Author's note: This story takes place shortly before and during the mission "Blessed are the Meek?" in Chapter Two of RDR2. There will be some in-game dialogue, and the OC that I created for RDO is featured here. Think of this as a Stranger Mission.
Before she could rip the herb from the ground, a stray bullet knocked her hat off her head.
A string of unlady-like curses spilled from of her mouth as she flattened herself across the grass. More gunshots cracked in the night skies. So much for thinking that the valley would be relatively peaceful in the dead of night when it came to collecting plants and flowers.
Hooves pounded the earth as wild gunfire was exchanged. She prayed that the fight wouldn't come any closer, otherwise she would be flattened like a pancake before she could get a bullet lodged into her. In the distance, her horse whinnied. Her mare, Queen, was scared and confused, despite being hitched within the forest nearby. She could only hope that none of those gunslingers noticed Queen, let hurt her with a stray bullet.
Her hand reached for the gun in her holster in case it did have to come down to fighting her way out of this madness. That opportunity never came to pass. The wild excitement gradually faded away until the silence of nature took over once more.
With a sigh of relief, she slowly sat up off the ground, where she stood up on her knees and searched the tall grass for any sign of her precious bowler hat. As old and frayed as it was, she was naked without it on her head.
Absently, she ran her fingertips along the deep scar that stretched across her left cheek as she went about her pursuit. While she had other scars that blemished her skin, the one on her cheek was most prominent. People often stared. It was impossible not to be drawn to the dreadful, jagged raised flesh.
Just as she spotted her hat among some yarrow, there was a single dull click, followed by the command of, "Stay right where you are."
She closed her eyes and clenched her jaw in frustration. Hellfire. What now?
Rough hands grabbed her arms from behind followed by a chorus of eager chuckles.
"What a haul, what a haul!" a sleezy, nasty sounding man announced as he was all too quick to search her pockets. She slapped at his hands but a painful blow to her spine sent her toppling to the ground. As she struggled to reach for her gun once more, an explosion of gunfire crackled in the air. She squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath, desperately ignoring the pain that raced up and down her backside. Instead of more bullets, a deep, masculine voice called out to her.
"You alright, ma'am?"
The hairs rose from her arms as she couldn't believe her rotten luck tonight. Was it just too much to ask to gather herbs and leave without attracting any attention? Yet there was something within her telling her to trust this person. Gut instinct. Woman's intuition. Dumb luck. Whatever it was to be called, she decided to believe in it.
"I am," she replied without moving, doing her best to ignore the ache in her backside. "I'm sore, but alive."
Her savior assured her that no harm would come to her anymore. "Pain means you're still alive," he mentioned.
Slowly sitting up and daring to open her eyes, she witnessed the man who came all too close to assaulting her moments ago now sprawled on the ground beside her. It was some rugged, filthy mountain man who hadn't bathed in who knew how long; he now had a clean hole in the side of his head and was bleeding out onto the earth. The gun he used to strike her was worn and rusted all over, with flecks of its owner's blood coating it.
"Need a ride to town?"
Her eyes lifted from the dead man and onto the one who rescued her. He was a blue-eyed sturdy man with facial hair upon his square jaw. A dusty black hat sat upon his crown of thick brown hair. Like her, he wore layers to protect himself from the chilly elements. She couldn't help but notice a small scar on his chin, only because despite all the hair he had on his lower jaw, no hair grew over on that part of his face. If only her own scar was so minimal.
Turning to the direction of where her horse was, she said, "I've actually-"
She paused when to her horror, she saw that her treasured Breton was nowhere in sight.
"Queen!" she whispered as her pain was all but forgotten. She sprinted across the fields and over to the forest where she tied her mare. She searched about desperately, whistling for her, as a cold sweat formed over her face. The thought of staying in this valley without Queen scared her to her wit's end. Queen just wasn't her mode of transportation, but she was her best friend.
The man caught up with her, and as soon as he stood alongside her, he said, "C'mon, let's track her down."
She lifted a brow at him and watched as he crouched low to the ground. He went quiet as he stared off at the woods ahead of him. Moments later, he beckoned her over.
A tracker, she thought in awe. Well, fortune was certainly smiling on her. She decided she might as well introduce herself to the man who was generously helping her out when he could have been on his way by now. "My name's Maria. Thank you kindly for all of this. You are...?"
Eyes focused on the ground, the man answered, "Arthur."
"Been tracking for a long time, Arthur?"
A chuckle escaped from the big man before he answered. "To be honest, no. Friend of mine taught me weeks back. Just gettin' the hang of it lately."
For such a tough looking man, he sounded almost humble. She wanted to believe there was more to him than met the eye. He could be downright dangerous and she wouldn't know any better. In fact, he could be a vicious killer if she made the mistake of crossing him.
They moved up an incline, with Arthur still in the lead, when he asked her, "What were you doin' all the way out here by yourself? You get lost from your posse?"
Maria shook her head. "No posse. I ride solo. Well, me and Queen."
"Kinda dangerous, just the two of you."
She wrinkled her nose at his statement. "It's dangerous for anybody to be out here by their lonesome," she threw back without any viciousness to it. Most folk did look at single women riding by themselves rather strangely. No doubt they all wondered where her husband or her family were at. Women were supposed to be at home raising babies or doing some cooking or cleaning. They weren't supposed to be gallivanting about as if they had equal rights as men.
Arthur didn't sound bothered by her response at all. "Fair enough," was all he said before he held his arm out, causing her to stop in her tracks. He got down on one knee and examined some trampled twigs.
"We're close," he announced in a hushed tone.
Maria clenched her hands together and prayed that Arthur was right. All she wanted to do after this was ride to the nearest inn and bury herself in warm, thick blankets.
Silence stretched between the two as Arthur led the investigation with Maria close by. Just going by what she experienced with him in the short amount of time they spent together, she assumed he could handle himself with no problem. Anyone would be a damned fool to wrangle with him. Maybe plenty of fools had in the past, and earned the consequences the hard way. The fact that he was taking time out of his personal life to help her also indicated to her that he was a kind enough man... so far. Who knew what he would want in return after they located Queen-IF they located her.
A branch snapped and both Arthur and Maria froze. Leaves rustled and an owl's hoot broke through the stillness of the crisp air.
Blue eyes met her concerning gaze. She leaned forward and rested a hand over her gun. If they had to fight, she would prove to be no slouch.
He nodded once, studied the ground once more, before motioning her to follow him. Now they were moving toward a thick cluster of trees. The way the trees and surrounding plants grew together, it was almost as if they were creating a dark fortress so impenetrable that not even moonlight could pierce through it.
There was an audible nicker, and Maria's face went aglow.
"Queen!" she cried as she stood up and watched as her beloved mare emerged from behind the "fortress" and approached her. The steel coated horse was unharmed, and the two happily greeted one another, with Maria's arms wrapped around Queen's neck. "Thank goodness! Thank goodness, thank-"
She immediately turned to Arthur and expressed her gratitude. "Thank you, Arthur. I don't know what you were doing here, but I am so glad you were here when I needed you."
Arthur stood up and tipped his hat at her.
"Quite alright, ma'am-"
"Maria. Please, call me 'Maria.'"
He offered an understanding nod. "Maria. Let's get you two back on the road."
Without another word, the companions made their way out of the forest and back to the open valley. Dawn's light was still some hours away, but Maria didn't mind. It wouldn't have mattered what time of the day it was, so long as she and Queen were together.
Arthur walked alongside Maria, who was leading Queen by the reins. It was then that she saw that he carried an impressive customized rifle. In fact, he was armed to the teeth with ammo and other smaller weapons. Someone truly had to be a mad idiot to make him turn his gun on them.
"Are you with a posse?" Maria dared to ask.
"Yeah." He shot her a brief glance. "Nowhere 'round here, though."
Maria decided that would be enough with the personal questions. "I truly am in debt to you. I don't have much, but..."
She reached into her saddlebag and rustled through the contents before pulling out what she wanted. Turning to Arthur, she held out a single gold nugget.
"Found it early this morning at the bottom of one of the rivers here. Was going to sell it, but to be honest, it wouldn't have meant a thing to me without Queen. Hopefully it's still worth something."
Arthur gladly accepted the gift. "Much appreciated," he said as he tucked the nugget into the satchel he wore. He stopped them in their tracks as the road they walked alongside split into a fork. Maria knew right away where they were and more than anything, she was relieved for no further excitement.
"You know where you wanna go?" Arthur asked.
"Away from here," she answered bluntly, to which Arthur chuckled. Then she went on to say, "I collect plants and herbs to sell. I go hunting as well, and sometimes I go in search of treasure, but today was supposed to be an easy day-what a mess that turned out to be."
Arthur snickered and shook his head. Maria had to admit he was quite handsome when he smiled, but she wasn't going to test her luck trying to know him more anymore than she had dared to.
"In this world we live in," Arthur replied as he let out a whistle to signal for his own ride, "you gotta expect the unexpected. I see you got weapons, but no matter if it's out here in what wilderness is left, or in them big cities, just be ready to fight for your life."
A gorgeous, breathtaking white horse with silky mane and a sleek coat appeared from behind some shrubbery. It trotted over to Arthur, where Arthur patted its neck.
"Good boy," he said affectionately before climbing up on it. After which he said to Maria, "Take care of yourself."
Maria mounted her mare and fed her some oatcakes. As pretty as Arthur's horse was, she wouldn't trade Queen for all the gold in the country. They would ride together until one of them stopped breathing.
"You too, Arthur," Maria replied as she offered her own smile. She could feel the tightness of her scar upon doing so. For a brief moment, she thought Arthur would cringe at the sight. Rarely did she smile because it made her scar stand out that much more. To her relief, Arthur took no notice, and if he did, he didn't make it obvious. Not once did he ask her about her scar nor did he stare. The man was simply intent with helping her, nothing more, nothing less. Would she be so lucky to come across another person with such honor?
With a wave good-bye, Maria braced herself as Queen reared up before galloping away. As they rode off, Maria listened for possible sounds of another horse riding behind her. She quietly hoped that Arthur would be traveling the same way as her. Yet the further she rode, the more she believed that Arthur was well on his way elsewhere, probably to whatever he was supposed to have been doing before stopping to help her out.
Be well, Arthur, she thought of her hero before she focused ahead once more.
Glass shattering, followed by blazing gunfire, rattled Maria out of her sleep. In a panic, she crawled out from beneath her blankets and slid to the ground to avoid getting hit by stray bullets.
"Damn it all!" she snarled. Stupid of her to think a mining town like Strawberry, nestled far from any bustling cities, would prove to be a quiet resort away from any mayhem. Any town with any kind of police force was bound to have trouble.
Vulgar, angry shouts were spewed outside of the welcome center. Careful to avoid fallen glass, Maria crept to the window and listened to the ruckus. Hails of bullets. Screams of pain. More glass breaking.
Maria scrambled back to the bed and threw on her clothes. She didn't want to risk being trapped if the fighting moved indoors, and if she had to escape into the night, she didn't want to freeze to death, either. After fetching the last of her belongings, she hurried downstairs. The bullets continued to fly and more destruction was unleashed. What happened to her hours ago in the valley was tame compared to this!
The clerk was nowhere in sight, most likely hiding from the gunfire. Maria slid past the desk and slipped out the backdoor. As soon as she stepped outside, she crouched to the ground, and that was when she saw two masked men fight their way across the bridge just ahead. One of them was a man with a mess of blond hair and a crazed, wild look in his eyes.
"I got some unfinished business. Trust me, Morgan!"
That was when a familiar voice arose in the middle of the madness.
"Trust you? You have finally lost your damn mind."
A man on horseback was shot dead, and as soon as he tumbled off his saddle, the first masked man who'd gone on ahead hollered, "Let's get out of here! Keep moving, Arthur!"
Maria's heart raced in a panic.
Arthur?
The second masked man raced across the bridge and that was when the realization came.
The black hat... Stocky build... That voice... The name!
She hid behind the welcome center and kept close to the ground. Her breath was visible in the frigid, mountain air. Boy, she was glad to have taken Queen to rest in the stable up the hill, as opposed to keeping her hitched in town. Queen didn't need to go through more fright than she had already.
Even with more screams and shouts, Maria didn't budge. Not wanting to risk getting shot, she kept still and waited for the fighting to grow distant. She couldn't believe that the same, selfless man who rescued her and helped her find her horse was the same one who massacred so many folks in town with that barbaric looking man. Were they in the same posse?
"Really can't judge a book by its cover," Maria murmured as she patiently waited for the end of this deadly foolishness.
More than ever, she was grateful to have met Arthur while he was on his good side.
Never did she want to encounter him on his bad side.