VII - Eastward Bound

Grizzlies - Heartlands, USA

1899

The next morning after the train robbery, everyone in camp was packing up. Abigail made me wear a makeshift sling and it made it harder to pack with just one hand. After a lot of struggling, Sadie helped me pack up the rest. Once that was done Arthur carried the stuff to one of the wagons. I followed him out the door and I could see that everyone was running around. The men loaded things into the wagons while the women helped with smaller items. I walked over to Dutch, Hosea and Arthur who were talking by one of the wagons.

Arthur: So, we getting out of this hell hole?

Dutch: We're gonna try. Weather seems stable.

Hosea: And we just robbed the Leviticus Cornwall train.

Dutch: We got money in our pockets. The worst is behind us, gentlemen. So the question is: Where now?

Hosea: I know this country a little. I told you, we should set up camp in Horseshoe Overlook, near Valentine. We'll be able to hide there no problem. As long as we keep our noses clean.

Jonah: Yah, tell that to Micah.

Dutch ignored my comment but gave a slight frown.

Dutch: Well then let's go, clean noses and everything else. Arthur, Jonah, you two are in that one. Bring Hosea. I know you three like to talk about the good old days and what's gone wrong with old Dutch. Oh, Jonah, how's the hand?

Jonah: Still hurts like hell but I'll be fine.

Dutch: Good. We need you strong, so just rest up.

I nodded and walked to the wagon that he pointed at. Hosea and Arthur got into the front seats while I sat in the back. Once everyone was settled in, we set off for the Heartlands.

- Time Skip -

After hours of riding through the snow we started to see more land that was less frozen. It was a relief to finally be out of the cold weather. I heard that Dutch sent Lenny and Micah to scout ahead. After they left we reached the forest. The scenery really was a beautiful sight. I took my journal out to start drawing but before I could draw or write anything, we rode through a river that started making the wagon shake.

Hosea: Get us out of the stream.

Jonah: This isn't a river?

Hosea: It's a stream.

Jonah: A stream wouldn't move a wagon like this.

Hosea: Then it's a river. It doesn't matter.

Once Arthur got out of the stream he stopped the wagon and got off to see what the problem was. I got off and walked to the side of the wagon to see that the wheel had come off.

Jonah: Oh, you've done it now, brother. Ms. Grimshaw is gonna be pissed.

Arthur: Not if I fix it.

Jonah: You even smart enough to know how a wheel works?

Arthur: Shut up.

Bill: You alright back there?

Arthur: Does everything look alright?

Javier: Well, what's going on?

Jonah: He broke the goddamn wheel!

Hosea: Alright, let's get it fixed.

Javier: You need help?

Hosea: I reckon we can handle it.

Charles walked up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder, silently asking me to move. He honestly did scare me a little.

Jonah: Jesus fucking christ, Charles. Where the hell did you come from?

All three men laughed at me.

Arthur: Some outlaw you are.

Jonah: Shut up.

Hosea: Alright, Charles, you and me hold the thing up while you try and put the wheel back on, Arthur.

Arthur: You still strong enough to hold up a wagon?

Hosea: Shut up.

Arthur: Just saying.

Hosea: Well, say less.

Arthur rolled the wheel back to the wagon while Hosea and Charles held it up. I kinda just stood there and watched. By the way, I never realized how big the wheel was until Arthur held it up. It's almost as big as Arthur and me, and I'm 6'2. Anyway, once Arthur got the wheel on he went to grab the tools.

Arthur: See? You ain't so useless after all.

He tapped Hosea's shoulder and Hosea laughed. The three of us grabbed the items that fell off the wagon and put them back on the wagon.

Hosea: Not quite.

I did my best to help with the bigger things but mainly stuck to the smaller stuff. Once Arthur was done fixing the wheel, I noticed 3 people on horseback looking down on us from a cliff that stood tall above the road. We all stopped and looked back at them.

Jonah: What you think?

Charles: If they wanted trouble… we wouldn't have seen 'em.

Hosea raised his hand in acknowledgement to them.

Hosea: Poor bastards. We really screwed them over down here. Come on. Let's not push our luck.

We all picked up the rest of the things and carried them to the now functional wagon.

Arthur: What happened?

Hosea: Well, get in and I'll tell ya.

We loaded up the rest of the stuff and climbed on. Arthur and Hosea were again in the front while Charles and I sat in the back. The rest of the caravan had left a while ago now and we were alone.

Hosea: Not too far now. Just stay on this trail. We'll follow the river then cut left, inland.

Arthur drove forward and once again, we were off.

Hosea: So, yes, the Indians in these parts got sold a very raw deal. This is the Heartlands we're going to. Good farming and grazing country. They lost it all. Stolen clean away from them, it was. Every blade of grass. Killed or herded up to the reservations in the middle of nowhere.

Charles: And how's that different from anywhere else?

Hosea: Well, maybe it's not. I just heard some of the army out here was particularly… unpleasant about it.

Jonah: Unpleasant? How do you rob and kill people pleasantly? We don't. Even with all of Dutch's talk.

Hosea: I fear I was perhaps trying to simplify something more complicated for the benefit of our blockheaded driver here.

Jonah: Ha. You just got called stupid, Arthur.

Arthur: Hey, don't blame it on me…

Jonah: No, blame it on me, clearly all of the smarts were left for me.

Arthur sighed but kept talking.

Arthur: Never forget, this here is a con man, boys. Born and bred. Just cause it sounds fancy don't mean he knows a damn thing about what he's talking about.

Jonah: Ain't that the truth.

Hosea: What is that supposed to mean?

Jonah: Nothing, Pops.

Arthur: So what happened to your tribe, Charles?

Charles: I don't even know if I have one. At least, not that I can remember. My father was a colored man. He told me he lived with our people for a while. A number of free men did. When we were forced to move from our land, the three of us fled. I was too young to really remember much. My whole life I've been on the run. A couple years later, some soldiers captured my mother, took her somewhere. We never saw her again. We drifted around. He was a very sad man and the drink had a mean hold on him. Around 13, I just took off on my own.

Jonah: Damn…

Hosea: That was about the age we found young Arthur here. Maybe a little older. A wilder delinquent you never did see. And Jonah was right behind him in everything he did.

Jonah: Yah, whatever.

Hosea: But they learned fast.

Arthur: Not as fast as Marston, apparently.

Charles: Wait. I don't understand. What's the problem between you two?

Jonah & Hosea: Arthur?

Arthur: It's a long story.

Jonah: We've got time, right Hosea?

Hosea: Sure do.

Arthur: We still headin' the right way?

Hosea: That depends. Are we still heading west, in search of fortune and repose in virgin forests, as we planned? No. Are we heading in the correct direction on our desperate escape from the law, eastwards down the mountain? Yes, I believe so.

Charles: You know this area?

Hosea: A little. I've been through a couple of times. There's a livestock town not too far from here called 'Valentine'. Cowboys, Outlaws… working girls. Our kind of place.

Jonah: O'Driscolls?

Hosea: Probably them too.

Arthur: Pinkertons?

Jonah: Oh yah, those too.

Hosea: Let's hope not.

Arthur: And this place we're going… wait, what's it called again?

Hosea: Horseshoe Overlook.

Arthur: It's a good place to lie low?

Jonah: You think Hosea would send us somewhere that's unsafe?

Hosea: Boys, it'll do for now. How low do you think Dutch is really going to lie? It's just… maybe it's me who's changed, not him but we kept telling him that ferry job didn't feel right. We had a real lead in Blackwater that could've worked out.

Arthur: Maybe.

Hosea: It just… isn't like Dutch to lose his head like that.

Arthur: Things go wrong sometimes. People die. It's the way it is. Always has been. Me, you, Jonah, Dutch. We've all been in this line of work for a long time and we're still here so I figure we must've got it right a hell of a lot more than we got it wrong.

I nodded in agreement and opened up my journal. I still hadn't been able to draw the beautiful scenery around us.

Arthur: What are you working on there anyway?

I looked at where Arthur was looking to see what he was talking about. My eyes landed on Hosea, who was crushing something in a bowl.

Hosea: Just some Yarrow and Ginseng. Good for the health. Better than that stuff you buy in the store. Here, you can have all this. I'm at the point where I can do it with my eyes closed.

Arthur: Well, okay. Thank you.

I turned back to my journal. We were silent for the rest of the ride. We went over a hill and we were suddenly in a small forest. Javier stood at the entrance of an almost undetectable trail that led through the forest. He greeted us and we greeted him. We slowed down so that he could get on and then went into the new camp.

Hosea: Here we are, gentlemen. Home sweet home.

Arthur stopped the wagon and we all climbed off. Dutch walked out of his tent and yelled as he walked closer.

Dutch: You weren't wrong, Hosea. This place is perfect.

Hosea: I hope so.

Dutch: Gentlemen, we have survived.

Jonah: For now.

Dutch: Now, it is time to prosper.

Hosea: Arthur, Jonah and I were about to prosper in Blackwater. We were onto something big. Then Micah got you all excited for that ferry and… here we are.

Dutch: We have all made mistakes over the years, Hosea. Every last one of us. But I kept us together. Kept us alive. Kept the nooses off our neck.

He began walking away to which Hosea and Arthur followed. I stayed behind and sat down for a moment. My hand was hurting again and sometimes it was unbearable. Now was not one of those times but it still hurt like hell.

Jack: Uncle Jonah, are you okay?

Jonah: I'm alright. What are you doing?

Jack: Mama told me to go play while the adults are setting up.

Jonah: That sounds… fun.

Jack: It's not. I have nobody to play with.

Jonah: Well, I'll tell you what. Once my hand is healed up, I'll take you to town and we can get you some new toys. I'll even play with you.

Jack: You will?

Jonah: Of course! I can't let you be bored. What kind of man would I be?

Jack: Thank you, Uncle Jonah!

He threw his arms around me in a tight hug and I hugged him back. Jack is a good kid. It's a shame he had to be born into this life.

Dutch: Everyone, put your tools down for a moment.

I let go of Jack and he ran off somewhere. I walked over to the other side of Dutch's tent. I knew he was about to give a speech.

Dutch: Come on, gather around. Quickly now. I know that things have been tough. But we are safe, now. And we are far too poor. So it is time for everyone to get to work.

Hosea: Get to work but stay out of trouble. Remember, we are itinerant workers.

Dutch: Laid off when they shut down our factory to the north. Now get out there and see what you can find. Uncle, Reverend Swanson, no more passengers.

We all laughed at the pair of men that stood dumbfounded.

Dutch: It is time for everyone to earn their keep.

Hosea: There's a town, little way down the track, by the name of Valentine. Livestock town, all mud and morons if I remember right. That seems a decent place to start.

Pearson: And uh… we need food. Real food. That means everyday, one of you.

Dutch: And remember, whatever it is that you find, the camp get's it's slice.

He brought a small lock box out and put it atop a barrel that was in front of his tent.

Dutch: Now be sensible out there.

We all separated and went to finish setting up the new camp. I walked away to my now set up tent and went inside. There wasn't much I could do in terms of helping set up camp, so I just sat on my bed. A few minutes later I decided that I needed to shave. Badly. Since my shaving set was one of many things that was lost in Blackwater, I walked over to Arthur's tent. Most of his crap was saved.

Jonah: Hello, brother. I need to use your shaving kit.

Arthur: Go ahead.

Jonah: Thank you.

I quickly trimmed my beard down to little more than stubble and thanked Arthur again before walking back to my tent. But I didn't make it there.

Abigail: Jonah!

I turned around to see Abigail walking towards me.

Jonah: What can I do for you, mademoiselle.

Abigail: Did you tell Jack that you would get him new toys?

Jonah: Sure did.

Abigail: And you're the one paying for it?

Jonah: Abigail, you don't gotta worry about any of the expenses.

She nodded.

Abigail: Thank you, Jonah.

Jonah: It's my pleasure.

She brought me into a hug before letting go and walking away. I smiled and walked back to my tent. I lit a cigarette before taking off my jacket, relieved to finally be in some regular clothes and out of the cold.

END OF CHAPTER 7 - Eastward Bound

Word Count: 2,532