Chapter 11



Several days pass as the gang comes to terms with Micah's betrayal to them. With what Charles had told them about what he had seen, it's evident that after Micah's plan to get Dutch out in the open to meet with Colm had failed, he went out to that train station to telegraph Milton. Once the agents arrived, Micah must've told them Dutch didn't take the bait. Milton's impatience apparently had gotten the better of him because he then decided to just raid the camp instead of going about contriving another plan to get Dutch away from everyone to arrest him.


During these days, Emmeline settles in more. She tries her best to do jobs around the camp at Shady Belle. Laundry, mending clothes, washing up, none of it is really new to her, anyway. Once the sun goes down, she starts to help Lenny in his pursuit to teach Sean how to read. The Irishman seems more inclined to listen to Emmeline than Lenny, so he actually makes progress.


"The... dog... j-j-" he reads along as he points to the words on the page with his finger.


"Sound it out," Emmeline says in support.


"J-um-p-ed. Jumped!" he calls out excitedly. "That fucker jumped !"


Emmeline and Lenny both laugh at his reaction.


"You're doing good," she comments. "See, you're getting it down. You'll be reading novels in no time."


Karen, who is close by, decides to see what all the hubbub is about. "Who jumped?" she asks as she comes to stand by Sean.


He points to the illustration of the little puppy in the book that Lenny had borrowed from Jack. "The dog!" He follows the words with his finger again as he reads. "The dog jumped!"


"You can join us, Karen," Lenny mentions. "If Sean can learn, you surely can, too."


She thinks it over a minute. "If I learn to read, Mary Beth will be shoving those stories she writes in my face all the time askin' if they're any good." She moves to sit down next to Sean. "But I guess I ain't got nothin' better to do right now."


Soon enough, Abigail and Jack join in on the lessons, though Hosea has to be recruited to help out with the teaching. It helps to keep spirits high in this time of uncertainty. Arthur often sits next to Emmeline as she continues to help, though most of the time he's sketching in his journal instead of helping out.


"Who taught you to read, Emmeline?" Abigail asks one of the days they're all sitting around the fire.


"Both my parents loved books," she answers. "They didn't send me off to school, but they both taught me all they knew. Taught me to read and write. How to add numbers. Even had me read some history books, too. They wasn't really educated, but they did their best."


"Well you're loads smarter than Arthur, here," Sean calls out at Arthur's expense. "How'd you manage to convince a sweet girl like that to be with you."


Before Arthur can respond, Emmeline steps in to defend him. "He didn't have to convince me. Arthur is sweet and kind. And he ain't dumb. He's taught me a lot." She looks over to Arthur and smiles.


"Ain't that sweet!" Sean razzes him further.


Karen slaps the back of the Irishman's head. "He's a better man than you, Sean."


"Aw, you love me. Give us a kiss." He leans into Karen, his lips puckered.


"I don't love you, you pig!" Karen calls out, but everyone knows she's not serious.


About a week after they had moved into Shady Belle, Arthur finds Dutch standing at the back of the property looking over the swamp.


"Whatcha doin', Dutch?" he calls out as he approaches.


The older man doesn't even turn around, though he does answer. "Watching the alligators," he says with very little emotion in his voice.


Once Arthur comes to stand next to Dutch, he can see blood in the water and an alligator moving around underneath it. "They fighting or something?"


"I watched a boar walk over to the edge of the water," Dutch starts, eyes still fixed on the swamp. "I watched as one of those gators silently swam up to it, the boar none the wiser. Only took but a few seconds and that gator had that boar in its mouth, dragging it in the water as its meal."


"Shit," is all Arthur can think to say.


Dutch lets out a sigh. "All this time, I thought I was the alligator. Turns out I'm the boar."


Arthur could tell that Dutch hadn't been taking Micah's betrayal very well. He had shut himself in his room, barely talking to anybody, which isn't normal for him. This is actually the first time Arthur had spoken to him in days.


"Now come on, Dutch," Arthur replies gently. "You ain't no boar. You're a man. And men make mistakes on occasion. I know that more 'n anyone."


"I've been thinking about... him ," Dutch says, refusing to use Micah's name. "About everything he's done. Everything he's said." He lets out a heavy breath and casts his gaze to the ground in front of him. "He played me, Arthur. Like a fiddle. Told me everything I wanted to hear. Then he tried to get me to turn on you." He finally looks over to the younger man. "And John. And Hosea. I nearly fell for it."


"But ya didn't."


"But I nearly did. And everything I've been working for would've been lost ." He lets out a sigh. "I've just been trying so hard ," he brings his hands up and clenches them into fists in front of him, "to hold onto everything. To keep everyone together. Not to fall into the trap of this..." he waves his hands around, " civilization ."


"I know, Dutch. We're still here. We're still with you."


Dutch turns his body to face Arthur and places his hand on Arthur's shoulder. "But for how long?" He doesn't stay to get a response, instead, walking past him toward the house.


Just a little while later as almost everyone is eating their supper, Sean calls out, "Hey, English!" in Arthur's direction. Bill is walking next to him, which can mean nothing good, most likely.


Arthur lets out a sigh, causing Emmeline to chuckle beside him. "Yes, Sean?" he replies, already exasperated.


"Me and Bill was 'avin a drink at some saloon in San Denis when we hear these two blokes talkin' about some train that's s'pose ta be carryin' a lot of gold. Apparently they gonna be movin' money outta the bank fer some reason."


"And...?" Arthur says after a pause.


Bill jumps in. "We rob it!"


Arthur just shakes his head. "I don't think we should be doin' nothin' like that right now. All the heat that's been on us... we need to lie low."


"Don't we need the money, though? To get to Tahiti?" Sean asks, parroting Dutch's words.


"Right now we gotta focus on not getting nabbed by them Pinkertons," Arthur explains. "Micah don't know where we went to, but I'm bettin' he's told them agents that we'd head further east once they ran us outta Clemens Point. If we do something big, they'll know it's us and it'll only be a matter of time before they find this place." Arthur scratches at his beard as he thinks it over. "We need to do shit much more quiet than we have been. No train robberies. No banks or stagecoaches. Nothin' like that. We send the women into the city to pickpocket some rich folk. Javier and whoever else can rob homesteads as long as it's quiet. Me and Charles can hunt and sell the pelts. It won't get us a heap load of money, but it'll make us enough to keep surviving. For now, anyways."


Since Dutch is continuing to lock himself away most of the time, there's no one else giving the gang orders but Arthur and Hosea. They are both in agreement that the gang needs to lower their profile for the time being. Especially until Dutch gets back to his old self. Arthur hopes he'll come out of it, sooner rather than later.


During this time, Emmeline and Arthur try to figure out what it means to be in a relationship together. She, of course, has no experiences of her own to draw off of. Arthur isn't much better, though, only having one serious relationship in his life. There are some awkward moments, usually coming in the form of Arthur being teased every time someone catches him even so much as looking at Emmeline. She shrugs it off, but Arthur usually has to try to hide his blushing cheeks.


While he's never been very comfortable with public displays of affection, he makes up for it in the privacy of their own room. He's tentative for the first few nights, but with Emmeline's assurance that she is fine with his advances, he gets more comfortable with her physically. Before too long, he comes to crave the intimacy that she provides. He had long since accepted that he would never have another woman in his life, but then Emmeline showed up and awakened parts of him that had been dormant.


One morning, Arthur and Emmeline are cuddled up together in the small bed in their second floor room. Arthur has been working hard lately, so he decides to sleep in a little today. As for Emmeline, her pregnancy has continued to take the energy out of her, so some extra time in bed doesn't bother her any.


"You awake, Emma?" he whispers when she stirs a little from her position lying on his chest.


"Yeah," she answers sleepily without lifting her head. "But I'm still tired. I might just fall back asleep."


He kisses her crown. "Go on ahead. I ain't goin' nowhere."


Just a few minutes after she tries to fall back asleep, she's overcome with a wave of nausea. Thankful that she decided to put her nightgown back on last night after she and Arthur were done with their "activities," she runs out of their room to try to make it outside before the contents of her stomach could come up. Unfortunately, she just barely makes it out into the hallway before she starts to heave.


Abigail can hear the commotion from her room just a few feet away. She leaves Jack, still sleeping soundly, to see what's going on. "Are you alright?" she asks Emmeline when she sees the mess at her feet.


Emmeline clears her throat and wipes her mouth. "I'm fine," she says as she looks up to the other woman, unsure what else to say.


Arthur comes out of the room, having hastily put on his pants to cover himself. He shares a look with Abigail before he gently lays a hand on Emmeline's back. "Why don't you go back in and lay down," he says to her. "I'll clean this up."


Abigail's face suddenly lights up as she calls out, "You're pregnant! I knew it!" She had her suspicions, but the fact that Emmeline had gotten sick and Arthur isn't at all worried about it confirms what she had thought.


Both Arthur and Emmeline snap their heads to look at the other woman.


"Keep it down," Arthur growls out.


Abigail lets out a scoff. "Ain't nobody up here but Jack. And he could sleep through the end of the world. Even Dutch and Molly are out, for once." She starts to vibrate with excitement despite Arthur glaring at her. "But it's true, right?"


Emmeline smiles gently as she nods slightly. There's no use in lying at this point.


Abigail can't hold back the squeal of happiness as it leaves her mouth. The thought of having another child in the camp for Jack to play with swirls in her mind.


"Shh!" Arthur pats the air to try to calm her. "You can't tell nobody, Abigail. Especially not the rest of the girls."


"I wont."


"Abigail?" John's raspy voice rings out from the steps. "You alright up there? I heard you yell." He starts to come up the stairs before she even answers.


Abigail runs over to meet her husband on the landing. "Emmeline's with child!" she tells him immediately.


Arthur throws up his hands and rolls his eyes. "Abigail! I just told you not to tell no one!"


"John doesn't count," she replies as she leads John over to where the group stands.


"Is that sick?" he points to the pile a few feet away.


Abigail swats him on the chest. "Don't worry about that! You're gonna be an uncle!"


"Don't tell nobody else," Arthur asserts. "I mean it. Both of you."


"Alright, alright." Abigail turns to leave. "I'll get a bucket to clean up that mess. Then we're gonna talk all about this."


John shakes his head and claps Arthur on the shoulder. "Looks like we're more alike than I thought."


Emmeline scrunches up her face in confusion at his comment. "What?"


"I knocked Abigail up with Jack on accident, too."


Arthur shakes his head. "Shut up, Marston."


She looks over to Arthur for a moment before turning back to John. "But you were happy, right?"


"Little Johnny Marston ran away. Like an idiot," Arthur answers for him. "I won't never do that."


"I came back," John defends himself.


"It only took four years for you to get your shit together to be somewhat of a father to the boy," Arthur bites back sarcastically. He had always looked down at John for his decision to leave instead of accepting his role as a father. Now that he's put himself in the same position with regards to an unexpected pregnancy, he's focused on not repeating the younger man's mistake.


Abigail reappears carrying a bucket and some rags. "Stop fighting, you two. You should be celebrating."


"We ain't ready to tell everyone just yet," Emmeline comments. "So I think we'll have to wait for any parties."


"It's your news to tell. But the second you do it, there's certainly going to be a party." Abigail bends down to start to clean the floor. "I suggest you nibble on some biscuits to settle your stomach, though. If you start getting sick all the time, people are gonna get curious and ask questions."


Early one morning, Emmeline takes Abigail up on her advice. Once her stomach starts to roil, she sneaks out of bed quietly enough not to wake Arthur to head down to Pearson's wagon in search for biscuits. The sun isn't even up yet, so it takes her a few minutes in the dark to locate the small tin on the table.


After eating a few of the biscuits, she decides to head over to where Miss Susie is hitched at the edge of camp to visit with her for a moment.


"How ya doin', girl?" she asks as she pats the horse on the neck.


Upon hearing a rustling behind her, she flips around just in time to see Kieran exiting his tent not far away from her.


"Miss Emmeline?" he croaks out, his voice still tinged with sleep.


"I'm sorry, Kieran. I didn't mean to wake you. I honestly forgot your tent was over here."


"That's okay." He moves to the other side of Miss Susie, petting her on the nose. "It ain't too much before I'd get up anyway."


"I need to thank you for taking such good care of her," she says as she continues to stroke the horse's coat. "I haven't gotten the chance to take her out much lately."


"She's a real good horse. Very friendly. I must admit that she's my favorite to ride out of all of them."


She smiles. "Really?"


"Most of the other horses only accept one rider in the saddle. Miss Susie here don't mind me taking her out at all." He pats her neck. "I'll get her a couple of carrots for a treat."


He starts to move further away to where he keeps his supplies while Emmeline continues to pet her horse. Suddenly, there's a scuffle and when she turns to look, she sees a man in a green vest grappling with Kieran, trying to pull him off into the woods.


"No!" she screams at the top of her lungs and instinctively runs toward the man that she realizes must be an O'Driscoll with what Arthur has told her about them. She doesn't have any weapons on her and she's only in her nightgown, but she doesn't let that stop her from trying to help Kieran. Jumping on the O'Driscoll's back, she forces one arm around his neck and tries to pull him away.


Unbeknownst to her, the O'Driscoll hadn't arrived alone. His partner roughly grabs her by the shoulders and throws her off the first man and onto the ground hard. She's stunned for a moment, but once a gunshot rings out, she comes to just in time to see the man on Kieran crumble to the ground.


With the O'Driscoll's plan well and truly bungled by the surprise appearance of the raven haired woman, the remaining man can only think about making it out alive. He quickly pulls the woman in front of him up by the hair and holds her to his chest, using her as a shield.


"One move and she gets it," he calls out to Bill, first and foremost, since he's the only one close by with a gun. That's not going to last for much longer, though. He can hear everyone else in the camp stirring at the noise. And with the sun starting to bathe the landscape with light, he no longer has the cover of darkness on his side.


"Let her go," Kieran pleads.


The O'Driscoll knows he has to make a run for it now before he has more guns trained on him. He figures that the only chance he'll get is if he kills the girl, catching them off guard enough to make his escape. He cocks his gun then a shot rings out.


Meanwhile, Arthur is pulled from sleep by the sound of Emmeline screaming "No!" It's faint, but it's like his mind is attuned to her voice. Without much thought, he grabs his gun belt and runs out of his room in only his union suit. As he's running down the stairs, he's bucking his belt around his hips and drawing his Schofield, ready for a fight. The sun is just barely up, but there's enough light that he can see a man on the edge of camp holding Emmeline to his chest. Their right sides are facing Arthur so he gets a good look at the gun the O'Driscoll is holding to her head.


Arthur runs full bore at them. Without slowing even a little bit, he readies his gun to shoot the man behind Emmeline. Despite everything going on around Arthur, he somehow sees the small movement of the man's thumb pulling back the hammer on his gun. Time seems to slow as Arthur lines up his shot to the side of the man's head before he can fire his gun. Arthur wastes no time in pulling his own trigger, sending a bullet straight into the O'Driscoll's temple, dropping him.


Emmeline thinks she's been shot for a moment. She waits for the pain to radiate through her, but it doesn't come. The only feeling she gets is the cool morning air rushing over her back, signaling that the man that had been holding her isn't behind her anymore. Before she can turn to see what had happened to him, Arthur rushes over and turns her back to him.


"Don't look, sweetheart," he says hurriedly.


Bill's voice calls out, "We got more bastards coming!"


Without a thought, Arthur picks Emmeline up, cradling her to his chest and runs back to the house. Gunshots start to ring out as he gets closer to the front doors. Before he can open them himself, Dutch bursts through them, both of his guns in his hands.


"Get her in here with the women!" he calls out to Arthur then starts shooting from the porch.


Arthur deposits her just inside. "Run upstairs to Abigail." He places a kiss on her forehead then turns to go back outside.


Emmeline does as instructed and rushes up to the Marston's room. She finds Abigail cradling a crying Jack to her chest on the bed.


"Get in here!" Abigail holds her free arm out to Emmeline and she huddled up next to the woman.


Though they're about the same age, Emmeline allows Abigail to hold her as if she were her mother. She wraps one arm around Abigail's back and places the other around Jack as an added layer of protection for him.


Outside, the firefight is intense. Round after round of O'Driscolls come at them. It has to be every single member of the gang, Arthur reckons. He sticks right beside Dutch as the man takes down his fair share of enemies. That is until he hears Sadie scream from behind the house.


"Go," Dutch calls out unprompted. "I'll cover you."


Arthur runs around the house as Dutch takes down any men that might shoot at him. When he sees Sadie, she's pinned down behind one of the buildings in the back. He fights his way toward her, then the two fight their way back out, clearing out all the O'Driscolls that had flanked the house. Soon, the gunshots fade as the few remaining enemies retreat.


Arthur doesn't even give himself a minute to rest before he's rushing back into the house and up the stairs. John is hot on his heels as he's thinking similarly to Arthur in wanting to check on his family. Both men come through the door to the Marston's room and see the women and Jack sitting on the bed, still cuddled together.


Upon seeing Arthur, Emmeline jumps up and runs over to him, enveloping him in a hug. "Are you hurt?" she asks into his shoulder.


"I'm okay." He pulls back to look at her. "You okay?"


She nods, her eyes still watery with unshed tears. The battle had certainly shaken her up.


He pulls her back into him and cradles her head to his chest. "It's alright. It's over now," he whispers to the top of her head. After a moment, he looks over to John, now sitting beside Abigail and Jack, his arm around them. "We need to get out of here," he says suddenly.


John looks at him confused. "What do you mean?"


Emmeline backs up to look at Arthur as well. "Are they coming back?" She takes his statement as meaning that they need to clear out the camp again.


"No. I don't know." Arthur shakes his head. "I mean we ," he gestures between himself and John, "should leave."


"What are you saying?" John bites back.


"This life ain't no place to raise a family, John. We all know that. Jack shouldn't be raised like this." He looks over to Emmeline. "No child should. Both of us need to seriously start thinkin' about leaving."


John stands with a huff. "All the shit you gave me for leaving and now you're suggesting it?!"


Arthur takes a step towards the younger man. "You didn't just leave us . You left them ." He gestures to Abigail and Jack. "Your responsibilities to the gang are one thing, but you left your responsibilities as a father. That's what I gave you shit about. That boy needed a father. Still does. And this life more 'n likely is gonna end in him losing you. Or bein' an orphan."


"Arthur's right, John," Abigail concurs as Jack still clutches his arms around her, though he's cried himself out and is now falling asleep despite the voices around him. "We can't keep doin' this forever. Jack's getting older and he's gonna be aware of what we do pretty soon. What you do. He's a good boy. Smart, you know. He could do so much more than either of us."


Emmeline feels a bit like a third wheel in this conversation. Though, undoubtedly, she's one part of the subject of the conversation, everyone else besides her is dealing with a history she's not involved with. Arthur and John have lived together for over a decade as brothers, for lack of a better word. And Abigail has been with the gang for a few years as well. The decision whether or not to leave the group certainly must be a difficult one for them. The input of a person that's only been there for a few weeks probably won't be very welcome at this point, so Emmeline keeps her mouth shut.


John looks from Abigail to Arthur then flicks his gaze over to Emmeline. "You plannin' on leavin' with her?" he asks Arthur.


"Don't have no plans, really." Arthur runs his hand over his beard as he lets out a sigh. "That O'Driscoll had his gun to her head, fixin' to shoot her," he says as he gestures to Emmeline. "In one second she coulda been gone. I coulda lost that chance to..." he swallows roughly at the thought, "to be a father. All because of some old gang feud she ain't had no part in."


Not knowing what to say, Emmeline just takes Arthur's hand in hers. Truth be told, she was specifically avoiding thinking about how close she came to death. And how close Arthur came to it as he battled outside. This whole situation is something she's never had to deal with before.


Heavy footsteps echo in the hallway outside the room causing everyone to look in that direction.


"Arthur, John?" Dutch's voice calls out as the footsteps grow nearer.


"In here," Arthur answers.


A moment later, Dutch appears in the doorway, looking more lively than he has of recent. "Everyone alright in here?"


Everyone nods.


"Good," Dutch continues. "No major injuries on our side. It seems the O'Driscolls plan was thwarted thanks to you, Emmeline."


"Oh?" she replies. "I didn't really do nothing."


"You alerted us," Dutch says, pride in his voice. "And Kieran told me you went after the man that attacked him. That was very brave."


Arthur whips his head around to look at her. "You what ?"


"I just reacted," she answers. "I saw someone hurting Kieran, so I tried to stop it."


"You can't do that," Arthur asserts.


"Now, son," Dutch interjects, "she most certainly saved that poor boy from a grisly fate. I think she deserves praise for that."


Emmeline gives Dutch a genuine smile. Despite the fact that she hasn't known the man that fathered her for that long, she's not immune to his charms. Much like the way he's fostered loyalty in Arthur over the years, she feels a sense of pride that the man is complementing her.


Arthur, on the other hand, is not happy. "I don't think we should be encouraging her to put herself in danger."


"It's not encouragement, Arthur. Just acknowledgement." Dutch pauses then lets out a heavy breath. "That's not why I'm here, anyway. Javier caught one of the O'Driscolls before he could run away. I thought I could use you two," he gestures to Arthur and John, "to interrogate him. See if he won't tell us where that bastard Colm is so we can return his hospitality ." The word is laced with venom.


Arthur and John share a look before nodding.


"I gotta get dressed first," Arthur says as he turns to leave with John and Dutch.


"Meet us in one of the buildings in the back," Dutch calls out as he an John start to descend the stairs.


Emmeline follows Arthur over to their room. "Did you really mean all that?" she asks while he gathers some clothes from his trunk. "About leaving?"


He pauses his motion and turns back to her. "I've been scared since... the doctor told us we was gonna be parents, really. Scared what kinda father I'd be. Scared what Dutch is gonna say. Scared about it changing everything here, my whole life, everything I've ever known. But all of that weren't nothing compared to how scared I was when I thought I was gonna lose the two 'a you. And I don't wanna leave you a widow, neither. We both need to get outta this. Together."


She gives him a soft smile as she looks up at him. "That's what I want, too."


Over the last few weeks, Emmeline has come to care for the people around her in the camp. All she's seen is people working together in a normal way, doing everyday things like tending the horses and cleaning up. But this burst of violence is unlike anything she's ever experienced. She's never been so close to gunfire, never seen anyone be fought with or shot. Now that she has, she wants nothing more than to never experience that again. If that means leaving everyone here... it'll be hard, but she's fine with it as long as she, Arthur, and the baby are safe.

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