I keep thinking about what happened the other day, when we rescued John, what Dutch said and how Arthur replied. They're not wrong, both of them, but I can't understand who between them is most right.
Should we have waited before saving John? Will our actions bring the law again on us? What if we had waited too much and John would have died? What if they had hanged him before we could save him?
For what Charles says, we did the right thing even if we didn't follow Dutch's orders. Apparently, he has changed his mind too. Now he doesn't think Dutch is right on everything anymore. He has noticed his change as I did.
"People don't change. They just become more what they really are" said Arthur one evening as the three of us were seated around the campfire.
He couldn't be more right. And now, I think that maybe I've never been mistaken about him and that I've seen Dutch for what he really is since the beginning. I should have never started to trust him after Bronte, shouldn't I?
I don't know anything anymore, I think sitting next to the campfire opposite to Uncle to eat some stew.
"How are you, my dear?" he asks me.
"Alright, I think" I answer without enthusiasm.
Silence falls as I spot Arthur walking towards reverend Swanson some yards away and start talking with him.
"You have some recent adventure you want to talk me about?" asks Uncle.
"No, I don't think so" I answer with the same low tone.
I hear some footsteps behind me and then Dutch walks past us and reaches Arthur. The two of them sit down to talk.
"Well, Charles' influence on you isn't good. You sound just like him" Uncle says catching my attention and making me smile.
"You could use with some silence too some times, you know?" I joke.
"And be as boring as he is? Ain't happening" he replies.
I'm about to laugh at his words, but then something distracts me: Eagle Flies.
I turn my head to watch the group of people who's walking towards Dutch and Arthur. The chief's son is leaded by Charles and followed by Javier and Karen. They were all keeping watch, so it must have been them who welcomed the native as soon as he arrived.
But, why is he here?
"Dutch, this is Eagle Flies. His father is a great chief. Charles and I we…erm…" I hear Arthur saying as I stand up to reach them.
"Pretended to be mercenaries, did me a great favor" answers Eagle Flies.
"Hi, nice to see you again" I greet the boy looking at him with surprise when I get closer.
"And you too" he replies.
I move my eyes on Dutch who seems almost as surprised as me about this visit. Then, he makes a sign to Javier and Karen, who go away, and presents himself to our guest.
"How are you?" I ask to Eagle Flies.
"Not well. Not well at all" he answers angrily.
"How's your father?" asks Arthur.
"Father has confused wisdom with weakness. His people, my people, we've suffered too much, being lied too much, now… they've taken our horses."
While he speaks, I exchange a look with Charles who slightly shakes his head.
I think I know what he's telling me: this boy is a hothead and he won't listen to his father, who's far more experienced and wiser than he is.
I try to give him a look that makes him understand that I already now.
"Who took them?" asks Dutch.
"The infantry division posted at Fort Wallace" answers Charles.
"Why?" Dutch asks again.
"Colonel Favours is a liar and a murderer, his people won't stop until we're all dead. Without horses, we cannot hunt. Without hunting… we will starve. This is another act of war" replies Eagle Flies.
Here we go again, the obsession of the war, I think rolling my eyes.
"Your men have helped me before and I have money" adds the boy looking at us.
"Put your money away, son. What do you think, Charles?" asks Dutch.
"You know I told your father I will not fight over some horses" he replies looking at Eagle Flies.
That's it. Finally someone tells him how stupid this will of war at all costs is.
"But I made no such promise" says Dutch.
We all look at him in disbelieve.
"Come along…" he adds walking away.
Eagle Flies pats Charles on the shoulder before following Dutch.
I look at them as they head to the horses and I can't help but feeling this won't bring nothing good.
"Arthur, we must go with them to try to stop things from getting… out of hand" says Charles.
"Why you brought him to Dutch if you knew his intentions?" I ask to Charles.
"Though maybe he could talk some sense into him. I was wrong" he replies with a sigh.
"We can get him more horses. There's no need to start a war" remarks Arthur.
"I know. I understand Eagle Flies is angry, but I don't see how this will help anything" replies Charles.
"Neither do I. Come on we need to do something" I say starting to walk towards the horses.
"No wait. We'll go, you better stay here" Charles stops me.
"Why?"
"Trust me. We don't know what we'll go through. It's the army we're talking about now. We'll be back soon" he says kissing me on my forehead before going away with Arthur.
I'm about to complain, but then I think Charles already has a lot of things to worry about and my presence won't do nothing but bother him even more. I know it will.
As I wait for them to come back, I decide to help the girls with the chores. I go take some water and help Tilly washing some clothes. Mary Beth gets closer and sits next to us to read her book.
She's been quieter that usual in these days: I reckon she's still a little shocked for what happened to Miss O'Shea.
After some minutes of silence we hear some screams coming from the other part of the camp.
"You're a nasty woman, Miss Grimshaw, a nasty woman."
It's Karen.
The three of us turn our heads towards her.
"You think I wanted to shoot her?" asks Miss Grimshaw.
"You seemed to like it, I saw that… beady look in your eyes" replies Karen.
"You're drunk again" states the old woman.
"And you're a fucking murderer!" screams Karen.
"Here we go. How many times must it happen?" sighs Tilly.
She isn't wrong. Lately, Karen has been drinking and provoking everybody in the camp. The other day I saw her doing it with Abigail. Yesterday it was my turn. She accused me of not caring enough. I have no idea what she was talking about.
"I can't go over that, either. I still can't believe she's dead" whispers Mary Beth.
"I'm glad Miss Grimshaw shot her. She deserved that" replies Tilly with coldness while she keeps rubbing some dirty clothes inside the water basket.
"How can you say such a thing?" replies Mary Beth with a disgusted expression on her face.
"Well, if you think about it, Mary Beth, she betrayed us and the rules say…" I try to step in.
"We don't know if she actually did that. She was in love, she could have said anything" she replies.
"You all keep repeating that, but it ain't an excuse! I would have never done such a thing for love. That's bullshit" I say angrily.
"I don't know. Maybe I'm just scared. So many things have changed."
Mary Beth says this last words with such a desperate tone that I suddenly feel sorry for the way I talked to her. It's not her fault after all.
I put a hand on her shoulder and look at her with the most sympathetic face.
"I know. I'm too. But if we stick together, we'll have a chance" I say.
"You sound just like Javier. He said that too" replies Tilly.
And he is right, I think.
When Arthur and Charles come back, their faces are disapproving and their clothes drenched.
Apparently the boat they were in sinked. Again.
"Where did I heard that before?" I joke with Arthur as I bring them some dry clothes. They tell me Dutch has another great plan: he will help Eagle Flies, despite his father told him not to cause any more troubles, to scare a little bit the army and force them to leave the natives alone.
"I know he wants to help them but… won't this put both them and us in danger?" I ask as they start undressing.
"If he's doing it to help them" Arthur replies.
I stop what I'm doing to stare at him.
"You think he's using them?" I ask with perplexity.
He simply sighs, but this perfectly answers my question.
"In any case, I still can't understand how this will help us. I don't think the attention of the army will be useful."
But right after I say this a thought slithers inside my mind.
Maybe he doesn't have a plan, maybe he doesn't know what to do anymore and this is just a way for make the others believe he actually has a clue. If what I think it's true, then everyone here is in danger. When Dutch will fall, he'll bring everyone with him. Abigail, Jack, John, the girls… we should help them run away. They can still make it, before it's too late.
I'm about to tell Arthur and Charles what I think, but I don't get the chance because Arthur interrupts me.
"Listen, Charles. I was talking with Rain Falls the other day. He… gave me some advise."
He stops for a second looking away in some kind of embarrassment before keeping on.
"Anyway… I met a man at the reservation: Captain Monroe. He's helping the Indians and asked for a hand. Would you come with me up there? Maybe we can do something."
"Can I come?" I ask before Charles could answer.
As Arthur looks at me with severity, I turn to Charles begging him with the eyes.
"You said you'd like to show me how's up there" I complain.
"You can go if you want, but I can't. Got work to do" he says.
"Okay then… I guess it's you and me, Arthur" I say with a smile.
I feel my heart beating fast with impatience, but at the same time a strange anxiety.
I don't know if it will be as I expect, I don't know how they'll treat me, how I must treat them, how they will react to my presence…
"And… how are they? I know they are quiet people, so… do you think I'm allowed to speak with them? Do they speak English by the way?"
"I don't know! I didn't get the chance to make a tee party last time!" answers Arthur annoyed.
"You're right, you're right… I'm sorry, I'm just… nervous" I say taking a deep breath.
"There's nothing to be nervous about. They're people, just like you and me. So act normal and stop asking questions! Jesus…"
It's been a long way for the reservation and we'll finally reach it today. One day and a half of riding, and I couldn't stop myself asking questions about that place.
I supposed Arthur could give me some advice since he's already been there. How should I behave at least. If there is some tradition I should know about to avoid embarrass myself in front of them. But apparently my will of knowledge is annoying.
If Charles was here, he would have answered, and he would have known what to say to pacify me. He always knows, I think with a smile.
We ride for a time that seems endless walking past forests, lakes, rivers and houses, going towards the mountains, higher and higher.
I tighten my jacket around my chest as the temperature keeps going down, wishing I had brought a heavier coat with me.
"Okay, slow down, we're almost there" says Arthur suddenly.
I narrow my eyes and see some tents in the distance.
More restless than ever, I make Isabella slow down as we reach the entrance of the reservation.
I lay my eyes on the colorful cloths of the tents and the numerous men, women and children with dark long hair who stop whatever they're doing to look at us.
We dismount our horses and lead them to the post to tide them next to the others.
Their horses are different too: they have some kind of decorations on their mantle. Circles, triangles, hand prints, with red, white and blu painting.
"They're beautiful" I whisper as I admire them.
I wonder what is their meaning.
"Mr. Morgan!" I hear someone shouting.
I turn around to look at the man who's walking towards us.
He's a little shorter than Arthur, definitely thinner, wearing a white hat and a blue uniform, and the lines he's got on his face tell me he must have seen the worst parts of what the world can offer.
He's part of the army after all, I think as I look at him coming closer.
"Hello… here I am, as promised" says Arthur.
"Captain Monroe" the man introduces himself stretching out a hand.
"Fred Faraday" I say taking it.
"Come, this way. We moved all the diseased to this part of the camp" he says making sign with his hand to follow him.
As he leads us among the tents, I look around and notice something I didn't see before: the people's faces.
They are… sorrowful. And that explains to me why Charles wants to help them at all costs.
"The chief's gone out trying to find medications. It's quite a business" says Captain Monroe while we walk.
"Colonel Favors seems to think the natives have broken some promise they never made, and apparently he's punishing them by withholding vaccines sent down by the Federal Government" he explains.
"But… that's terrible" I exclaim.
"Yes, I know and… now, this is the situation" he says stopping suddenly and pointing ahead of him.
As I glance at what he's showing us, I feel a weight on my chest.
Women holding little sick children in their arms, old people coughing and barely able to breathe, girls and boys of every age dabbing wet rugs on their parents foreheads.
"I was supposed to oversee the administration of vaccines. Now I hear the wagon's been diverted" Monroe says with his voice full of rage.
"Why would he do such a thing?" asks Arthur.
"To be honest, I truly don't know" sighs the Captain heading to a pot and taking something hot and liquid that he pours inside a bowl.
"They say he didn't have a very good war, so maybe he's trying to start another one" he adds going near a little child and handing him the bowl.
"What a bastard" I whisper between my teeth.
"And what do you think?" asks Arthur.
"I know he likes to provoke me, almost as much as he likes to provoke these poor bastards" he replies filling another bowl that this time he hands to an old woman.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning… he knows I think he's a horse's ass. So we're stuck here trying to do the best of things" answers Monroe.
"This is the best of things? Children dying of disease?" asks Arthur.
I sense something different in his voice now, some… anger.
I move my eyes on him, incapable to believe what I'm hearing.
He cares. He cares about these people?
What happened to him? What happened to the man who wanted to leave a German woman with her children alone instead of taking her husband back?
"Where is this wagon? Where can we find it?" he suddenly asks to Monroe.
"You want to steal the vaccines?" I ask amazed.
"You want to leave them like this? Come on, Captain Monroe" he says turning around and heading to the horses.
He really is a different man.
"Mr. Morgan, we must act with due caution" says the Captain with concern.
"Oh we shall, we surely shall, now come."
"Arthur, what about me? You think I can stay here and help them while you take the vaccines?" I ask.
This is my chance to take a look around and meet the local people, something I wanted to do from time immemorial.
"Well, I don't think what we're about to do is appropriate for a lady" replies Monroe looking at me.
I exchange a look with Arthur and we smile at each other.
"Yeah, I think you can stay. As the Captain says: it's not appropriate" he adds.
I laugh.
"Okay, Captain. Where do we find the wagon?" asks Arthur as they start walking.
"It should have come up through Valentine, but they diverted it south instead, so I guess we'll find it…"
Shaking my head, still not completely believing Arthur is helping them voluntarily, I reach the boiling pot and fill some bowls with the hot reddish liquid that I hand to some other sick person.
"What are you called?" asks me a woman with a child asleep in her arms as I give her some soup.
"Fred… well, my real name is German, it's Friedrich" I answer.
"What it means?"
"Err… it doesn't have a meaning. Literary translated could mean something like 'peaceful ruler'. But it doesn't make any sense in my case. I'm not a ruler and I wouldn't describe myself as peaceful" I say with a laugh.
She stares at me with perplexity, maybe not fully understanding what I'm saying.
"What about you? And your child? What's her name?" I ask nodding to the little girl.
"Ametane'e it's my name, means 'Living Woman'. She is called Nahkoha'e, Bear Woman."
"They are beautiful names" I reply with a smile.
Then, out of nowhere, I feel something touching my right shoulder and when I turn my head I notice a group of children.
They are all of different ages, I guess. Someone is taller, someone smaller. The youngest of them could be the same age as Jack is.
"Hello" I greet them with the sweetest voice I can use.
One of the oldest kids, a girl with braided hair and a red and blu cape on her shoulders says something in a language I can't understand.
I just stare at her not knowing what to do or say.
"She asked if they can put flowers in your hair" says the woman next to me.
One of the youngest boys shows me some yellow and pink flowers he's got in his hands.
"Oh! Well… I think… yes, sure" I say nodding to the children to make them understand me.
Another girl takes my hand and pulls me to make me stand up. I follow them to another part of the camp where I sit down again and they start playing with my hair. They keep laughing and saying things in their language, and I can't help smiling with them as I feel their little hands all over my head.
Taking a tour around, I notice that they truly need a lot of help, not only with the sick people but also with the everyday chores.
Lucky for me most of them are perfectly able to speak English, so I ask how I can help and they send me from one side of the camp to the other to deal with the most common camp chores, all with an incredible politeness.
After a couple of hours, Captain Monroe comes back. He tells me Arthur had to do the job alone.
If the army knows Monroe has something to do with the stealing of the vaccines, all his career will be jeopardized, and he won't have the chance to help the natives anymore.
First he volunteers to help them, then he decides to do all alone so not to put in danger a complete stranger. I start to think Dutch isn't the only one who changed on that island.
"People don't change. They just become more what they really are."
I knew he was a good man. He just had to decide to show it, to the others and to himself.
Hello hello!
From now on the chapters will be more... psychologically heavy? I don't know how to explain myself. We're going through the end and we all know what's about to happen. Or maybe not?
I enjoyed writing about the reservation, this was an idea I had since the beginning and I desperately wanted to put it in the story. I hope you liked it!
There is something I must admit though: I'm not an Eagle Flies fan. I know it's an unpopular opinion, but that boy is really obsessed with the war! I prefer his father. Rain Falls always gives me a sense of peace when he speaks and I could listen to him all day.
Anyway, I stop blabbering. See you soon!