A few days pass but the events of that last night Arthur had with Emmeline still weigh heavily on him. There's a part of him that loved being with her, but he still feels a tremendous sense of guilt for what happened. If he had only stopped himself, he could have stayed with Emmeline for these past few days. But as it is now, he's stalking that wolf up in Ambarino trying to get his mind off of the girl in Valentine.
It doesn't really work, though. As he rides to the nearest trapper with the wolf's carcass tied to the back of his horse, all he can think about is that Emmeline has been at her house all alone. Something could have happened to her and he wouldn't even know. But then again, if he goes running back to her, things will probably just get worse.
He can't trust himself around her; he knows that now. And the worst possible outcome he sees happening from him seeing her again would be that she falls in love with him. He doesn't want that life for her. His life for her. He wants her far away from outlaws and everything he lives for.
It's best if he stays away now, he's sure of it. But there's still that nagging voice in his head telling him to drop everything and go be with her.
Once he rides back into camp with the extra $46 he got from selling that wolf, he finds Charles sitting around the fire all by himself working on some arrows.
"Hey, Charles," he greets.
The man looks up from his hands to him. "Arthur."
"You busy right now?"
"Not really."
"Would you do me a favor?"
Charles thinks a moment. "Sure." He stands to level his eyes with Arthur's.
"Would you ride out to that farmhouse outside of Valentine? Check on Emmeline."
"You can't do it?"
Arthur lowers his gaze and shakes his head. "Nah. I got somethin' else to do. But..." he looks up, "would you, please?"
Charles pauses for a moment. "Yeah. I'll check on her."
"Just make sure she's got firewood cut. And maybe hunt a little for her dinner. That's all really."
Charles can tell that there's something going on with Arthur, but it's not his place to try to drag it out of him if he doesn't want to talk about it. Arthur has done the same for him in the past, just being there for him without pushing. So he just nods and heads off to his horse, Taima.
Unbeknownst to Arthur, Micah had been eavesdropping in on his conversation.
"Well," Micah slinks up to Arthur. "What was that all about?"
Arthur lets out a frustrated sigh. "None 'a your business, Micah."
"Oh, but I think it is. I think it's all of our business." He gestures broadly to the camp. "Cuz we should all know where your loyalties lie."
Arthur glares back at the man. "Loyalty? You ain't been here but six months an' you ain't been nothin' but trouble!"
Micah nods sarcastically. "I see. But who do you think it was kept all these people fed all them weeks while you were off doing whatever it was you were? Who was it bringin' in money?" He leans into Arthur's space. "Cuz it sure weren't you."
"Get outta my face, Micah, 'fore you find yourself with an extra hole in your head," Arthur growls.
Micah doesn't move right away, but after a moment, starts to laugh lowly. "Big talk, cowpoke." He takes a step back. "Real big talk."
Arthur stands there and watches Micah walk all the way to the hitching post where his horse, Baylock, is. He watches the man get up into the saddle and ride off away from camp. When he finally moves from the spot he was standing, he's left wondering just how much of that conversation Micah heard. And just how much he knows.
Meanwhile, Charles rides up to Emmeline's house. It takes a bit to get there, since their camp is at Clemens Point outside of Rhodes, but it's not a bad ride. Before he steps down from his saddle, Emmeline opens the door, coming out of her house to greet him.
"H-Hello, Mr. Smith," she calls out cordially, though she can't hide her disappointment that Arthur hadn't been the one arriving.
"Hello, Emmeline." He walks up to her door. "Arthur wanted me to check in on you."
"He couldn't come?" she asks, though she isn't sure if she wants the answer. All she can think is that she had done something wrong to make him hate her. The thought just about breaks her heart.
"He was busy," he answers, not elaborating at all. He figures something happened between the two of them that made Arthur want to stay away, but he doesn't want to put himself in between them. "I'm going to get you some rabbit for dinner. Then I'll cut up some firewood. Do you need anything else?"
She shakes her head. "No. I'm fine, really. You don't have to go through all that trouble for me," she replies sadly.
"It's no trouble." Without another word, he sets off to the woods to hunt for rabbit.
Once he leaves, Emmeline has the thought that if Arthur won't see her, how will she make things right between them? The only thing she can think to do is write him a letter, so that's exactly what she does. She finishes with what she wants to say just before Charles comes back with the rabbit meat.
"Thank you." She takes it from him. "I'll cook this up. You're staying to eat, right?"
He nods. "I'll cut the wood while you're cooking." He turns and goes back outside before she can say anything to him.
She lets out a sigh. Charles seems like a nice enough man, but he's not exactly good company. He's all business, it seems. And he's certainly not much of a conversationalist.
Later that night before Charles leaves, Emmeline stops him. "Could you give this to Arthur for me?" She hands him the folded up letter. "It's... uh. I just wanted to tell him..."
Charles takes it and puts it in his satchel. "I'll give it to him," he replies simply.
"Thank you for helping me." She's sad, but she doesn't want to be rude to this man.
"You don't really need much help. You're doing well out here."
She nods. "Well... Have a safe ride back."
Since Charles had come out anyway, he decides not to go back to camp empty handed. By the time he's back at camp with a deer carcass across his shoulders, it's well past sundown. Once he drops the deer off at Pearson's, he walks over to Arthur's tent, hoping he's still awake so he can pass off Emmeline's letter. There's no such luck, though, as Arthur's tent flaps are pulled down.
It isn't until the next morning that Charles finally hands the letter off to Arthur as he's pouring himself some coffee.
"Emmeline wanted me to give this to you." Charles holds out the letter.
"Oh." He takes it in his free hand. "Is she okay?"
"She's fine. She has a good setup out there. I don't think she needs to be checked up on."
Arthur scrunches up his face, reacting before he can school his features.
Charles can see that Arthur doesn't really like the prospect of her staying alone out there. "I'll still check on her if you want me to," he replies.
Not really knowing what to say, Arthur just nods and heads off to his tent to read the letter. He sits down on his cot and gently unfolds the paper.
Dear Arthur,
I want to tell you that no matter what, I will treasure the time we spent together. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you did for me. Not only did you teach me the skills I needed to take care of myself, but you blessed me with your companionship.
I never really had a friend before you. I love my mother dearly and always will, but I see now that she was too concerned with my safety to let me meet anyone else. I didn't realize just how lonely I really was until I actually had a friend. And now I've done something to make you leave me.
I will forever hold the events of our last night together dear in my heart. You made me feel things that I never thought possible in this life. Sharing my bed with you was so beautiful to me, Arthur, but I understand that maybe it wasn't the same for you. If I did anything wrong, I apologize whole heartedly and I hope you'll give me a chance to make things up to you. If it's more that you just don't want me as your woman, I understand that, too. But please know that if we can't be together in that way, I would very much still want you as my friend. Even if we only see each other every once in a while. Or maybe we could just talk through letters. Whatever the case, I hope you are happy and well and I very much would like to speak with you again.
Sincerely,
Emma
He reads the letter hurriedly, then again more slowly. As he reads it for a third time, he recognizes a familiar feeling deep within his chest. It's his heart breaking. But this time, he did it all to himself.
It's not like he didn't have a hand in his own heartbreak the first time around with Mary. But this is entirely on him. There is a woman that he cares for greatly and she's giving herself to him freely. He could just accept it. He could run to her right now and tell her she can be his.
But he feels that would be selfish because he can't be there for her all the time. He would be split between his responsibilities to the gang and being with her, just like with Mary. He doesn't want to do that to Emmeline. No matter how much he wants to be with her, he's convinced himself she's much better off without him.
"Uncle Arthur!" Jack's excited voice breaks Arthur out of his thoughts as the boy comes rushing into his tent.
"Whoa there, Jack. What is it?" Arthur sets the letter down on his bed to hold his hands out, stopping the little boy from careening right into him.
"I found a monster out by the water."
"What are you doing near the water? You ain't supposed to be out there."
Jack grabs ahold of Arthur's hand and pulls, wanting him to follow him. "Come on, Uncle Arthur. You gotta see it."
He lets out a breath before rising from his cot. "Fine. Show me this monster."
It's just a short walk to the edge of Flat Iron Lake, though it's even quicker with Jack's excitement making him run. Once Jack's "monster" comes into view, the boy starts to run over to it.
"See, Uncle Arthur." He points down to the rotting, waterlogged carcass of an animal. Probably a deer, if Arthur had to guess.
Arthur rushes over to Jack and pulls him away from it. "Don't play with that, Jack. It ain't a monster. It's just a deer."
"A deer?" The boy looks down at it curiously. "It doesn't look like a deer."
"It's been dead for a while floating in the water. That's why it don't look right."
"Oh."
"You find animals like this, don't mess with 'em, okay? They can make ya sick."
"Okay, Uncle Arthur."
"You didn't touch it, did ya?"
"I did with a stick."
He laughs a little. "Alright then. Why don't we head back to camp and you can tell your mom you need a washing."
The boy makes a disappointed noise. "I just had a bath."
Arthur just chuckles and scruffs Jack's hair. As they walk back up into camp, Arthur notices that people seem to be standing around. And Micah is in the center of the camp, speaking loudly. Once he gets closer, he realizes that Micah is reading from a piece of paper. And he recognizes the words spilling from his mouth.
Micah doesn't notice Arthur's approach as he continues to read from the letter, intoning it with a teasing voice. "...made me feel things that I never thought possible in this life. Sharing my bed with you was so beautiful to me, Arthur, but I understand-"
Arthur sees red and in a furious rage, he rushes over to tackle Micah to the ground. He swings his fists wildly at the man beneath him, blackening both eyes and busting his nose before Bill and Kieran pull him off.
"You piece of shit!" Arthur screams, struggling with the men holding him as Micah slowly rises from the ground.
All the blond haired man does is laugh under his breath as he wipes his bloody lip. "What, cowpoke? Don't want everyone to know about the whore you've been sneaking away to see?"
Bill and Kieran can barely restrain Arthur from attacking Micah again. That is, until Dutch's booming voice falls over the camp.
"Enough!" he screams. "Arthur, calm yourself. Micah, take a walk and shut your mouth."
Arthur settles, but he still breathes heavily as his anger barely dissipates.
Dutch looks Arthur right in the eye. "My tent. Now. Everyone else, find something to do!" As he walks back to his tent, he finds the piece of paper lying just where Micah dropped it. He picks it up and continues on his way.
"You okay?" Kieran asks quietly to Arthur.
"I'm fine," he growls out, shaking off the two men at his sides to follow Dutch.
Once Arthur walks through the flaps of the tent, he finds the man sitting on his bed, reading Emmeline's letter.
"Dutch-" he starts, but is cut off by a tut as the older man continues to read.
After a few moments Dutch neatly folds the letter and places it on the table beside him. He calmly rises to stand in front of Arthur.
"Let me-" Arthur is cut off by Dutch's fist connecting with his face. It isn't the hardest of punches, but it gets his point across.
"I told you not to touch her," he growls lowly.
Arthur stares at Dutch for a moment, unsure of what to say. "It just happened, Dutch. I didn't mean for it to."
"Did you tell her about me? Did you tell her I'm her father?"
"No. Of course not. I told her your name. And Hosea's. Said you raised me. That's it. That's all she knows. She don't know about the gang."
Dutch pulls out his handkerchief and wipes the drop blood from Arthur's mouth. "I don't want you seeing her again. You got too close. You let her get too close."
Arthur drops his gaze. "I know. I'm gonna stay away from her. I had Charles go out yesterday to see her. He said she's doing well enough on her own."
"Good." Dutch leans forward into his space. "Don't you ever disobey me like that again, Arthur," he whispers lowly.
"I won't."
Dutch pats him on the cheek and takes a step back. "Good. Your place is here with me, son. Don't you forget that." He turns back to sit on his cot. "Why don't you go and see if there's a stagecoach to rob or something. And don't you fight with Micah like that again."
Arthur nods. "Okay, Dutch."
When Arthur walks out of the tent, he finds Micah standing right beside it, looking a little worse for wear from the fight.
"You heard the man," Micah teases. "Seems like you owe me an apology."
"I ain't gonna fight with you. But I sure as hell ain't gonna apologize." He turns away from the man and walks toward Sparrow. "Why don't you just leave me the hell alone from now on."
Micah just chuckles lowly to himself as he watches Arthur mount up. It certainly has been an eventful day.