This morning the camp is covered by a light, yellow mist that makes the place even more creepy and hateful than usual. And I'm not the only one who suffers the effect of the weather: everybody seems to be more nervous.

I notice that as I pour myself some coffee and Mr. Pearson walks past me carrying supply boxes and talking anxiously with Arthur about what happened recently. And then when I walk past Abigail and Sadie who are arguing - which is strange because they never argue - about something relating John.

I look around spotting Charles in the fog.

He's seated on a box and he's shaping an axe. Next to him there are more weapons waiting for being cleaned and shaped or already done.

I decide to draw closer and sit next to him.

"Good morning" I say.

"Morning" he replies.

He doesn't turn his head to look at me and his voice is nothing more than a murmur. I'm starting to know him and I know that this behavior means today he's not in the mood for talking. So I stay quiet, sip my coffee and just look at him shaping the axe.

After some minutes, Arthur comes back and stops right in front of us.

"Charles… would you ride with me?" he asks after a quick glance at me.

"Always" answers Charles raising his head and standing up.

"Where are you going?" I ask doing the same.

"Up past Butcher Creek" Arthur replies.

Charles stops to look at him right in the eyes.

"That's Murfree Brood country" he states with some worry in his voice.

"That's why I'm asking you to ride with me" Arthur replies.

"What does it mean? Is it a dangerous place?" I ask while Charles takes some of the weapons next to him.

Arthur sighs and looks first at me and then at Charles.

There's no need for them to answer.

"I'm coming" I say.

"No."

I expected Arthur to say it, but the word comes from Charles' mouth instead.

I look at him in bewilderment.

"We've done a lot of dangerous things together, why not this?" I ask.

"Because you don't know the people who live in that place. What are we doing there?" he adds addressing Arthur and walking past me, ignoring my complaining expression.

"We're looking for a place to hole up" replies Arthur following him.

"If it's really that dangerous, why we are moving there?" I ask keeping their pace.

"Cause there even the law won't follow us too willingly. It's a good place to hide" Arthur answers.

"I did some scouting up there while you boys were away…" says Charles.

"So you don't want me to come, but you went all alone?" I ask grabbing his arm to make him stop.

I feel some anger coming up from my stomach: he went there alone and risked his life and didn't tell me anything about it? And now he doesn't want me to go with him?

He sighs as he stops to look at me.

"Don't insist, you're not coming" he says firmly.

"I am. You should have told me when you went to that place" I scold him.

"You're not. I didn't know it was this dangerous till I saw it."

"I am. You can't stop me."

We stare at each other, our faces just some inches distant.

His tough look suddenly gives me the desire to kiss him. I move my eyes away, forcing me to think that this isn't the right moment.

"What do you think?" I ask glancing at Arthur.

"Well…" he starts.
"You're not coming" Charles stops him with an impetuousness I've never heard on him.

Yeah, I really want to kiss him right now. He's so irresistible when he tries to impose himself on me.

I get closer and closer and surround his hips with my arms.

"I can take care of myself. And then, you and Arthur will be with me. What do you think could happen with you two by my side?" I limit myself to say with a sweet and calm voice.

He sighs, looking away and maybe knowing that he has no power to stop me when I take my decision.

"Come on, we don't have the entire day" I say smiling at my victory and heading to the horses.

We agree on riding together: Isabella isn't able to do it after yesterday and we have no time to ask someone to lend me his or her horse.

Charles mounts on Taima and then helps me to climb behind him.

"Okay, I know the way. Follow me" he says to Arthur hitting the spurs.

"We need to do this fast. Pinkertons will have reinforced in another day or two" Arthur warns us.

"Yeah, the sooner we get out of here, the better" Charles replies.

Don't tell me, I hate this place, I think with a scoff.

"It's quite a ride up there. I saw some canoes near the bridge up river which could take us right up to Butcher Creek. Might be quicker" Charles informs us.

"Yeah, boat's probably a good idea" Arthur replies.

They start talking about what happened after Arthur and the others got on that boat to escape Saint Denis and Charles tells him about how he returned to Shady Belle and our conditions there.

"Everyone was pretty shaken up when I got there. It was a tough few days. I couldn't have done it without…Fred…and Sadie" says Charles.

I rise my eyes from the ground and look at his profile while he rides. Then, instinctively, I lean my head on his shoulder and hug him from behind.

"Yeah, me too" I murmur.

"Well… at least things turned out good between you two" laughs Arthur.

We ride northward passing the swamps and wooden bridges until we reach a steadier and grassy ground.

I don't pay attention to the road we follow, but soon get lost in my thoughts and lose the sense of time, so I feel a little disoriented when Charles suddenly stops.

"There should be some canoes" he says approaching the river.

When we get there, I see only one.

"Well, that should do. Go hide the horses among the trees" he adds giving me Taima's reins.

I go take Arthur's horse as well and lead them both inside the wood on the other side of the road before going back to the river.

We get on the little boat and notice there are only two oars, so I'll sit in the middle, Charles in front of me and Arthur behind, and they will row.

As we slowly sail North, Charles tells Arthur what he already told me: that he met Eagle Flies and Rain Falls and helped them a little in their reservation, that they have a lot of troubles up there and probably need even more help.

"Some man of them spoke a lot about the Murfree gang that hides in these caves. We're going to need to be careful. They're animals. Everyone here is terrified of them" he adds.

Well, it's not the first time we deal with animals, so I guess we can handle this, I think.

The rowing takes us more than I expected. At a certain point we are forced to get down the canoe and walk for a little because of the low water.

The sun slowly comes down and leaves space to the pearly moon. When we're hungry, we stop to eat some chipped beef by the river.

No camp, they said, we need to reach that place fast.

We arrive at our destination when everything is pitch dark, but for the light of the moon that draws the outline of the landscape around us.

"That's Butcher Creek up ahead" remarks Charles.

I narrow my eyes and spot some campfires in the distance with some dark shapes moving among them.

"Who's these people?" Arthur asks.

"The locals."
"They don't look too friendly."

We leave the canoe on the shore and start walking across the little village.

The inhabitants don't even look at us and those who do… I wish they didn't. Arthur is right: they don't seem friendly. Quite the contrary, they are creepy.

I start to get a little bit nervous thinking about what kind of life they live up here and the things they're probably forced to do to survive.

We walk past houses - if they can be called like that - and fires when Charles suggests that it could be better if we borrowed some of their horses to reach the caves because it is a long and dangerous walk from here.

I immediately agree, shivering at the idea to walk into the woods in this darkness. There are only two, so, just like before, Arthur takes one and I share one with Charles.

As we ride, climbing up hills and mountain sides, I can't help myself but look around me and feel a shiver run down my back.

This place just doesn't feel right: it's like hundred of eyes are looking at us from among the trees.

From what Charles says, this Murfree gang makes a lot people disappear in the surroundings and that's why this place is almost deserted. Since they're here, no-one's safe, and no-one wants to live in their territory.

"Slow down, keep it quiet. It could be some of them" he says suddenly slowing down the horse and pointing to a lantern in the distance.

Every muscle in my body immediately tenses up.

They decide to dismount and follow them on foot to see if they lead us to their hideout.

A weight on my stomach accompanies me while we follow the two men among the trees and the anxiety starts rising.

Charles and Arthur get rid of them fast so they won't be a problem for us and we draw closer to the cave to get a look at it.

The entrance is lighted by a torch that allows us to check who goes in and out of it, but, all around, the darkness could hide more men and we wouldn't see them.

As I feel another shiver, I shake my head and force myself to think that maybe I'm just being taken away by my imagination.

They could be dangerous, that's true, but they're just men. There's no need to panic.

"Okay, let's see what's going on" says Arthur kneeling down.

Charles does the same and takes out the binoculars.

"That's the stagecoach went missing" he remarks.

I look in the same direction getting on my knee as well.

There is a carriage half destroyed on the clearing right in front of the cave, but I see no people.

Did they kill them? Probably.

Charles passes the binoculars to Arthur.

"They must be in the cave" he says.

"What do we do?" I ask standing up and taking out my gun.

"We head into the cave or flush them out with dynamite" suggests Charles.

"Let's surprise them in there" answers Arthur.

"Okay, you better stay here and keep watch. We'll get a little closer" Charles addresses me.

"You really don't want me to face them, do you? Do you think I'll let you go inside without me?" I ask before heading to the cave.

We slowly approach the entrance, when Charles grabs me from my shoulders and drags me behind some boxes.

A man is coming out pulling a corpse by its feet.

We hide as Arthur takes out his knife and gets closer to the man, dealing with him silently.

The inside of the cave is lightened with more torches and decorated with human arms, legs and even some heads every now and then. The smell is revolting and the sight of the rotten parts is even worst.

By the entrance we find another Murfree busy looting another corpse. This time Charles takes his bow and shows me how it should be used.

I smile as the arrow hits the head of the man, thinking that I will never learn properly.

We manage to kill some other Murfrees quietly, but in the end some of them spot us. They don't have any guns, they fight just with knifes and machetes and charge exactly like if they were animals: yelling and moving almost beastly.

I try to be very careful not to let them close to me, because if they do, I'm pretty sure I'm dead. So I keep them away shooting them as they try to approach me.

Charles and Arthur seem to have the same idea.

We go down and down killing a man after the other without difficulty.

As I thought, they can be dangerous, but, after all, they're just men. And not numerous either.

We've almost reached the end of the cave when we hear the scream of a woman.

I turn to look at Charles and Arthur who like me stopped when they heard her.

"They might have a prisoner" I remark before running in her direction.

When we finally reach the bottom, we're able to see the cage where they keep the woman and there we find some more men.

I immediately take cover and try to shoot one who's hiding behind a rock when, out the corner of my eye, I see another one running towards Charles.

He's so fast Charles isn't able to shoot him and they start to struggle.

For one second I fear Charles won't make it. That… man - if he can be called so - is skinny, but he fights like he's got the strength of three men and swings his machete from left to right trying to hit Charles' chest.

I focus on them and aim at the Murfree, but both move too much and I don't want to risk and shoot the wrong person.

I get closer from the man's back with my pistol still raised.

Charles blocks both his hands and kicks him on a leg, making him kneel on he ground. This way he is able to punch him on the face.

The man passes out and I raise my eyes on Charles. He does the same, but on his face I see an expression of sudden shock.

He puts a hand on my shoulder and pushes me away. I fall on the ground and turn my head just in time to see him dodge the knife that's aiming to his belly, but he's not fast enough and the blade cuts his waist, just above his right hip.

I jerk up and jump on the back of the Murfree, putting my arms around his throat so to choke him.

Unable to breathe he starts twitching and trying to hit me blindly with the knife he's still got in his hand.

Charles recovers his clarity again and grabs his knife stabbing the man on the stomach.

As he falls on his knees I let him go.

It's the man I was trying to shoot behind the rock, I think with my chest going up and down. He's sneaked out and tried to hit me from behind. Bastard.

"Let me give a look" I say moving my eyes on Charles' wound and getting closer.

"Don't worry, it's just a scratch. Come on, let's get that poor girl out of that cage" he replies taking my hands as I try to check him.

Arthur is already there.

"Stay away from me. No, stay away" that poor woman keeps shouting.

I get closer to Arthur and, when she finally sees me, she seems to calm herself a little.

"Please… please" she stutters.

"It's okay, don't worry, we'll get you out of here. Arthur open the cage" I say.

She withdraws from us, just like a scared animal who knows will be beaten and when Arthur takes out the knife to open the door, she starts screaming.

"Don't worry! We won't hurt you!" shouts Arthur above her voice.

"Come, come out. We'll get you home" I say reaching out a hand through the open door.

She's still unsure, but eventually she grabs my hand.

I put an arm around her shoulders and lead her towards the entrance of the cave.

"Where are you from?" asks Arthur as we walk.

"Annesburg" she replies.

She's in terrible conditions. I don't want to know what they've done to her.

"What do we do with her?" asks Arthur to Charles as we reach again the entrance.

"You'll get her back. I'll go get the others" he replies.

The sun is about to rise and the air is filled with a clear white light that at least gives us the possibility to see the woods around us.

I leave the woman next to Arthur's horse and get near the other one with Charles.

"That poor woman. They are real animals" I murmur as they leave.

"I told you. That's why I didn't want you to come. If something like that should…"

Charles' voice breaks.

I move my eyes from the woman's back to his face.

He's got a strange expression: if he is worried or angry or something else I can't say, but he's reaction pulls me closer to him and makes me hug him.

I feel his hands in my hair and up my back and I remember all the things he's said today, how he worries for me… how much I love him.

"Let me take a look to this cut" I say letting him go.

"I told you, it's just a scratch…"

"Shh… I need some cloth" I say checking the wound.

Then, I go take some water from the saddle of our horse and a clean rug I rip from my shirt.

"Okay, sit down and I'll take care of you, Mister" I joke.

Reluctantly, he does as I ask, sitting on a log.

I kneel next to him and start cleaning the wound. It's not deep and it already stopped bleeding, so it needs no bandages.

As I work I feel his eyes on me.

"You know, down there, for a second, I really was afraid that…that man could…hurt you" I murmur.

When he doesn't answer I stare back at him.

As soon as my eyes meet his something happens inside me.

Quickly, I put the rug away and straddle him, taking his face between my hands.

"Don't make anything dangerous anymore, please" I whisper.

I don't give him the chance to reply. I press my lips against his and move my arms on his shoulders.

As we part, he stares at me for a little before speaking again.

"I was thinking… when we'll bring the others here and settle the camp…I mean…you… do you mind sharing your space with someone else?" he asks in some kind of embarrassment.

"What?"

"You know… your tent… if you have some room for…"

A smile broadens on my lips: I can't believe he's asking me this.

"You want to sleep with me?"

"Only if you want it too" he says in a hurry.

"Okay" I say with a giggle before I kiss him again.

Hello!

Again, this is one of my favorite missions in the game (because is an entire mission only with Charles 3) and I had so much fun writing this one. More time they spent together, more I'm able to create a bound between him and Fred, and I just love it.

I hope you liked it too.

As always if you have questions, I'm right here.

See you soon!