Chapter 48: The Black Widow

Sean was helping the planting of the fields when he saw Hosea walking to him with Arthur Jr. in his arms. Sean dropped the bag of seeds and made his way over to the man. Hosea looked sullen and meloncholy, and rightly so. His granddaughter had been kidnapped. Sean wasn't exactly in the highest of spirits about the situation either. "Hello, Hosea," said Sean.

"Hello. How's the plantin' going?" Hosea inquired quietly.

"It's goin'." Arthur reached out for his uncle and Sean made a soft chuckle as he grabbed him. "And how are you, mo nia?" [my nephew?]

Junior rubbed his eyes and whined. "He's a little worn out from the ordeal."

"Yes, he would be." Sean pat Junior's back and gave him a kiss on the head. Arthur snuggled up to Sean and shut his eyes. "How's Dutch?"

"Not too great. His head is fine but his heart is heavy. He blames himself for not protectin' the kids."

Sean frowned. "It weren't his fault, though. He tried his best."

"Try tellin' him that."

Sean frowned even more. "Well, if his head is okay, perhaps I should take him out drinkin'. Help him settle his mind."

"I was just about to suggest that very thing."

Sean laughed and the men started walking back to the house. The walk was silent and Arthur had fallen asleep in Sean's arms by the time they reached the house. Charles had just come from the study and waved the two down.

"I just got off the telephone with Patrick. He said Adair and The Morrigan know where Aoífe us and are goin' after her."

Both the men sighed in relief. "Wait, what about Arthur? Isn't he going?" Hosea asked.

Charles rubbed the back of his neck. "No, and neither is Lilly."

Sean gaped at Charles. "Wait, how is Lilly not going if Adair is?"

"Well, apparently the two...separated."

"Separated?!" Sean snapped. "What do ya mean separated?!"

"Shh, you'll wake up Junior," Hosea hissed.

Arthur merely moved about in his sleep and whined a little, but then he relaxed. Sean sighed and scratched his head. "So, what? Adair's her own woman now?"

"Seems that way," Charles replied.

"So Lilly and Arthur aren't going? How could they not go?" Hosea asked.

"Something about Carman being too powerful for them. She's a sorceress, after all."

"Hmm."

Sean started walking away. "I'm gonna put Junior to bed." Sean began walking up the stairs and got to the nursery. When he opened it, Dutch was standing in the room, staring at the closet. "Oh, hey Dutch."

"Hey, Sean," Dutch said quietly with a sadness in his tone that made Sean frown.

"You alright there, Dutch?"

Dutch shook his head. "Not really. My granddaughter was abducted by a god damn werewolf."

Sean put Arthur Jr. in his crib and approached Dutch, beginning to stare at the closet himself. "Don't blame yerself, man. You did your best."

"My best wasn't good enough, Sean." Dutch held his face with his hand, his other arm crossed over his chest. "I shot that bastard over and over, and it still wasn't enough."

Sean put a hand on Dutch's shoulder. "How's about we go into town for a drink, aye? I think you need it to take your mind of things. Besides, Charles just got off the telephone with Patrick. He said Adair and The Morrigan know where Aoífe is and are goin' to get her."

"Well that's a relief."

Sean clapped his hand on Dutch's arm a few times. "Come on, drinks are on me."

Both the men left the nursery and went down the stairs to the foyer. They both grabbed coats and headed out to get to the stables.


Arthur, Lilly and the boys stopped for the night just outside a small village called Glenfarg. They made camp and were snuggled in like a bug in a rug, but Lilly and Arthur both found it hard to sleep, so by morning they were both very tired. Still, they needed to continue on. They stopped in Glenfarg for a light breakfast before heading back out. Most of the traveling they did was in silence, seeing as how they were both thinking about the same thing: their wee bairn Aoífe. Lilly was worried out of her mind for her red headed child. Was she okay? Would she live? What if Adair and The Morrigan couldn't get her? And then another thought crossed her mind. Who the hell was Olena and who was she to Adair and The Morrigan? It only made her angry to think about it.

Arthur must have sensed her change in mood because he rode closer to her and put a hand on her knee. "You okay, Lilly?" he asked her with concern in his voice.

"No, I'm not. I want to know about Carman's daughter and how the hell Adair and The Morrigan are connected to her," Lilly said with a bitterness to her tone.

"We'll find out soon enough when they bring Aoífe back to us."

"They better. I want some fucking answers."

Arthur chuckled. "Don't be so hard on Adair about it. You know how difficult it was for you to talk about your own past."

Lilly sighed with a nod. "I know. You're right, but...well, I guess I know now how you felt."

"This is true," Arthur said with a smirk. "It's a pain in the ass, ain't it?"

A chuckle escaped the Irish woman. "Yes, it certainly is."

Arthur nudged her with his elbow. "Hey, you remember when we went after that Ellie Anne Swanson lady?"

"The Black Widow? Of course I do. God damn bitch laid it on real thick with you."

Arthur cackled from his belly. "She most certainly did."


Arthur and Lilly were tracking down a bounty together and Lilly was so ecstatic about it, she could hardly contain herself. It was a woman named Ellie Anne Swanson, a.k.a. The Black Widow. They'd tracked her down near Cumberland Falls and as they spotted smoke coming from a small area under a cliff, they got close until they heard voices.

"...Sayin' you're a Black Widow," a man said.

"W-why, I'm nothin' of the kind," Lilly heard a woman say.

"That must be her," Arthur said quietly as the crept down the hill.

"That means you kill your sweethearts..." she overheard the man explain.

"Where do they get such nonsense? You're my sweetheart," Ellie said convincingly. "Now come over here...come here."

"Heh heh heh, quite the actress," Lilly said.

"Willie weren't my sweetheart. He was a bully, okay? And he got what was coming. Now, you gonna come over here and romance me?"

"It says there's other fellers. It says it right there in black and white."

Ellie laughed nervously. "Y'all talkin' 'bout Frank and Henry...and Howie. I just had bad luck with my menfolk, is all."

Lilly and Arthur stared at each other, both mouthing "bad luck" to one another.

"Bad luck?" the man said in disbelief.

"Until I met you. You turned my world around."

Lilly rolled her eyes as they got closer. "Oh, you're a conundrum, missy. A real conundrum."

"I'm just...I'm just a lady, is all."

"I can't believe he's fallin' for that bullshit," Arthur whispered.

Lilly snickered quietly. "I know. Men are such idiots."

"Hey."

"Except you, of course," Lilly said, batting her eyelashes at him.

Arthur chuckled. "Shut up. Let's go get this woman. You want the lead or should I take it?"

"I'll take the lead."

The couple descended down the hill and were spotted by the other couple. Both of them stood up from their fire. "That there's the bounty hunters, get 'em!" Ellie demanded.

"Ellie Anne, I'm sorry...I...I'm gonna make you go with them," the man said.

Ellie pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the neck. "Oh shit!" Arthur yelled.

"What kind of man are you? Puny, backstabbin' little..." Ellie said to the now dying gentleman.

Suddenly she went running towards Lilly and Arthur with the knife in hand, charging Lilly. Lilly backed up and dodged to the left and right while Ellie tried to cut Lilly up. Ellie made an upward stabbing motion but Lilly knocked her arm away and punched the woman in the throat. Ellie grabbed her throat and struggled to breathe as she backed away, but then she charged once more and Lilly grabbed her forearm before headbutting Ellie. The Black Widow went down and Lilly put a hand to her face.

"Ow. That was a bad idea," she said.

"You okay, darlin'?" Arthur asked as he went to her.

"Yeah...just..." she said, waving him off. "Just tie up the wench, would ya please?"

"Okay." Lilly went to regain her composure as Arthur went and turned Ellie onto her stomach.

"Someone stop this monster!" Ellie yelled.

Arthur laughed at her. "You are a piece of work. Now come on." He began tying her up by her wrists and ankles.

"Rot in hell. Rot in hell with the rest of 'em," Ellie growled. Arthur grabbed her and put her over his shoulder. "Don't you manhandle me!"

The couple whistled for their horses and when they came, Arthur loaded Ellie Anne onto the back of his thoroughbred. Lilly shook her head repeatedly and got on Liath. "You sure you alright?" Arthur asked.

"Yes, mo chuisle," Lilly replied.

"Oh dear...what came over me?" Ellie Anne said. "Did I just do those things? It's a horrible blur. But...I see blood. I see blood everywhere. It won't come out! I'm not like that. I'm a good girl, really. I promise I am. You believe me, don't ya? Don't ya, mister?"

Lilly rolled her eyes. Oh good grief. "Lady, you ain't foolin' anyone," she said. "Now shut up."

"I...I nees help, okay? I have an illness. A fever of the brain. I-"

Arthur smacked Ellie in the face with his fist. "The lady said to shut up."

Lilly snickered as they continued along. After awhile, though, Ellie started talking again. "You're such a strong man...so tough and burly. Maybe if I had a strong man like you, I wouldn't be in this mess."

Lilly and Arthur looked at each other and started giggling. "Oh please, do go on," Lilly said with a laugh.

"My menfolk, they all been weak. That's what my problem's been. How I got in this unfortunate situation. But a big, strong man like you, you'd set me straight. Wouldn't you, mister? Put me on the straight and narrow?"

Arthur and Lilly looked at each other again and burst out laughing. "Oh my God," Lilly giggled. "Yer really somethin', ain't ya?"

"I hate you! You sad sack of shit! I wish I'd cut your belly open and shown you your guts! Gutless bounty huntin' nobody! I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you! I wish you'd die!" The woman started growling in rage, then she started fake crying.

This made Arthur and Lilly laugh even more. "How many differnt emotions was that?" Arthur asked as they rode into Valentine.

"No idea!" Lilly laughed.


Arthur and Lilly laughed. "That was a fun day," Lilly said.

"It sure was," Arthur replied.

Lilly looked over at her husband. "Do you miss it? Bein' an outlaw?"

Arthur glanced back over at her. "Sometimes, I guess. You?"

"Occasionally, yeah."

"Think we should just go back to bein' outlaws?"

"No. Just...things seemed less complicated back then, you know? All we had to worry about was the law gettin' on our arses. Now it's, well..."

Arthur nodded in agreement with a hum. "Yeah."


Adair and The Morrigan, both in the form of red hawks, landed on a cliff on the mountain of Sgúrr Alasdair. They'd made it to the Isle of Skye in quick order. They both stood on their perches, using their focused eyesight to look for signs of movement. Adair spotted it just before her mother did.

"There," Adair said. "I see some of Carman's followers."

The Morrigan gave her a nod and they both shifted into their goddess forms. The Morrigan put a hand on Adair's shoulder. "Alright. We sneak in, we get Aoífe, and we get out. Understand?"

"Yes, Mother," Adair said with a sorrowful voice.

"Adair, are you sure you can do this? I know what Carman meant to you."

"I'm fine. It was a long time ago, Mother."

"I'm just worried, my dear." The two goddesses pressed their heads together. "Just remember I am always here for you."

Adair smiled. "And I you."

"Okay," The Morrigan said, taking in a deep breath. "Let's go get that little girl back."

Adair and The Morrigan shapeshifted back into hawks and flew off the cliff.