Warning: This chapter contains Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution for Abigail Roberts. I always got the impression from both the game and information on wiki pages that while Abigail was eighteen when she joined the gang and became pregnant, she'd been working as a prostitute for some time before joining the gang. The references are subtle and contain no confirmation or details, but they are still in there. It didn't feel right to ignore that part of her character history.

Also, I don't know how to make John flirt.

Chapter 23: Abigail

"So, let me get this straight," Arthur said, rubbing the tension out of his eyes. "This snake bit you."

"I don't see how that's relevant."

"You're only alive because Hosea took pity on you and sucked out the venom."

"I wouldn't have died!"

"The snake then rolled down a steep hill and died hitting the ground."

"It wasn't the hill that did it! It was my blood! It couldn't handle it."

"And you think you deserve a hat made out of it," Arthur finished.

"Exactly!" Sean said. "My blood killed it."

"His blood is full of enough alcohol," Hosea grumbled.

"So, the snake rolled down the hill because it got drunk?" Arthur asked.

"And how did it get like that, you ask? Because of Sean MacGuire's blood, it did!" Sean announced proudly. "And what's your problem, English? Got a personal vendetta against snakes, do you? Is that how…"

Sean gestured to Arthur's wooden leg, and Arthur just laughed. "Nope!"

They picked up Sean early in 1893 when they were traveling through North Elizabeth on their way out west. Sean tried to rob and kill Dutch and Hosea at a bar, an attempt that they both found somewhat amusing. Dutch liked his grit, or maybe pitied him, and brought Sean back to the gang. For whatever reason, the then seventeen-year-old Sean decided that Arthur was to be his big brother, always following him around and asking questions about guns and his robbing in the old days. He was also very determined to find out why Arthur stopped robbing.

Not everyone knew about what happened with the O'Driscolls. Dutch and Susan never talked about it. Hosea, when asked, only called it the worst decision he ever had to make but one he would never regret. Everyone else who'd been there at the time just directed the new folk to Arthur, saying that it was his story to tell. Not everyone asked. Arthur would certainly tell them if they did, but most folk whispered rumors and shared theories, worried about offending Arthur with their questions.

Until Sean came along, of course. When Sean heard the rumors, he boldly announced that he was going to find out what happened, no matter what. Sean's method involved increasingly outlandish guesses rather than simply asking, and it was Sean's unearned confidence that convinced Arthur to start the game. Snakebite was a rather reasonable choice, much more reasonable than his idea that Arthur had previously been a pirate who got attacked by a shark. Somehow, Sean couldn't think up something as simple as a nasty shotgun wound, and no one in the gang would reveal the full story until he did.

At least Sean took to Arthur a lot better than Bill Williamson. Another man who tried to kill Dutch before being brought back to camp, Bill was awkward and unsure of how Arthur fit into the gang. The others were quick to defend Arthur, making them slow to warm up to Bill. That, and Bill was often drunk and only showed value as a gun, rarely picking up the extra chores that a camp of their size required. Arthur and Bill eventually did find some common ground over the fact that they both loved their horses. Bill rode a huge Ardennes named Brown Jack, and doted on the animal almost as much as Arthur did with Boadicea.

All Arthur truly cared about when it came to new members of the gang was them being good to Isaac. Both were, even if Arthur worried about Sean's determination to become a role model to Isaac and teach him how to be a gunslinger.

They also gained a reverend named Orville Swanson, who saved Dutch's life by hitting the man who had him at gunpoint over the head with a bible. Dutch felt that he owed Swanson a debt, and invited him to join the gang, only later learning that the bible was hollowed out to hide Swanson's drugs and that Swanson himself was rarely sober enough to help around camp. Still, Dutch didn't mind him saying, insisting that they had place for all lost souls.

Dutch's magician friend, Josiah Trelawny, joined them for a scam from time to time, and they briefly had an Austrian immigrant named Leopold Strauss with them as well, though Annabelle ended up shouting at him about his money making method, mainly predatory lending to the poor. He left to find a different opportunity. Molly left as well, and Arthur couldn't say he was surprised. While Molly craved adventure, she wasn't used to the hard work required with staying in the gang now that she wasn't the center of Dutch's attention, and often clashed with the other women in the camp. Karen theorized that it was Miss Grimshaw who ultimately drove her away.

"Come on, Arthur," Sean said, holding up the dead snake once again. "I haven't gotten anything from you, yet."

Arthur gave gifts to gang members when he was struck with inspiration. Gloves, a new pair of boots, a new vest… it all depended on what the person needed. "Fine! I'll see what I can do," he said, taking the snake. "This should make a good band, now I just need something for the hat itself. Pronghorn, or maybe sheepskin."

"Keep the head, will yah? I want any lawmen or bounty hunter to be staring into the jaws of that snake when they see me coming."

"Yeah, and then they'll shoot you there," Arthur said.

"Hey, Arthur, we going into town today?" Uncle asked.

"Naw, I'm going to take Isaac out for some pronghorn."

"Well, what am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know, work maybe?" Arthur suggested sarcastically.

"I'm going into town."

Arthur rolled his eyes and waved him off. "Isaac, you ready?"

Over the last few years, Arthur started introducing Isaac to low caliber guns, starting with hunting rabbits with a varmint rifle and working up to repeaters. Arthur wasn't too concerned with perfect pelts when he took Isaac out. It wasn't always easy getting a clean shot, and they could always use the meat with their growing gang.

Isaac ran over, his repeater slung over his shoulder. "Ready, Pa!"

"Good. You're finding us a herd," Arthur said, and they mounted up. Isaac nudged Daisy into a trot, and they were off into the desert.

The gang's search for good ranch land had taken them across much of the country, with little success. The open grasslands in Kansas and Nebraska were too close to the big cities of the east, the Grizzlies weren't great for ranching, the deserts of Utah and Nevada they were currently in were too hot. At this rate, Dutch was going to drive them to the Pacific Ocean, only to find that countless boats were bringing too many folk into Los Angeles and San Francisco, and they'd probably turn right around again.

Arthur didn't mind. He liked traveling around the country, and Isaac was thriving. His son loved riding and hunting with him, and was starting to learn how to sew clothes. He was a good shot, too, as Arthur realized when Isaac lined up a head shot on one of the pronghorn.

"Good job, son!" Arthur said.

"I can't believe I did it! It's perfect!" Isaac said.

"Now, you have to keep it perfect when you skin it. You remember what to do?"

"I think so," Isaac said, grabbing his knife.

With Arthur supervising, Isaac skinned the pronghorn by himself, carefully cutting and wrapping the meat, too. Arthur let Isaac load the pelt on Daisy, hauling up the pronghorn carcass himself, since Isaac was still a little small to be carrying it. But Isaac was growing fast, and Arthur couldn't help but wonder how much longer he'd have to carry those weights for him.

They were back early, given their success, and dropped the meat off with Mr. Pearson. "Well, we know who we'll be toasting tonight for this stew!"

Just as they finished cleaning up their horses and Arthur had pulled off his wooden leg to give the limb a rest, he heard raised voices at the edge of camp. "What's going on?" Isaac wondered.

"I'll go see," Arthur said, grabbing his crutches and making his way over to where Dutch was talking to Uncle. Whatever was going on, he hoped he wouldn't have to deal with it. Hosea liked to joke that once the leg came off, Arthur was done for the day.

"I thought I made it clear that your whoring was to be done outside of camp," Dutch said to Uncle.

"Oh, I know what you said," Uncle started, but Dutch cut him off again.

"Then why did you bring this woman back here? Miss, I am truly sorry that you traveled all this way. You are welcome to food and a place for the night, with no obligations."

"Thank you, sir," the woman said. She was rather young, with dark brown hair, blue eyes, and a few freckles on her light skin.

"What's going on?" Arthur asked, though he already knew it was Uncle being Uncle.

"Uncle decided that certain rules don't apply to him," Dutch said.

"Stew will be on in an hour or so," Arthur told her. "What's your name?"

"Abigail Roberts."

"Good to meet you, Miss Roberts. I'm Arthur. Make yourself at home. You can sit by the fire, or some of the girls are in a tent by that wagon if you're more comfortable there."

Dutch waited until Abigail was out of earshot to continue. "Why did you bring her here?"

"I was trying to tell you!" Uncle said. "I thought she could help the gang. Not with that, unless she wants to, of course. She was robbing them fools, went through their pockets while they was still half-dazed in bed. Was making a decent haul, I'd say, so I invited her here."

"So she can sleep with our men and rob them, too?"

"No! We can help each other out. She's been stuck in this same town for ages now. She's looking for a way out, and I thought helping out poor, unfortunate folk was sort of your thing."

Dutch sighed and said, "Let me discuss this with Arthur and Hosea. As I said, she can stay the night, but if we decide this isn't going to work out-"

"I know, I know," Uncle said, and went to find Abigail. Dutch called Hosea and Annabelle over to his tent, and Arthur sat down in one of his chairs.

Dutch paced back and forth in the tent. "One of these days, I'm going to have enough of that man!"

"Did he bring her back to be a gang member or for the men?" Annabelle asked, annoyed but trying not to assume.

"He thinks she can be an asset. And sure, I suppose, but he should have brought me to meet her, not the other way around!"

"She's pretty young," Hosea said.

"Uncle made it seem like she's been working for a while," Arthur said with a frown.

"Do you think she's in trouble?" Annabelle asked.

"Only one way to find out. We'll talk to her, a bit later. Let her get some food and relax for the night. We'll see what we can learn," Dutch decided.

Arthur got up and went to the fire, where Abigail was meeting the gang members. Sean seemed particularly interested in her, and Arthur chased him off. Until they knew more about Abigail, he was determined that no one would sleep with her.

"Food will be ready soon," Arthur said. "You doing alright?"

"I'm fine. What's your name again?"

"Arthur Morgan."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Morgan," she said. "Have you been with the gang long?"

"About fifteen years now," Arthur said.

"Really? That long?"

"Yeah, it's been a long time." Arthur pointed over towards Isaac and said, "That's my son, Isaac."

"Uncle said the gang is like a family, I didn't think so literally," she laughed.

"Well, I'm the only one with a kid here. But the gang is family. Dutch and Hosea practically raised me. They saved me when I was fourteen," Arthur said. "How old are you, Abigail?"

"Eighteen," Abigail said.

"And how long have you been alone?"

She hesitated. "For a while. I've been working at saloons, cleaning at first and waitressing, but that doesn't make much money."

"I'm sorry," Arthur said.

"It ain't a glamorous life, that's for sure," she said. "But I'm surviving. I will survive, until I can get out of here."

That she would, Arthur realized. Abigail had been dealt a terrible hand in life, but she wasn't about to give up. "Where do you want to go?"

"I always thought I'd get married one day and live in a big house," Abigail sighed. "But I'm starting to think that may just be a fantasy."

"There's nothing wrong with a little dreaming," Arthur said.

"So, does your wife mind living with a gang?"

"Oh, I'm not married," Arthur said. "Isaac's mother passed a long time ago, and we… it's a bit of a long story."

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to bring anything up."

"Don't worry about it. Like I said, it's been several years now."

She looked like she wanted to say more, but Mr. Pearson shouted from his wagon, "Stew's ready!"

"How about you get yourself something to eat," Arthur said.

"Thank you. Should I, uh, bring you some?" Abigail asked.

Just then, Hosea appeared with two bowls. "Here you are, Arthur."

"Thanks, Hosea!"

"You can let me know what you think of Mr. Pearson's latest experimenting," he laughed.

"Generosity with a price, old man?" Arthur joked, taking a bite. "It tastes fine to me."

Hosea took Abigail's vacated spot when she went to get her own food. "So, what do you think of her?"

"I don't know. She seems nice enough. Uncle was right, she does want to get out of this town one day. Dreams of a better life, and don't we all."

"Her story sound genuine? Uncle said she was robbing her customers. She could be a good actor."

"Why? You looking for an apprentice?" Arthur laughed. "I think she was genuine."

"Well, I'll have to talk to her," Hosea said. "And Dutch and Annabelle will, too, but as long as she's willing to work, she can stay."

"Yeah, but not that kind of work, right?" Arthur said. He looked over at Abigail, talking with John and Davey. "It's just kind of odd, her being in camp for that."

"I understand," Hosea said carefully. "We'll have to discuss with her what she wants to do. And if she wants to offer her… services… in camp, there will have to be rules."

"It's just odd, you know? Would folk in camp really… I mean I know people do, but…"

Hosea chuckled and said, "Now, I know you don't really care for that sort of thing-"

"Paying a working girl? No, of course not!"

"I more meant… oh, never mind."

"What?"

"Just that you ain't the kind to sleep around, that's all. Mary was the only girl you ever even looked at. Hell, Dutch and I almost didn't believe it when you came back saying you knocked up a girl."

"You saying there's something wrong with me?" Arthur asked.

"Of course not, son," Hosea said, patting him on the back. "I'm just saying that some of the boys might think differently about having her around."

Arthur stared at Hosea, confused, but Hosea changed the subject. "Isaac was saying earlier he landed a good shot while you two were hunting."

"It was a perfect shot!" Arthur said, putting their conversation aside for the moment. "He's gotten so good, it's incredible!"

Weeks passed without any incidents, and Abigail began to settle into the gang. She was unsure of her place at first, offering her services to the men of the gang. Some took her up on it. Arthur didn't. As time went on, Abigail started doing more chores around camp and some scams with Hosea instead of having sex with gang members or men in town.

Though she was spending a lot of time with John.

"So, what do you like to do for fun around here?" Abigail asked John one night.

"Well, the robbing is pretty fun," John said. He lifted up his beer bottle. "So is drinking."

"I mean besides that," she said.

"I like playing poker," John said. "Fishing with Hosea, playing with Copper, that's always good."

"You and Hosea seem pretty close."

"Yeah, he's like a father to me. To Arthur as well. I met him and Dutch when I was twelve. They saved my life."

"They're good people," Abigail said.

"What about you? What do you do for fun?" John asked.

"Not much. Haven't had the time, always working. There's a lot I wish I did. Wish I knew how to read. Folk who read books always seem happy."

"I don't know. Never really got into them myself. The only reason I learned was because Hosea and Dutch thought it was necessary. They're the ones who taught me."

"No one working in the saloons really cared for reading, either. I did get to learn some piano, though."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I can play a couple of songs," Abigail said, smiling at the memory.

"You know, if you're looking for some fun, I've got an idea," John said, and that was when Arthur excused himself from the conversation. He really didn't want to know where that was going.

"Come on, Copper, let's go for a walk. Isaac, want to go fishing?"

"Oh, uh, Sean is going to teach me blackjack," Isaac said awkwardly.

"Just don't let Sean take too much of your money," Arthur said, trying not to let his disappointment show.

"I'll go with you, Arthur," Dutch said. "It's been a while since we spent time together."

They wandered out of camp and down towards the river, Copper running ahead and barking at squirrels. Arthur couldn't help but look back at the camp, and Dutch just laughed. "They grow up so fast, don't they?"

"My son is learning how to gamble, and that's all you have to say?"

"I know what it's like raising sons, Arthur, in case you've forgotten."

"Yeah, you sure know exactly what it's like, don't you? Your youngest was John at twelve," Arthur laughed.

"Well, you have me there."

"You and Annabelle ever consider having kids?"

"Could you imagine having a baby in camp? Having Isaac around when he was four was worrying enough," Dutch joked. But Arthur glanced up at him, wondering if he was only pretending, and Dutch noticed. "We discussed it a few times, son. This gang? This is the family Anna and I want."

"Yeah, I understand. As much as I miss when Isaac was small, it certainly wasn't easy."

"It might be different now. The gang was small back then, and it was a lot harder making sure someone was in camp with him," Dutch said thoughtfully.

"Do I need to warn Anna that you're changing your mind?" Arthur teased.

"Maybe once we have a ranch," Dutch replied.

"Well, don't wait too long to pick a place. You're almost forty, and she ain't that far behind."

"Shut up, Arthur!"

Three months later, they were forced to revisit the conversation about what to do with a baby in camp.

Because Abigail was pregnant.