Chapter 1 - A Trip to Valentine

It was spring. Birds chirped in the background and there was a sweet smell in the air. The small camp was clamoring with activity; Abigail was trying to show Jack how to fly a makeshift kite, Mr. Pearson was adding some finishing touches to a stew, and Josiah was smoking a cigarette and talking to a very animated Miss Grimshaw. She was yellin' about one of the horses not being cleaned or something like that. Arthur smirked as he walked pass, tipping his hat but wholly staying out of it.

"Arthur-" Arthur's heart skipped a beat as he heard his voice. His head suddenly felt like it was filled with honey. He turned to face his favorite member of the camp, Lenny Summers.

"Lenny." He said warmly. Lenny paused, smiling and glancing down, seemingly embarrassed. Arthur wasn't a smart man - he never said he was. But he knew attraction when he saw it and he knew attraction when he felt it.

"Arthur - do you - have time to go into town with me today?" Lenny was looking up at Arthur with those big brown eyes. Arthur let out a deep sigh, gazing back. It was like they were already in the hotel room -

"You boys sure look hungry today."

The clear gruff voice of Sadie Adler broke their focus. Arthur felt hot all of a sudden and looked away quickly, glancing around camp to see if anyone else had noticed.

"Sadie." Lenny said, eyes suddenly blank. "How're you today?" His voice was cold.

"Fine but I reckon you boys are finer. Goin' into town?"

"Maybe-" Lenny was kicking at a loose stick.

"Maybe I come with ya then. I got a bone to pick with the Valentine butcher and you boys don't seem to get much done in the course of a week if your left to your own devices."

Sadie glared at the men. Arthur glanced at Lenny but Lenny was staring at Sadie with hardened eyes. Suddenly Sadie's voice dropped to a whisper.

"I don't care what you boys are doin' behind a closed door. Ain't none of my business. But I need to get into town and we got a laundry list of shit to do around camp." Arthur felt even more embarrassed. Sadie was pretty sharp but - makes you wonder who else around camp knew. "C'mon - I'm drivin'." Sadie said. And that was that. Lenny and Arthur followed her to the wagon like a pair of scolded puppies.

Lenny sat in the back, gun between his legs. Arthur sat up front with Sadie, head bowed. They were about half an hour away from camp and no one had said a word. Finally, Arthur took a deep breath and said:

"Who else knows, Sadie?" Arthur asked, quiet as he could over the clatter of the moving wagon.

"I reckon' Hosea suspects somethin' but - if anyone does know they certainly don't seem to care, do they, Arthur?" She spit off the side of the wagon and stared straight ahead, her face giving him no context as to her underlying thoughts.

"Well - ain't no one else's business-" Arthur started to say.

"No. It ain't." Sadie said definitively. And that was that. They didn't talk about Arthur and Lenny the rest of the way. Sadie wasn't much for words anyways. Once they were settled in Valentine, Sadie handed Arthur a list of things to get from the general store.

"You boys be careful now." She whispered gently, giving both of them a concerned look before hopping off and walking towards the northeast side of town.

*** Six Hours Later ***

Sadie had almost gotten arrested yelling at the town butcher. Turns out, the man had sold Tilly some semi-rotten meat and almost got the whole camp sick. So naturally, Sadie screamed at him, called him a racist several times, and punched him til he almost resembled the meat he was selling.

The woman was wild as a banshee and damn near the most respectable one from the entire camp group.

They had met up at the inn for dinner where Sadie let them know she had rented out a room. She announced she felt like staying the night and asked loudly if they wouldn't mind taking to the field, tending to the horses, and setting up some rabbit traps. She said to pick her up in the morning and that was that.

As Sadie went up the stairs towards her room, Lenny and Arthur bought a $5 bottle of whiskey from the inn. From there, they did as Sadie said and set up camp a few miles from the town.

"How ya doin', kid?" Arthur was standing behind Lenny, who had just finished building the fire. He was pulling open the bottle of whisky with the back of his mouth. He yanked the cork out and looked up, offended.

"Don't call me kid!" he sounded hurt but there was a glimmer of mischief in his eyes.

"I always call you kid." Arthur retorted, smirking. "What are you - twenty... four?" He sank down next to Lenny, hips just touching his.

"I'm 22! ... well... I'm almost 22-" Lenny trailed off as Arthur burst out laughing.

"And that's why I'm gonna keep callin' you kid, kid." Lenny shook his head and drank deeply from the bottle as Arthur said, "Chilly for springtime, ain't it?" Lenny pulled the bottle off his lips, looking sharply at Arthur. Arthur grabbed the whisky and took a swig.

"Don't change the subject, old man!" Lenny shot back. "How old are you? Forty-three!?" Arthur choked on the whisky.

"FORTY THREE?! Try thirty-two!" Arthur started to joke about being disrespected. Lenny watched Arthur speak. Lenny's head faced the fire but his eyes were sideways towards Arthur, looking him up and down as though memorizing his face.

Arthur's beard was clean and short, his eyes sparkling as he took another swig of the whiskey. He was wearing mittens and a thick flannel shirt. His cowboy hat was still on even though the sun had set and his jeans were covered in dirt and mud. Arthur trailed off, sighing. He leaned towards the fire but looked directly at Lenny. The light from the fire highlighted his rugged features and Lenny felt like he was happy for the first time in a long time. Really happy. The kind of happy you pray for.

"What..?" Arthur wasn't sure what Lenny was thinking about. Arthur gestured his chin towards the bottle as he handed it back to his camping partner. Lenny blinked and the spell was broken. He gently took the bottle and looked back at the fire. There was a deep sigh before he took another sip. He shook his head before he said thoughtfully,

"You ever feel - well - you ever wish you could freeze time?" He looked back at Arthur, who was smiling now. There was a pause before Arthur tentatively replied,

"I don't think much about stuff like that." Arthur admitted. "But - well - sometimes when I'm with you, I guess it- I guess it kinda feels like time's frozen." He scratched at the side of his face, bringing his eyes back up to Lenny's. He let his hand drop to his side.

Lenny and Arthur stared at each other as the fire crackled and spit. Crickets chirped as the moon climbed through the air.

"Chilly out here." Lenny said, voice low and husky. He handed the bottle back to Arthur, not breaking eye contact. Arthur drained the contents of the bottle and tossed it to the ground.

"I think it's time we warmed up." Arthur replied gruffly.

Lenny looked beautiful in the fire's light, and something stirred deep in Arthur's gut. Time really was standing still. Arthur finally murmured the words that had been stirring in his chest the whole day:

"I want you-" Before Arthur could close his mouth, Lenny had leaned in and taken Arthur's face in his hands, kissing him deeply. His mouth parted and Lenny's tongue met his own. He could taste tobacco and whiskey, smell Lenny's cologne coming off his neck. He pushed hard against him, almost as though to melt the two together. They almost tipped over on their log seat.

"Tent-" Arthur said, more a commandment to them both. Lenny understood immediately and broke away, grabbing Arthur's hand.

The two men slipped into the tent and were there until the sky turned pink with morning light.