I open my eyes feeling a weight around my waist.
As I get used to the light that passes through the tent cloth, I turn slowly around to look at Charles, being careful not to move his arm around me.
He's still asleep.
I raise a hand and slightly touch his face, running my fingers on his light grown beard until I reach his scar.
It's a really odd scar, the one he has on his cheek. It's got the shape of a lightning and I always wondered how he got it.
At my touch, he smiles with his eyes still closed.
I smile in turn and then I kiss him on the corner of his mouth.
"Morning" I say sitting up.
"You slept well?" he asks rubbing his eyes.
"Better than ever" I joke.
Actually, for the first time after weeks, I slept for the entire night without interruptions.
We get up and head to the kitchen to take some coffee.
Looking around, I notice that the camp feels different this morning. I thought that, once the others had come back, things would have gone back to normal, but it doesn't feel normal.
I'm about to ask Charles if he feels that too, but I have no chance, because in the distance I spot Arthur on his horse coming back from Annesburg.
Yesterday, it took us the entire day to go back to Lakay, gather the others and lead them to Beaver Hollow. We settled the camp in the night and then I literally passed out in my tent for the tiredness.
"Hello, Arthur. How's that poor woman?" I ask him as he walks in front of us.
"She'll be fine. Took her home, to her mother. You had any troubles?" he replies.
"No…"
"Hey, Arthur!" calls Dutch's voice from the distance.
Arthur leaves us to go speak with the boss. I sigh looking at him going away and exchanging some words with Dutch.
"They all seem so different since they're back" I think out loud.
"We don't know what happened there, but it mustn't have been nothing good from what Arthur says" replies Charles.
I turn my head to look at him when something in the distance catches again my attention.
Uncle is getting closer, and he's not alone. Next to him is walking none other than Molly O'Shea! Well… actually, she's not walking, but stumbling. She looks drunk and when Uncle tries to help her, she pushes him away with rage.
"So, Dutch! Did you miss me?" she yells towards the camp as she gets closer to Dutch's tent.
"I found her, drunk in Saint Denis" explains Uncle right after her.
"You're back. How jolly, Miss O'Shea" says Dutch with coldness.
"It's Molly, you sack of shit!" she yells at his face.
"Back and drunk" he states.
Here we are, I think getting closer to them. Maybe they'll need my intervention to calm her.
"Who made you the Lord God Almighty?" she keeps shouting.
"Molly, calm down" Dutch says.
Some other people gather around them, too.
"I won't be ignored, Dutch Van der Linde. I aren't him…" she replies pointing at Micah.
"I aren't her…" she adds pointing at Mary Beth.
"Or any of you stooges" she says to all of us.
"Calm down, Miss" exclaims Dutch with the same tone he used on me many times before.
"You don't owe me nothing… I don't owe you nothing. Nothing!" Molly bellows.
Charles and I take part of the circle of people around Dutch and the crazy Miss O'Shea. No-one is doing anything, so I don't know if I should step in and put an end to this madness.
"I'll spit in your eye! I did… I told them!" she shouts.
"I'm sorry?" asks Dutch.
"Yeah, I told them and I'd tell them again. Now I've got God's ear" she says now with satisfaction.
Maybe I know what she's talking about and a terrible thought gets inside my head. But…it can't be…she would never…
"You told who what?" asks Dutch.
"Mr. Milton… Mr. Ross…about the bank robbery and I wanted them to kill you!" she says.
An invisible hand clutches to my stomach and I suddenly can't stand her voice anymore. All I want to do is slap her to make her stop talking.
"You did what?" asks Dutch in disbelieve, taking his gun out.
"I loved you, you goddamn bastard! Go on shoot me!" she yells.
I'm no more able to restrain myself. I get closer and grab her from her wrist making her turn to me.
"What have you done?" I whisper.
"Don't you dare, you little whore…" she says to my face freeing herself from my grip.
"You told on me? You betrayed me?" asks Dutch.
"Oh, you're not so big now, are you?" she says with a smirk.
"You don't have any idea of what you've done!" I yell at her.
I feel my own voice shaking and my eyes burn.
"Hosea died! Lenny died!" I scream with tears running down my cheeks.
She starts laughing, a crazy laugh, just like the crazy bitch she is.
I raise a hand to try to hit her as hard as I can, but Charles comes from behind me and stops me before I can do anything.
"You're not so big now…" she keeps laughing.
On my right Dutch has his gun charged ready to shoot her, but Arthur is keeping him, telling him to let her go.
I would like to scream, tell Dutch to kill her, right now. She deserves that.
A shot echoes in the air and then silence falls.
Miss O'Shea takes a step backwards bringing her hands to her belly before she falls on the ground.
I turn my eyes and look at Miss Grimshaw with the shotgun in her hands.
"She knew the rules, Arthur. What the hell is wrong with you? Mr. Pearson, Mr. Williamson, get this body out of here and get it burnt" she orders.
From my left, I hear Mary Beth crying. Arthur and some other members of the group have shocked faces.
With my sight still blurred by the tears, I free myself from Charles and spit on the corpse at my feet before going away.
"So, it was her. Miss O'Shea told the Pinkertons about the bank robbery" says Sadie as we ride one next to the other.
"Yes. That bitch. I still can't believe it" I reply.
"Don't judge her too quickly. People do crazy things sometimes" she adds with some reproach in her voice.
I would have never done that, I think as I spur Isabella and speed up.
We are heading to Sisika. Today, we'll try to find a way to free John from there. It'll be Sadie, Arthur and I: the three of us should be enough, and even if an entire army should come out of that prison, I'm pretty sure Sadie will deal with them in no time.
She also provided us a boat - I have no idea how - and this way we'll try to reach the island without being seen. Once there, we'll come up with something.
I know it's not a real plan, but it's the best we can do for now. We don't know where we'll find John, how the guards will react to our presence… we know nothing about that place.
Sadie and I reach the shore that overlooks on the island and there we find the boat. And… Abigail?
"What are you doing here?" exclaims Sadie as we dismount the horses and get closer.
"I'm coming. To rescue John. I don't want you to do all the work alone and then…he's my husband, so he's my responsibility" she replies firmly.
She sounds like she practiced on the words she had to say, like she tried to find the best way to convince us.
"How did you get here?" I ask looking around expecting a wagon, or at least a horse.
"You're not coming" replies Sadie as they both ignore my question.
Abigail moves her eyes on me and I shake my head.
"But…" she tries to say.
"No but. You're staying here" Sadie stops her, sitting on the dock to wait for Arthur to come.
"The thing is, I…I have to come, he's my husband" Abigail says.
"I know he's your husband, but it's gonna be…it's gonna be violent" Sadie replies.
"I can handle myself just fine" snaps Abigail.
"We know you can. But we don't want you to risk your life. Think about Jack, he needs you" I say trying to sound understanding.
"Jack will be fine. The girls are taking care of him till we'll get back" she says.
"It ain't happening" replies Sadie.
"Come on, Abigail. There's no need for you to come. There's already three of us" I add.
"I insist."
"Insist all you like, ain't happening" repeats Sadie.
I turn my head as I hear some footsteps behind me.
"Tell her Arthur" adds Sadie as the man reaches us.
"Tell her what?" he asks.
"She ain't coming with us to collect her husband."
"Abigail, you ain't coming. That's the end of the matter" says Arthur walking past her and getting inside the boat.
"But…"
"Listen, the less we are, the better. And this way John won't have to worry for you too. Go back to camp. We'll bring him back to you" I say laying a hand on her shoulder.
She sighs as she looks at us loosening the ropes of the boat to go away.
"Well… I ain't the crying sort, but… I'm real grateful" she adds when we start moving.
"Everything we'll be fine, don't worry" I reply smiling at her.
Arthur starts rowing and leads us in the open waters.
I take out my gun and start cleaning and recharging it. I'll do the same with the rifle, getting them ready for what will wait for us in Sisika.
"So, what after we reach the island?" I ask.
"We climb on a high place, maybe one of those towers they use for the watch. From there we should be able to spot him on the working fields" answers Arthur.
"And then we'll simply go and take him? What about the guards?" I ask bewildered.
"We'll be faster than the guards and we'll reach him before they'll reach us" replies Sadie.
The cross takes us about half an hour. While we slowly and silently get closer to the shore, we immediately spot a watchtower not far from us.
We get down the boat and head to it in order to get rid of the guard on the top. We walk fast and low to avoid that anyone could see us.
Arthur climbs the iron ladder, Sadie after him and then me, as last one. When I reach the top, Arthur already knocked the man out and took his sniper rifle. Then, he checks the working fields in the distance until he sees John.
"Okay, take the guards out and let's go get our boy" says Sadie.
Arthur shoots a couple of times.
The noise of the shots echoes in the fields and I automatically look towards the big dark building in the distance.
"You think they heard us? From the prison?" I ask looking at it.
"We'll be far away before they reach us" replies Sadie.
"We have a problem. I don't think that was John" says Arthur putting down the rifle.
"One of the guards is still alive. Come on, let's see if he knows where Marston is" replies Sadie watching through the binoculars.
As soon as she says this an alarm starts from the prison.
"Uh-oh… they'll be here any moment" I say.
"Okay, time to get going" replies Sadie.
We climd down the ladder and run through the fields towards the two guards on the ground. As I run I keep my eyes on the building in the distance waiting for other guards to come out.
When we reach the man who's still alive, Sadie kicks his rifle away and points her gun to his face.
"You, Mister, you know John Marston?" she asks.
"He… he ain't… he ain't working today" he stutters.
"Put the gun down, lady" orders a voice.
I raise my eyes and instinctively point my gun towards the man right in front of us who's aiming at Sadie with his rifle.
I keep my aim at his face, but I don't shoot.
He's a federal prison guard…
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Arthur moving: he gets to the man from behind and points his pistol to his back.
"No… you put the gun down. Now!" he says with a threatening voice.
Arthur puts an arm around the guard's neck as soon as he throws his rifle to the ground.
"Where's John Marston?" he asks moving his gun to the man's head.
"He ain't in the work detail today" the man answers with a shaking voice.
"Okay, well I guess we'll go and get him together" replies Arthur pushing him towards the prison.
"What? We'll get inside the prison? We'll never get out of there alive, Arthur" I whisper as we start walking.
"Don't worry, we'll find a way. Who's in charge of the establishment?" Arthur asks to the man he's leading.
"Jameson, sir" that one answers.
"Jameson who?"
"No, Mr. Jameson, Heston Jameson."
While we walk towards the building I keep staring at it and wonder why they didn't get out to stop us. I'm certain they're more than us, and armed. So, what's holding them back?
When we get at the bottom of the prison gate, we find tens of guards holding rifles and pointing at us from the top of it.
"Jameson! Is Jameson here?" yells Arthur towards the guards.
"He's in Saint Denis!" answers one of them.
"They got Milliken" states another.
"Got him and going to kill him unless you bring me John Marston" answers Arthur.
They could kill us right where we are, but they don't. Why don't they? Because of the poor idiot Arthur is holding? That's restraining them? A single man?
"You got one minute! I'm counting… One. Two. Three" Arthur starts counting, but the guards show no sign of moving.
It can't work. They will never trade a valuable prisoner as John for an idiot of a guard.
All my muscles tens up and I move my eyes on each and every one of the men, waiting for them to start firing.
"Uh, Milliken is it?" asks Arthur as he understands what I understand.
"Yes, sir."
"Will you count for me? I got talking to do."
"Yes, sir. Of course, sir. From…one, sir, or…"
"Oh very funny, we must be eleven by now."
If it wasn't for the situation we're in, I would have laughed, I think with a scoff.
"Eleven… twelve… thirteen…" counts Milliken, but he soon stops and starts whimpering.
"Now, hurry up, or this poor fool's gonna get his brain shot out and over what? For nothing!" Arthur addresses the guards.
Milliken now is literally crying in desperation.
"Hurry up and bring that asshole out here you bastards! Come on!" yells the poor man among the tears.
From the top of the gate they look at us without blinking an eye.
I'm about to tell Arthur that this just won't work, when the gate opens and another guard brings John.
"Mary Mother of God! I can't believe they fell for it!" I exclaim in a whisper.
They must be real idiots, I think as Sadie gets near John and frees him from the chains.
"Okay, buddy. This was your lucky day!" says Arthur pushing Milliken away and turning around to run.
The shots start as soon as the man stumbles away and falls on the ground.
I immediately turn around and run to take cover while the bullets fill the air.
"Nice to see you again, John" I yell above the firing noise.
"You took your time to come" he answers.
"Well, at least we're here. Be grateful, you asshole!" I joke handing him my rifle.
We slowly get back as we keep shooting to hold the guards off.
When we reach the open fields, we start running, but they send out some men at horse to chase us.
I start feeling the beat of my heart getting faster as we are forced to take cover again.
"Come on! We need to get back to that boat" yells Sadie to my left.
We can't kill everybody, we don't have time for that, so we just get rid of those on the horses and let those on foot chase us.
I keep hearing the shots and feeling the bullets behind me as I run as fast as I can towards the shore.
"It's not done yet! I'll row, Arthur, Fred, you two deal with the men who're coming" orders Sadie as we get at the boat.
"Right, fine. You just relax and enjoy yourself, John. Leave the real work for them as can still handle it" says Arthur with sarcasm.
"Leave him alone. Can't you see in what conditions he is?" I say with some reproach pointing at John behind us.
As Sadie starts making us move away from the island, Arthur and I hold off the last men who have been following us.
When we reach again the open water, I sit down breathing deeply to recover myself. Arthur takes the other oar to help Sadie.
While they row, we tell John everything that happened after Saint Denis: about Hosea and Lenny, Guarma, the Pinkertons, the new camp, Molly, Dutch who didn't want us to rescue him…
"Jesus, maybe you should have just left me to hang" exclaims John in the end.
When we reach the camp, we see Abigail running towards us while we dismount our horses and help John doing the same.
"You brought him back to me" she says with a grateful expression on her face.
"We told we would" replies Sadie.
Abigail runs to hug John and I can't help feeling extremely happy for them. Sometimes they argue, sometimes they treat each other with coldness, sometime they seem they can't stand each other anymore, but I know they really love. And Abigail was so worried for him, even if she doesn't want to admit it.
"John!"
Dutch's voice breaks the happiness of the moment.
"What are you doing here?" asks the boss with severity coming towards us followed by Micah.
"Is good to see you too, partner" answers John with coldness.
"I meant I didn't sent for you yet."
"I went" Arthur steps in.
"But I said…" begins Dutch.
"Yeah, I know what you said. I felt different" Arthur stops him.
I suddenly feel the tension.
The tone Arthur is using with Dutch… I've never heard him talking to him like that. And Dutch doesn't seem too happy about it.
I move my wide open eyes from one to the other, wondering what's about to happen.
"Is that so?" Dutch asks between his teeth.
"Yes" answers Arthur facing him.
They are definitely different since they came back from Guarma. They don't work together anymore. On the contrary, they seem almost enemies right now.
I don't like it. I don't want it. I want things to go back as they were.
"And when springing John brings the law down on all of us, what then, Arthur?" asks Dutch.
Well, he's not wrong actually. They saw our faces, they'll look for us.
"Well I guess we'll have another fight on our hands" replies Arthur.
He's not wrong, either. We already fought and won all the fights we've been through. One more won't change anything and rescuing John was definitely more important.
"Loyalty, Arthur, it ain't… I had a goddamn plan! John… John… you are my brother, you are my son. I was coming for you…"
"They… they was talking of hanging me, Dutch" says John.
Suddenly Abigail takes some steps forwards, just like she wants to attack Dutch, but John stops her.
I look at them, incapable of understanding what's happening to them all.
Then, I move my eyes on Micah: he's oddly silent and it seems to me that, since they're back, he's become Dutch's little lapdog. Right now, I can't understand what he's thinking, but something tells me he likes this kind of situations.
"They was talking. They. Was. Talking. And now they may come and hang us all" replies Dutch going away.
Hello Hello!
Very popular opinion: Molly O'Shea deserved better. I've seen a lot of people feel the same about her and they hate Dutch for mistreating her. It was hard for me to write bad about her, I still feel sorry:( But I can't influence my character my my personal opinions.
Hold on tight my friends! We're almost at the end of this adventure! Until then...
I hope you liked the chapter and see you soon!