my eyes following him as he moved towards his horse, back facing me. I struggled to tear my gaze from his back, watching how his muscles rolled beneath his shirt as he pushed the rifle into its slot on the saddle. It wasn’t until he pulled himself up onto his horse that my eyes moved from his back, yet to my demise, they instantly fell to Arthur’s forearms, revealed due to the sleeves of his shirt being rolled to his elbows. My eyes then trailed further, down to where his hips shuffled around as he tried to find a more comfortable position in the saddle. I felt eyes on me, as I reluctantly tore my gaze from Arthur’s body. “You comin’?” Arthur asked, his voice deep and grumbling. My cheeks flushed, hopefully covered by the rim of my hat. “Yeah,” I responded quietly, feeling my skin become hot with embarrassment. What was wrong with me? Had I really been alone for so long that I was now fawning over a 34 year old man like a dog in heat? As I pulled myself up onto Betsy, I swore I could see a small smirk upon Arthur’s face. Surely he hadn’t seen me staring. If he had, I might as well just dig myself a grave so that I can die of embarrassment. We rode back to camp relatively quietly, the sun hitting its peak as the morning turned into the afternoon. Once we arrived back to camp however, we didn’t get much time to rest before we were ushered out again. Strauss, a man who often sat at the edge of camp writing away in a book, approached Arthur with a kind smile plastered onto his face. “Arthur!” Arthur rolled his eyes slightly at the familiar voice, beginning to walk away from his horse. “Strauss, what do you want?” “Oh, Arthur,” Strauss began, hurriedly walking behind Arthur as he struggled to keep up, “you know how you’re my favourite debt collector-“ Arthur stopped and turned towards the older man, a look of annoyance displayed across his face. “Just tell me where you want me to go.” A smile of appreciation crossed Strauss’ face, flipping through his notepad as he began scribbling down some notes. “Oh Arthur, you know me so well.” He continued scribbling frantically down on a page, before tearing out the paper and folding it neatly. “This… is the address of a Mr Downes. A sick fellow, owes us a sum of money.” Strauss handed the folded paper to Arthur, who glanced at it quickly before shoving it into his satchel. “Mhm,” Arthur began, looking around camp before his eyes locked on mine. I was still stood with Betsy, brushing her coat whilst watching Strauss and Arthur’s conversation noisily. “Can I take the girl with me?” He looked back at Strauss, gesturing towards me as I looked away quickly, pretending as though I wasn’t eavesdropping. Strauss looked over at me, and then back at Arthur, his brows scrunched together before they slowly softened. It was as though a wave of realisation had washed over the man – although I was unsure what epiphany he’d had. The man stifled a smile, causing Arthur to scowl at him. “Sure, sure, you can take whoever you want Arthur. Just make sure you get that money back.” Strauss then leaned in slightly, his voice lowering until I could barely hear. “And if he doesn’t have it, you know what to do.” Arthur’s weight shifted on his feet, his hands finding their way to his holster once again – a stance I found myself loving a little too much. He kept his head down, walking over towards me as I tucked my brush back into my satchel. “Y/n, you ever collected a debt before?” Arthur asked, pulling himself onto his horse. “No,” I lied, watching Arthur as he began pulling his horse around to exit the camp. “Why?” “Get on your horse, time for your second lesson of the day.”