Willa woke up again as Arthur guided the horses down the winding hillside track that led into the little mining port of Annesburg. She groaned softly, shifting her weight against him and mumbling. "Mmn…Charles…?"
Arthur angled his head down so he could speak softly to her. "Hey, sweetheart. S'me. I got you. Takin' you somewhere safe, alright?"
Her eyelids fluttered, a vague look of confusion crossing her battered features. Her fingers clutched weakly at the front of his shirt, searching for purchase. She didn't understand why it felt like she was moving but her legs weren't underneath her. "It's…had a…strange dream…" Her brows furrowed. "Tulip…?"
Arthur glanced up to pull on the reins slightly and nudge Llamrei to the left, crossing the train tracks so that they were on the same side as the gunsmith's shop. If he remembered correctly, they were the ones who provided rooms for rent. "She's just fine. She's here, right behind us. You n' her are both okay…"
Willa slowly shook her head. "Am…I dead? S'not okay…wasn't…" She trailed off for a few moments as her open palm pressed against his chest, brows going up in surprise. "It's warm…"
Arthur swallowed thickly, cradling her closer as he guided Rei up to one of the hitching posts in front of the gunsmith. "You're just fine. Ain't dead, not yet. Listen, sweetheart, I need you to try and sit up for me. Can you do that? We're on a horse right now, but if you can, I need you to walk a little bit for me. Okay?"
She glanced around. "M'not…walkin' already?"
He winced slightly and shook his head. "No…c'mon. I'm gonna slide down, okay? Can you sit up?"
She mumbled something incoherent and managed to push herself up off him, leaning her weight forward onto Rei's neck. The mare nickered softly and shook her head once or twice but otherwise remained admirably unphased.
Arthur swung his leg over the horse and slid down onto the ground, managing to keep one hand on her back as he did so. He kept it there for a moment, angling his head so that he could speak to her again as he used his free hand to loop the reins over the hitching post. "I'm gonna leave you here for just a second, okay? I'll be right back. Just keep sittin', you're doin' real fine…"
He let his hand slide away from her, pausing to watch and make sure she was holding her own weight alright. Satisfied, he quickly untied Tulip and tethered her to the post beside Rei. He moved back to Willa, muttering softly to her as he put an arm around her shoulders to help slide her down off the horse.
She stumbled on her feet a few times, but seemed to find her balance as long as she was leaned in under his shoulder. He was fine to keep her that way as he walked her slowly up the stairs and through the door, looking up to greet the shopkeeper as they approached his counter.
"Hello sir, how may I…my God, is everything alright?" The clerk had a rather thick accent; maybe German, Arthur thought distractedly, but he wasn't sure.
Arthur nodded, raising a hand as he brought her up to the counter. "It's fine, sir. We was attacked by bandits on the road a ways out of town. My wife, she got thrown by her horse. We just need a room, if you have any, so I can tend to her…watch for concussion or the like…" He looked down to rummage in his satchel for some money.
"Of course, of course...uh, that will just be a dollar, sir. Can I have a bath run? Or some food made?"
Arthur shook his head, producing a few coins and sliding them across the counter. "Not just yet. May ask for all of it eventually, though. Much obliged."
The clerk nodded as he scooped the coins up. "Just come back and let me know if there is anything you need, sir. Head out the door and the next building over houses the rooms and accommodations. Yours will be the first room on the right. It wasn't...wasn't that Murfree Brood attacked you, was it?"
Arthur frowned, pretending like he was trying to place who the Murfrees were. "Murfree Brood? Well, I ain't sure. They was some nasty fellas, definitely. Might wanna warn folk about strayin' out towards the Kamassa, though, for what it's worth..." He offered the man a nod and gave Willa a little rub on her arm to let her know that they were going to be moving again, guiding her around and back out the door.
The room was small, but it had a large bed and a washstand in the corner. He shut and locked the door behind them and immediately guided her forward to the bed, peeling her gently out from under his arm to sit her down on the mattress.
Her eyes were half-lidded again and she leaned forward, pressing her forehead into the side of his thigh and curling one of her hands up around it in an attempt to hold him there, or keep herself up, he wasn't entirely sure. "Arthur…m'so sorry…"
He winced again, his jaw clenching against a sudden surge of unspent emotion. He bent over and very gently pried her off, taking her by the shoulders and easing her back while he climbed onto the mattress beside her.
He wanted to try and get her cleaned up, check her out to see how badly they had hurt her, but maybe trying to get her to sleep until she sobered up was the only feasible option at the moment. He was exhausted, himself; had barely slept at all the night before in Lakay, didn't even think he'd had a full night's sleep since before that goddamn bank job.
But he had her now; he was with her and she was safe. And the gang had somewhere to go, and Charles was there to bring them. He leaned himself back against the headboard, gently guiding her down beside him so that her head came to rest on the pillow just beside his waist. "It's alright, darlin'. You just get some sleep. I'll be right here wit' ya. Ain't gonna leave you again…"
She didn't respond; she might have been unconscious again already, he wasn't really sure. He let out a heavy sigh, keeping one arm curled around her shoulder as he removed his hat with his free hand and flicked it over onto the trunk that sat on the floor next to the bed. He brought that hand back up a moment later to pinch the bridge of his nose. God, he wished her brother had been there. That goddamn little snake.
He guessed it had been laudanum they'd dosed her with, based on how sleepy and out of sorts she was. He'd seen Swanson on the morphine a time or two, nodding off right in the middle of trying to do something, pupils the size of damn pinpoints just like hers were. He clenched the hand that wasn't holding onto her, torn right in half between the need to be as gentle with her as he'd be with a baby, and the needling desire deep down in his veins to beat and shoot and bend and break whoever had caused her such harm.
He cast his gaze over at the full-length mirror in the corner, reflecting the image of the two of them on the bed. He looked as exhausted as he felt. He'd lost weight in the last few months (especially since they'd been on Guarma), had dark circles under his eyes, felt like he had more lines on his face. He tilted his head back against the headboard and closed his eyes, huffing out another long sigh. "Gettin' too old for all this shit…"
Willa woke up sweating. It was dark wherever she was, but she was curled up against something warm, and that was somehow reassuring. What was not reassuring, however, was the wave of dizziness that washed over her to accompany the sickly feverish feeling radiating up through her trembling body. She gagged and clambered off the bed. Where the hell did I come across a bed? Stumbling over to the door she could barely make out in the darkness, she fumbled with the knob and found it locked. One hand clapped over her mouth as she jammed the bolt back, swinging the door open and looking both ways down a hallway.
There were doors at either end, but the one to her left was closer. She made for it, praying to what the hell ever was up there that this one led outside. Thankfully it did, and she collapsed to her knees on the edge of the wooden decking, violently puking her guts up into the dirt street of lovely downtown Annesburg.
He was there almost an instant later, one hand on her back keeping her steady, the other gingerly trying to scoop her hair back over her shoulders. "Easy, girl. Easy. You're alright…"
She somehow gasped and coughed at the same time, glancing over at him with those saucer eyes again before her stomach clenched painfully and she was once more heaving up acrid bile down into the dirt below. "Oh Jesus…" She bent forward, bowing her body over the wooden deck and hanging her head over the edge of it drunkenly.
Willa shivered, panting and gagging for a few more minutes before she finally felt her stomach settle down enough that she was pretty sure nothing else would be coming out of it. She had a headache that put any whiskey hangover she'd ever felt to shame, beating relentlessly just behind her eyes. She coughed a few times, reaching up to wipe her mouth off on the sleeve of her shirt before turning towards him and croaking, "A-Arthur…?"
He shushed her, putting his hands on her shoulders and gently pulling her in against his chest. One palm smoothed down to the middle of her back, pressing firm but gentle. "S'alright. You're alright."
She gasped again at the sudden physical reassurance that he was really real and wrapped her arms around him tightly, turning her head so that her ear was pressed into his chest. Her eyes roamed the scenery wildly. There were rows of little houses and shacks just across the street, some illuminated even though it looked to be pretty late into the night. She saw a few people wandering the road a ways down from them, but they looked like drunks stumbling to find their way home. "Where are we…?"
"In Annesburg. You…do you…remember anything, from the last few days?"
She swallowed thickly, trying to sift through the muddled fog in her head. She remembered threatening Molly, and going to sit with Lenny and Hosea. She remembered bits and pieces of her confrontation with Cliff. She clapped her hand back over her mouth when she remembered her brother climbing into that cage with her, kicking her as hard as he could with that ugly little bottle clutched in his fist. "Oh God…"
Arthur wanted very badly to get her back inside where it was safer but she didn't seem inclined to move just yet, so he resigned himself to just keep on holding onto her. "Found you up in a cave in Beaver Hollow…"
"H-How…?"
"Scoutin' out someplace new to hide out. I…we got…" He sighed, not wanting to waste time with long stories yet when she was still so freshly coherent. "Well, it's all a long story, but I found our folk at Lakay, and…soon after that Milton and his goddamn parasites showed up and unloaded on us."
Her eyes went wide again and she pulled back to look up at him. "The others-?"
"Everyone's fine," Arthur replied to allay any fear she had, pausing only briefly in a moment of indecision before lifting one of his hands to cradle the side of her face tenderly. "Everyone's just fine…"
She breathed out a sigh of relief, casting her gaze downward and leaning into his touch. Now that her brain was finally beginning to sort things out, though, that relief quickly shifted into a sudden and powerful regret. He was alive. He was with her. He'd rescued her, somehow. By some insanely divine providence, he had stumbled upon the place where her brother surely would have killed her. How did she deserve that?
"H-How do you keep…showin' up at the places I been kidnapped?"
He erupted in a small breathy laugh, pulling her back in against his chest and nesting his chin against the top of her head. "I don't know, sweetheart. Guess if I got any luck at all, that's where it's all goin'…thank God…"
Willa swallowed a lump in her throat, feeling tears stinging at her eyes. Sweetheart? A door slamming a few buildings down startled them both out of that moment they were in, and she suddenly remembered they were outside by the street, clinging to each other a few short feet away from what were once the pitiful contents of her stomach. "Shit…sorry, I...we should-"
"Yeah…" He cleared his throat and took her hand in his to help her to her feet. "I know it's late, but…you want me to see we if can get you into a bath?"
She nodded gratefully, looking up at him with pupils that were finally returned to their normal size. "That would be amazing. Feel like I got run over by a goddamn train…"
Arthur nodded back and ushered her back in through the open door, but he remained half-inside the doorway, planting one hand against the frame before he turned away. "Wait here just a minute, okay? Gotta go next door and find the fella…"
She curled her arms around herself, leaning back into the wall as he disappeared out into the darkness. She still couldn't stop trembling, though that was a side effect she remembered well enough. If she could be thankful for anything, at least she knew what to expect. She tried to gather herself in the few minutes Arthur was away.
He was back. He was alive, and he had come back. He had saved her life, again. Was Everett dead? He had brought her all the way into town instead of returning to help out the gang. He had called her sweetheart. All those hypothetical conversations she'd run through in her head were coming back now, filtering through in a slow procession.
He reappeared after another minute, suddenly slowing down before he reached her, awkwardly leaning his shoulder against the wall and crossing his arms. He looked past her and nodded his head in a friendly gesture as a woman came in from the door at the other end of the hallway and entered the washroom to begin drawing the bath. He cleared his throat. "Should only be a few minutes."
Willa nodded, glancing up at him. It was like once he'd let her go, he realized he'd been too close. She was confused. She'd missed him, desperately. She'd almost forgotten how safe it felt when he was so close, when his hands were on her, touching her with such surprising and gentle thoughtfulness. She wanted to cross the distance, bury her face back into his chest, kiss him like her life depended on it. And with how he'd spoken and acted, she'd been thinking it was maybe what he still wanted too, but now she wasn't sure anymore. She needed to talk to him once they were alone again.
Arthur felt like every one of his nerves was on fire for how jumpy he suddenly was. He'd gone back to that shack in Bluewater with the express purpose of admitting his feelings to her, had been just about fearless when she was babbling and near unconscious, but now…now his mind was blank. She seemed to be alright, which was an incredible weight off his heart; but the realization of how easily he could have lost her, and not even known that he'd lost her? If her brother hadn't fled to Beaver Hollow, he probably never would have found her. That knowledge was hitting him hard.
He cleared his throat as the bath girl opening the washroom door broke the awkward silence. She paused to let them know that the tub was full and hot before sauntering off, and he gave Willa a gruff nod as she turned to look at him. "Go on. Go and relax. I'll wait for you in the room…"
She blinked, her brows furrowing. She reached out for him but paused, and second-guessing herself, pulled her hand back sheepishly before she tried to grab for his fingers. "O-Oh. I thought…I mean…"
Arthur's eyes widened slightly. He hadn't even entertained the idea that she might want him to…did she want him to go into the bath with her? A small smile quirked up the corner of his mouth despite his best efforts and he reached out to catch her retreating hand between both of his own, taking a step closer to her. "If that's what you want…I'm there."
She drew in a shaky breath and gave a shallow nod. She didn't like feeling so vulnerable, had almost finally forgotten what it was like to wake up disoriented and reeling from the dreaminess of the opium. "Please…I'd feel better if you stayed with me."
"Wasn't really wantin' to let you outta my sights so soon, anyways…" He angled his head down to give her a crooked little reassuring smile before pressing his fingertips against the middle of her back to start her towards the bath.
Arthur closed and locked the door behind them, turning to rest his back against it while she padded over to the tub, looking down into the steaming basin and letting out a little sigh of anticipation.
Willa started undressing herself slowly and carefully, not bothering to go off behind the folding screen that stood in the corner. She still hurt something fierce. Her hip had been in pain ever since she'd woken up.
Arthur was slightly taken aback that she didn't bother to give him any warning or ask him to turn away, so he found himself clearing his throat and threading his hands together in front of himself a little awkwardly, half-turning and casting his gaze to the ground.
She glanced over as she stepped out of her pants and small-clothes, letting them lie on the floor as she dropped her shirt and stepped over to put one foot in the tub. "It's okay, Arthur…you have seen me before."
With her permission he finally raised his eyes as she was lowering herself down into the tub, just catching sight of the top of a nasty yellow and purple bruise on the side of her hip before it disappeared beneath the thick swath of bubbles. There was another large one on her ribs, and he found himself grimacing. "Jesus…your brother do all of that?"
She winced as she sat down, leaning back against the edge and drawing her knees up. "Just about. What I can remember, anyway…"
Arthur sighed and rested his hands on his hips, ambling over towards the tub. He placed one palm gently on top of her head as he leaned over her to grab up the sponge that sat on the little table just on her other side. He planted himself on the edge of the basin, staring at the sponge in his hand but not finding the wherewithal to do anything with it just yet. He only squeezed it tightly in his fist at the thought of those bruises, and he had to force himself to push the anger away.
"Arthur…I…I can't tell you how sorry I am…"
He furrowed his brows and angled himself so he could look over at her. "Willa-"
"No, just…I mean it, Arthur. I…Christ, I got so much I wanna say, I don't even know where to start. But what I said to you last time we were together, that was a real ugly part of me…it was cruel, and I understand if that was somethin' you can't forgive…I don't blame you. But that ain't the person I wanna be. You said I just needed to...to find somethin' to try for...I've thought about that a lot..." She cast her gaze away from him, opening her mouth like she was going to say something else and then clamping it shut again.
Finally, she went on. "…And you remember, the morning after Jack's party, you said…I was brave?" She let out a gentle scoff and shook her head. "I'm not. I just never had nothin' to lose, before. Now…? I'm terrified. I was terrified of you, and then I was terrified I lost you forever after you disappeared…"
He just sat there, kneading that sponge in his hands and frowning down at her.
"I know that ain't no excuse. But after Lenny and Hosea…" Her breath caught and she lifted a hand up out of the water to wipe her face wearily. "I been so scared for weeks now that you were dead too, Arthur…and I…Christ, I threatened Molly with a gun, just for sayin' out loud the things I was thinkin'. I got so drunk I couldn't feel anything anymore…went all the way down to St. Denis to find Everett, ended up findin' Cliff instead…set that goddamn house on fire, barely made it out of there alive just to get caught…I been so stupid…"
His heart ached. He knew she loved Hosea and Lenny just as he did, couldn't imagine the torment she'd put herself through wondering what the hell had become of him and the others. He'd been through his own kind of torment stuck on that goddamn island, but he knew all too well how being stuck in your own head with a bottle in your hand could be just as dangerous. And he didn't even want to think about what had gone on once they'd gotten her up to Beaver Hollow. "Willa…I got…there's somethin' I need to say to you."
She finally looked back over at him, eyes widening slightly. She wiped her cheeks quickly with the heels of her hands, managing only to leave her face streaked with more water than it had been. He slid off the edge of the tub and went down to one knee beside it so that he could really look at her, still holding that stupid goddamn sponge in one hand that he couldn't seem to let go of. He settled that elbow on his knee and reached over to scoop up one of her hands in his free one, those ocean eyes of his boring into her with a tired kind of intensity.
"That day I left you, I…I'm sorry I did that. I got mad, and I ran away…like I always done. Ran from my father…Eliza 'n Isaac…ran from Mary…all I done was run away from my goddamn problems, 'stead of actin' like a man. You said you was terrified of me, well…well I been terrified of you, too. You, us, this, it scares the hell outta me. 'Cause I…" He paused, casting his gaze down and scrunching his face up in a scowl as he held a brief internal debate. His eyes rose to meet hers again when he finally took a deep breath and continued. "I might be in love wit' you, and I…wasn't exactly expectin' somethin' like that to happen...sure as hell weren't ready for it. And I understand if-"
Willa attempted to inhale a breath that caught in her throat. Tentatively, she reached out with her free hand to cover his, mouth quirking at the corner. He cut himself off as both of her hands enveloped his own. "You uh…you ain't just patronizin' me?"
He gave a brief shake of his head, all stiff and serious. "Wouldn't ever."
She erupted in a little watery laugh, sniffling slightly. "Thinkin' I might…might be in love with you too. You're my knight in shinin' spurs, Arthur..."
Arthur finally felt his nerves letting up. Clouds seemed to be passing away from the sun. Felt like he'd only been breathing with half his lungs 'til now. His features softened, little crow's feet smoothing out as his eyes widened slightly. "Well, that's…" His mouth curved up in a half-smirk and he looked down and puffed out a sheepish little laugh, suddenly unable to express how fine he thought that was.
She squeezed his hand in both of hers, tugging on it just a little. Softly but firmly, she said, "Shut up and get in here with me. 'Fore the water gets cold."
He blinked and looked back up at her, all serious again. Nodding curtly, he offered her the sponge and got to his feet, yanking his suspenders down and starting to work at the buttons of his shirt.
While he was undressing, she reached over to the table beside the tub and grabbed up a bottle of rosemary water. She pulled out the stopper and poured some into her mouth, grimacing slightly but swishing it around to try and get something better happening in there than the acrid taste of bile that still lingered at the back of her throat. She leaned over the side of the tub and spit it onto the floor, figuring she could clean it up with a towel later. She heard him chuckle behind her, and couldn't help a wry little smile turning up her lips.
She looked up as Arthur climbed into the tub, settling himself at the other end of the large basin. He sighed and held up a hand, making a 'gimme' motion to her for the sponge. "Come here. Let's get you cleaned up, darlin'."
She crawled over to him on her knees, settling herself down in front of him and grimacing at the pain in her hip as she handed the sponge over. He took it and dunked it into the water, squeezing out the excess and leaning forward. "Close your eyes…"
Willa furrowed her brows a bit before doing what she was told, hissing when he began dabbing the sponge at all the little scabbed over cuts on her forehead.
"Sorry…just tryin' to get the blood off. Molly smash a damn bottle over your head?"
She huffed out a sardonic little snort. "No. It's from when I was fightin' with Clifford. Couldn't use my hands to hit him, so I…used my face. Broke his glasses, think I might've blinded him…"
Arthur shook his head, tut-tutting her softly as he dunked the sponge again, squeezing it and bringing it back up to dab at her cheeks gently.
She slowly opened her eyes to look straight into the brilliant blue-green of his, crawling closer to him on her knees. He had to retract the hand holding the sponge, leaning his elbow on the edge of the tub as she lifted her hands to cradle either side of his cheeks tenderly. "Thank you, Arthur…for everything. If you and Charles hadn't found me, I…it wouldn't have been quick for me. I know I've gotten myself into some bad situations, but this one…this would've been it."
His jaw clenched and he dropped the sponge into the water, bringing his own hands up to gently clasp at her wrists, thumbs tracing gently over the backs of her hands. They felt so slender, for a moment he had the silly, self-deprecating thought of how easily they could snap under the force of his touch. But he would never. He would sooner die than ever hurt her. "Don't you even give that a second thought, you hear me? I been through too goddamn much to get back to you, and that son of a bitch is gonna have to go through me if he ever so much as tries to look at you again. I'll kill him; and I'll do it gladly."
Her brows furrowed again and she dipped her head, suddenly self-conscious of letting him see her cry. She still didn't understand how or why he cared so much, and maybe he didn't understand any of it either. But she internalized that moment, the feeling of his hands covering hers, the scruff of his beard beneath her fingers, the beautiful color of the eyes he no longer always tried to hide from her.
The overwhelming gentleness he'd shown her after they'd parted on such tenuous terms and she'd endured being beaten and drugged, was almost cleansing, in a strange way. Sitting in the bath together, baring themselves quietly and openly to each other, felt cleansing as well. Suddenly she found herself leaning forward to press her lips to his, something she'd only daydreamed about for weeks now.
Arthur huffed out an appreciative little grunt and let his hands fall into the water to circle around her waist, holding her close and kissing her back with a quiet fervor. After a few moments he pulled away and reached over past her to the table to grab that bottle of rosemary water she'd had before. He pressed another quick kiss to her lips before leaning back and making a little twirling motion with his hand, indicating he wanted her to turn around.
She scoffed softly, a pink tinge creeping up on her face. "I can wash my own hair…"
He nodded, pulling the stopper out of the bottle and tossing it off behind him somewhere. "I know. But..." He cleared his throat, glancing away sheepishly for a moment. "I'd like to…? If you'd let me…"
She gave him a rather demure look through her dark lashes and chewed her lip for a moment before turning herself around so that her back was facing him. She bowed forward and dunked her head under the water to wet her hair, raising her hands to slick it back as she sat back up in front of him.
Arthur felt a sudden stirring within him; he'd found that little action to be decidedly provocative, but he simply cleared his throat again and used his free hand to guide her back a bit closer before pouring some of the liquid out over her head. He replaced the bottle on the table and used his fingers to start working the scented mixture into her hair gently.
He wasn't sure what had prompted him to want to wash her hair. He'd never really entertained any illusions of participating in such an intimate act of domesticity; not in a great number of years at least, since he'd first started courting Mary. Felt like he owed it to Willa though, in a way; like he needed to take care of her now, since he hadn't been there to protect her before. He tucked her hair between his hands, gently smoothing it down the back of her neck, then threaded his fingers up underneath it to massage her scalp.
He felt that odd little bubble of pride poking up inside him – hadn't felt that in quite some time, now – at the idea that he could use his hands for more than murder and mayhem. It was an odd feeling, being gentle. He'd had to practice that with Isaac years ago, however brief that may have been, and of course then again when he'd stepped in to help Abigail the year she was left alone. Some may have said his journal was ample evidence that he was capable of it, but he still found himself in denial a good chunk of the time; doubting that he was anything other than a thug and a killer.
"Mm…what happened to you, Arthur…?" She tilted her head back toward him, very near to sinking back against his chest. She couldn't help but marvel at the way he touched her. Every new thing he did was a surprise. She thought she could stay in that tub just about forever.
His mouth thinned out, fingers pausing ever so briefly in their work. He told her about escaping onto the Antenor, and then having to escape the ship when it was sinking; waking up on the beach, being captured, being beaten; meeting Hercule and Baptiste, rescuing Javier from Fussar's men, having to fight off the navy; he told her all of it.
By the time he was done, he'd long finished washing her hair and she'd rinsed it, and the water was starting to cool off. They both stood and climbed out of the tub, Arthur grabbing up some towels from a rack on the wall and returning to hand one of them to her. She was still processing everything he had told her as she toweled off her hair. "I can't believe all that happened to you, Arthur. I…I can't believe you came back…"
Arthur spoke as he wrapped the towel around his waist, taking a few steps closer to her so that he could cup her jaw, running a pruney thumb across her cheek. "'Course we came back. I…I gotta admit, I had my doubts about it, but we couldn't just leave everybody. Couldn't just leave you…bein' on that goddamn island, it…gave me time to think about some things. And I'm thinkin', this is all probably gonna be over soon. We need to get some money, make sure folk are safe as they can be, then we need to scatter…"
Willa's brows furrowed as she looked up at him. Her own towel was already wrapped around her torso and she folded her arms over it, a steely glint shining in her eyes. "My brother's got money somewhere. I heard him talkin' about it; Bronte's money. Don't do anymore foolish errands for Dutch, Arthur. Help me, and we'll see how much there actually is, see if we can split it with the gang, and then you can disappear. You change your name, grow your hair out, they ain't gonna be able to find you so easily when you ain't shootin' up towns with the rest of 'em left and right, makin' all that noise…"
Arthur chewed his lip for a moment, looking down at her. He saw the reason in her request, he knew things were never going to be the same again. With Hosea shot down, he thought that might have been the final nail in their coffin. Dutch didn't have that tether to pull him back to the ground anymore; he was let loose, so to speak, to lead them into whatever outrageous, foolhardy thing he thought might gain them their escape.
"We'll see. Let's…not worry too much about that right now…" He let his hand slip away from her so that he could begin dressing himself, choosing to leave his gun belt and his black neckerchief to sling over his arm since they were only going back to the room across the hall.
She followed suit, walking around the tub to mop up that rosemary water she'd used to clean her mouth out.
He cleared his throat. "Mrs. Adler and I…we been tasked with gettin' Marston outta that prison, Sisika. Thinkin' that's the first thing ought to be done before we go makin' any big plans."
Willa's eyes widened at that and she dropped the towel on the floor, raising a hand to rub at her forehead and screw her eyes shut. "Shit, I forgot about John…we found out there was talk of hangin' him and Abigail just about went into hysterics…"
Arthur nodded, falling into step beside her as they made their way to the washroom door. He unbolted and opened it, extending an arm to let her leave first. "Yeah…she asked Dutch about it not too long after the dust cleared night before last. Didn't seem particularly important to him, though. Really startin' to think Micah's been whisperin' in his ear a bit too much as of late…"
Willa walked out into the hallway with Arthur close behind, his fingers returning to the small of her back in one of those brief little shows of affection she'd come to love. "Meanin'?"
He shrugged as they returned to the room he'd rented them, dropping his things onto the trunk next to his hat before taking a seat on the bed and rolling his shoulders. "On a job we was runnin' back at Shady Belle, Micah was…very forthcomin' about the fact he'd been talkin' to Dutch about 'trimmin' the fat' outta the gang. Cuttin' the weak ones loose. Ain't sure if he's turned that into tryin' to convince him we got traitors among us, but it is lookin' more and more likely…"
She shut the door and bolted it behind her before walking over to him, coming to a stop between his legs and curling her hands around the back of his neck, threading fingers up into his damp hair. "I'd believe it, Arthur. After havin' him tell you a thing like that, how could you not? You need to be careful of him. He don't love the rest of 'em like you do…"
He sighed and leaned his head into her abdomen, hands reaching up to press at the small of her back. "I know…whole thing's a goddamn mess."
After a few silent minutes like that, Arthur finally pulled back from her, removing a hand from her back to offer it up for one of hers. "C'mon, darlin'. Let's get some sleep. We'll…figure it all out, soon…"
Willa caught his fingers with her own, taking a knee on the bed and laying down beside him once he'd scooted over. He reached up to cup her cheek again, tracing his thumb lightly as he could over the bruise that was finally starting to fade a sickly yellow as it healed. Suddenly, he blurted out what must have sounded like an odd question. "You ever seen…these flocks of little birds that sorta, I don't know, swoop through the air like they all know exactly what the others're doin'…?"
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she thought about it, curling her free hand up so that his was clasped between both of her own. "I think so. Back in New York. Starlings, they're called. Somebody brought 'em over from across the ocean. They're beautiful…"
"Hm. Starlings…" Arthur liked the name. Thought they must have been what he had seen in his dreams, though he didn't have a clue how he had seen them there when he'd never even seen the creatures in real life.
"Why? You see 'em somewhere? They only brought 'em over a few years ago, I think...wouldn't have thought they'd spread much past the east coast..."
Arthur gave a slight shake of his head. He was not inclined to make himself sound crazy by telling her the truth. "Ah, no...must've read about 'em in a newspaper or somethin'. Not sure why I was even thinkin' about it..."