Arthur and Emmeline ride the whole rest of the day, only stopping a handful of times to relieve themselves and get a bite to eat. They are mostly silent the whole way, except for when Emmeline points out that they've double backed for the second time.
"Just in case someone's following us," Arthur explains.
Arthur's meandering trail makes the ride all the longer. It isn't until well after the sun sets that they finally start to ride into a little town.
"Stay close to me," Arthur comments back to Emmeline. "The people here ain't exactly trustworthy."
She looks around at the dilapidated buildings, half sunk boats docked beside ruined docks, and drunks stumbling around the street openly. "What is this place?"
"Van Horne," Arthur answers. "There's a hotel just down the road. We're gonna get a room and stay a couple days."
"Here?"
"Law don't come around here much, so it's the best place for us to lay low."
After they hitch their horses and pay for the room, Arthur leads Emmeline upstairs. Once they're inside their room, Emmeline looks around with an uncertain look on her face. The room is well worn, the wood on the walls and floors are cracked and gray and the sparse furniture looks like it may break at any second. "We're staying here?" she asks again.
He lets out a sigh. "I know, Emma. This ain't exactly the best accommodations, but it's better than wherever them Pinkertons woulda took us to." He brushes off the bed then pushes his hand into the mattress to test it. "Ain't bad. Go ahead and take the bed. Get some rest. I'll stay up and keep watch." He turns his back to her to turn down the thin blanket, hoping she'll take his suggestion.
"Arthur."
He doesn't turn back. "What?"
"Was all that true?"
He stops what he's doing and turns to face her. "You need some rest." He gestures to the bed, still trying to delay this conversation.
"You promised you'd tell me," she pleads quietly.
He scratches at the back of his neck before he starts. "I did, didn't I?" He sits down on the edge of the bed and looks up to her. "It's true," he admits as he takes off his hat and sets it on the nightstand.
Emmeline moves to sit down next to him and takes a moment for that to sink in. "Dutch? The man that took you in? He's my father?"
"Yes," Arthur answers simply.
"So my mother..." she gets choked up, "stepped out on my father-" she stops herself, "Joseph," she corrects.
"No." Arthur lets out a breath. "I weren't there for all this, but Dutch told me what happened all them years ago. He..." he thinks of how to say it, "visited your mama every few months after they met. One time when he saw her, she was pregnant with you. I guess Joseph stepped up before Dutch even knew she was with child. Joseph agreed to marry your mother and raise you as his own. All three 'a them agreed that would be best, that you never know Dutch was your real father. He agreed to stay away."
She blinks a few times trying to come to terms with all of this. "So they lied to me. My whole life."
He lets out a sigh. "You gotta understand, it was for your own good. They didn't want you around the outlaw life. Your mama was so scared of you getting hurt because of the way Dutch lives. But when she knew she was gonna pass, I guess she was more afraid of you being alone in the end, that you wouldn't be able to take care of yourself. That's why she wrote Dutch and asked him to look after you."
"But you looked after me."
"Dutch... He still didn't want you to get too close to us. That's why he sent me. And that's why he didn't want me to tell you about him."
"Oh." Emmeline isn't quite sure how to take that.
"But he, uh," Arthur continues hesitantly, "he knows that we... He read your letter. And he weren't too happy with me about... what happened. He forbade me from seein' you again."
"What?" she bites back. "Is that why you never came back to me?"
"Well..." He scratches the back of his neck in nervousness as he casts his gaze down. "I agreed with him," he admits. "I didn't mean to..." he searches for the right word, "have those kinda feelings for you. And then it happened and I was scared cuz..." He lets out a breath. "Cuz I don't know if I can be the kinda man you deserve. So I thought it would be best if I just left. I thought you'd just forget about me and go on with your life." When he finally looks up to her, he's surprised to see her slightly angry expression.
"So I don't get a say?"
"Well-"
She doesn't give him the chance to finish that thought. "So you and a man I've never met know what's best for me better than I do?" she asks, anger leaching more into her voice. "You have no idea how lonely I was after you left. I thought I did something wrong. I thought you hated me," she explains.
Arthur casts his head down, understanding why she's feeling the way she is. Not to mention that Hosea had expressly told him that it would be a mistake to just run away without talking it over with her first. It turns out, he was right.
"I'm sorry I hurt you," he says genuinely. "I'm a fool." He looks over to her with a serious expression. "But the way I live is dangerous. I know I shoulda told you all this sooner when we got close, but I really just wanted you safe. And now..." His eyes trail over her stomach automatically without him thinking about it.
She follows his gaze and sets her hand on her still flat belly. "Are you angry with me?"
His eyes flick up to hers. "Angry? For what?"
"For falling pregnant?"
"Of course not, Emma. I ain't mad atcha. It's just as much my doing as it it yours. More so, probably."
"So you're happy about it?"
He pauses, unsure of what to say. "I don't know," he finally answers truthfully. "Ain't thought about children in years." He looks away. "I was engaged once, when I was younger. I thought we'd have kids one day. Looked forward to it, actually. But she broke it off in the end." He lets out a sigh. "I know she loved me. Parts of me, anyways. But it was those parts of me she didn't love that kept her from marrying me. After that, I knew that no woman would love me. Not all of me." He lets out a heavy breath. "No woman should love me, the way I am. The things I've done..." he trails off.
"That's not true," Emmeline replies quietly. "Everyone can be loved."
"I ain't so sure. Some people just ain't meant to have good things happen to them."
It breaks her heart to see just how deep seeded Arthur's hatred for himself is. It's pretty evident that she's not going to change his mind about himself overnight, but she's willing to take the time to try. That is, if he wants her in his life in the future.
"What do you want to do?" she finally asks.
He just gives her a puzzled look.
"I-I can go back home, call on one of those midwives and go it alone-"
"No." He cuts her off automatically. "I ain't gonna make you do this by yourself." He places his hand on hers, hoping that she's okay with the contact. "I'm gonna be there for you. No matter what."
Relief washes over her. The thought of having a child with no support had been weighing heavily on her since she left the doctor's office. She hadn't known what Arthur's true feelings would be, so she thought it quite possible that he would want to cut her off completely. Thankfully, that's not the case.
"Will you live with me back home?" she asks naively.
"We can't go back there, Emma. Yet, anyway. Those Pinkertons know who you are, so you ain't safe. We're gonna stay here for a few days then head to my camp and tell Dutch about all this. Then... we'll see what we can do."
"Oh. Okay." She feels a sense of apprehension at the thought of meeting the man that she's only just found out is her father. She's heard some things about him from Arthur, but she's still going to be meeting a complete stranger.
"We should keep it between us about... what the doctor said, though," he suggests. "Just... for now."
She nods. "Yeah. I suppose that's what we should do."
He pauses before he asks, "Are you happy?"
"I..." she starts. "I always wanted children, but I never thought seriously about it since I never had any suitors or nothing. But I guess I am getting older..."
He lets out a little chuckle. "You ain't old."
"My mom was only twenty when she had me, so I'm a year older than she was." She tucks some of her hair behind her ear. "I'm a little afraid, I guess. But... I don't regret it," she replies genuinely. "Do you regret it?" she asks softly, afraid of the answer.
He thinks a moment. "Nah," he finally says. "I don't regret this happenin'. But I guess I'm afraid, too." He can feel his eyes start to well up a little as he finally allows the emotions to come up to the surface. "There's a kid back at camp, just four years old, born into the gang. Good kid. We all love him, take care of him the best we can... but we all know that ain't no way for a kid to live. Always on the road, away from other kids. I think he's lonely." He looks away to shake his head. "I'd never wanna raise a kid like that. But I don't know how to live any other life than the one I am. How could I leave everyone I've ever known? And I ain't never had an honest job in my life. How am I gonna provide for you and a little one if I don't steal or grift?"
She gently swipes her fingers under his cheek, ridding it of a tear that had fallen. "We will figure it out. And I have all the faith in the world that you are capable enough to use your talents to make money in an honest way."
Her genuine words ease some of the fears inside him. He places his hand on her face and gently brings her forward to kiss her cheek. "I did miss you," he whispers without pulling back.
Her lips curl into a soft smile. "I missed you, too."
He gently caresses her cheek with his thumb as he leans back to look at her. "You should get some sleep." He stands from the bed then kneels down in front of her to take off her shoes.
With her shoes tossed aside, she pulls her legs up under the blanket. "What about you?"
"I'm gonna stay up for a bit." He tucks her in and kisses her forehead. "Goodnight, Emma." He blows out the candles lighting the room and moves to sit on the floor beside Emmeline with his back pressed up against the bed frame facing the door. Once her breathing evens out, signaling that she's asleep, he unholsters his pistol and sets it in his lap, ready in case someone comes to the door.
They don't leave the room the next day (except for Arthur to check on the horses, which he does as quickly as possible). Fortunately, Arthur has enough provisions in his satchel for the both of them not to go hungry, though Emmeline finds that the salted meat turns her stomach. The canned fruit she's luckily able to eat just fine. After the sun goes down, Arthur gets into position on the floor with Emmeline in the bed just like the night before. She finds that her concern for Arthur is causing her to have trouble getting to sleep.
After a few minutes, she speaks up. "You need to sleep, Arthur."
"I'm fine," he replies, his gravely voice betraying him and conveying just how tired he is.
"If we're gonna leave in the morning, you need your sleep. You need to rest."
"I'm alright," he insists, but Emmeline isn't buying it.
She hops out of the bed and goes over to the dresser on the front wall. When she starts to push it towards the door, Arthur jumps up and walks over to her.
"You're gonna hurt yourself." He pulls her back gently so she'll stop. "What are you doing?"
"I know you're worried about someone coming in, but you need to sleep. Instead of you watching the door all night, we can barricade it so you can actually rest."
He lets out a sigh, knowing that she's right. He certainly is tired and the ride to the camp outside of Rhodes isn't a short one from here.
Letting out a huff, he concedes. "Alright." He pushes the dresser the rest of the way to block the door then moves to lay on the floor.
"Take the bed," Emmeline suggests.
"No. You sleep on the bed. I'm fine on the floor."
"We can share," she provides easily.
He looks up at her. "You sure? You gonna be comfortable with me in the bed, too? It ain't very big."
"That bed's not comfortable as it is," she answers with a laugh. "You might make it a little better."
He chuckles back. "Alright then. If that's what you want." He didn't want to impose on her by thinking that she'd be okay sharing a bed with him. Even though they have shared a bed before, he would never want to assume she'd want to without her specifically telling him she did. As far as he thinks, most women wouldn't want to be so close to him, which is, of course, not true.
As they finally lay down together, Emmeline cuddles right up to Arthur immediately, laying her head on his shoulder and wrapping her arm around his chest. The ease with which she relaxes next to him has it clicking in his head that she truly does care for him. As he allows that to sink in, he relaxes as well. He wraps his own arm around her back, putting his hand in her waist and savoring the feeling of her close to him.
"You comfortable?" he asks just to make sure.
"Yeah," she answers easily and cuddles into him more, reveling in the comfort he provides her.
Before the sun even fully rises the next day, they're on the road. Arthur makes sure to use the less travelled trails in case Milton or any other Pinkertons are still around looking for them. When they finally ride up to the camp at Clemens Point, it's late afternoon.
"Who's there?" Charles, on guard duty, calls out from the trees at the edge of camp as soon as he hears the approaching horses.
"It's Arthur," he answers. "And Emma." He slows to a stop as Charles walks out to greet him. "Will you watch over her for a minute?" Arthur asks, gesturing back to Emmeline.
She starts to dismount as soon as Miss Sparrow is stopped, the long rides both from today and before taking a toll on her legs and back.
"Yeah. Everything okay?" Charles asks Arthur as he helps Emmeline down automatically.
Arthur completely ignores the question. "Micah here?"
"He left this morning. Hasn't been back."
That's good news to Arthur.
"Just stay out here with her," he commands to Charles with a meaningful look.
Charles just gives him a nod in reply.
Arthur continues to follow the trail through the trees until he gets to the clearing of the camp. He hitches Sparrow at the closest hitch and feeds her a carrot before he moves from the spot. As he walks further into camp, he sees Dutch and Hosea talking with each other just outside of Dutch's tent.
"Arthur!" Dutch calls out jovially once he sees his approach. "I was about ready to send Charles to see after you."
"We three need to talk," Arthur says to the two men, only pausing his motion slightly before walking out toward the lake shore. He makes sure to look around camp, noting who is around and more importantly, who isn't.
"What's this about?" Hosea asks as he follows the younger man, Dutch falling into step, too, behind him.
Arthur doesn't say another word until they get far enough away from camp that he's sure no one else can hear. "I talked with the Pinkertons," he blurts out as he turns back to the older men.
Dutch gives him a confused look. "What do you mean you talked with them?"
"Agents Milton and Ross. They was outside Emmeline's waiting for her," he answers.
Dutch whips his head to Hosea, then back to glare at Arthur at the mention of his secret daughter.
Hosea lets out a huff. "I've known about her for years, Dutch. You really think I wouldn't have figured out where you was headed off to all those times when you left money for her and the red haired farm girl?"
"You knew all these years? Why didn't you say anything?" Dutch asks.
"I was waiting for you come clean," Hosea asks.
"That don't matter now." Arthur gets them back to the matter at hand. "They knew about Emmeline, Dutch. They knew she was your daughter."
Dutch's eyes go wide with worry as that sinks in. "Where is she?"
"Outside. With Charles."
Dutch narrows his eyes on Arthur. "What were you doing at Emmeline's?"
Hosea jumps in before Arthur can answer. "Start at the beginning, son."
Arthur lets out a sigh. "I ran into Emma in Valentine and she got upset," he starts, then skips the part at the doctor's office. "I escorted her home and when we rode up, two Pinkertons were there waiting for her. They was gonna take her to get you to go after her so they could arrest you."
Dutch scratches at his chin. "How did they know about her?"
"They didn't say," Arthur says. "But I think it's obvious."
"What's that?" Hosea asks.
"Someone here had to've overheard us talkin' about her." Arthur holds his arms out then drops them. "And we all know of someone that's always eavesdropping on what he ain't supposed to."
"Micah," Hosea provides easily.
"We don't know we even got a mole here," Dutch says, unwilling to accept what Arthur is saying. "I know you've never liked Micah, but we can't go accusing him of something this serious."
Arthur can't stop himself from rolling his eyes. "Why can't you see it, Dutch? The way he treats us all. All the shit that's happened since he's been here. The ferry job-"
Dutch doesn't let him finish. "You weren't there!" he booms. "You don't know what happened!"
"I know that all our money was safe until you asked me to go get it!" Arthur bites back. "Then suddenly two dumbasses are smart enough to find it. Almost like someone knew where it was and told them to go get it before I could!"
Hosea steps between the two men before it gets any more heated. "Alright now." He holds his hands up to them. "We'll keep our eyes on Micah. If he's innocent, no harm no foul. If he's a rat, we'll put him down accordingly."
Arthur lets out a heavy breath. "I don't trust him."
Hosea gives him a pointed look. "We can't go executing him unless we're sure."
Arthur picks up on what he's implying. The only way to convince Dutch is to catch Micah red handed.
"Hosea is right," Dutch comments, completely missing Hosea's subtext. "Micah's one of us until he isn't." He gives Arthur a pointed look. "And if he is informing on us, why haven't the Pinkertons come here yet?" he adds, not believing the man could be that disloyal. "Surely they'd know we're here if they've been talking with him."
Arthur just stares at Dutch for a moment. "Well the Pinkertons are onto us, regardless. As soon as they saw me, they asked me to get you out in the open. They said they'd spare everyone else if I did. I think they're just tryin' to make it easy on themselves."
"What'd you tell them?" Dutch asks.
"That I haven't seen you in months."
Dutch steps forward to pat Arthur's shoulder. "Good, good." He takes his hand back to smooth his fingers over his mustache. "Emmeline... she knows then?"
Arthur nods. "She knows everything. Who we are. Who you are."
Dutch nods and flicks his eyes to Hosea for a moment before putting them back on Arthur. "Guess it's time we meet. Bring her out here."
Arthur walks out through the camp and to the trees to fetch Emmeline. As he walks her back through their living space, everyone's eyes are on the newcomer following behind Arthur curious as to who she is and why she's here. No one says anything, though.
Once Arthur leads Emmeline to the water's edge where Dutch and Hosea are standing, she recognizes the dark haired man.
"I saw you once. In Valentine," she mentions to Dutch.
He walks over to her with a soft smile on his face and places his hand on her cheek. "I'm not surprised you're a clever girl." He lets out a sigh as he looks her over more closely. "You look so much like your mother. I cared deeply for her. She was a good woman."
"She was," Emmeline responds sadly at her memory. "Arthur told me about you. That you're my father. And that my parents lied to me about it."
Dutch lets out a sigh. "I expect that was quite a shock to you. But know that it was all for your own good."
"Like forbidding Arthur to see me," she bites back quickly.
Hosea can't hold back his laugh."This girl is sharp. I like her already."
Dutch lets out a strained chuckle. "Yes. That was for your own good, too. I love Arthur like a son, but I didn't want you involved in our way of life. I knew if the two of you continued to see each other, it would be impossible to keep you separate from us."
"I may not be worldly, Mr. Van Der Linde," she replies, "but I can make my own decisions about who I want to be with. And I don't appreciate being lied to."
Dutch flicks his eyes to Arthur, but the younger man averts his gaze. "I am sorry Emmeline. I just wanted to keep you safe." Dutch takes a step forward and slowly wraps his arms around her in a somewhat awkward hug. "I am so glad you're here, though." After he pulls back, he leaves a kiss on the top of her head. "You can never know how much I've wished to actually meet you."
As Dutch moves away from her, Hosea steps forward with his hand outstretched. "I'm Hosea. I hope Arthur has spoken well of me."
Emmeline gives him a warm smile as she shakes his hand. "He's told me that the two of you took him off the streets and raised him as your own."
"That is true," Hosea confirms.
Dutch jumps back in. "For now, I want to keep your parentage quiet, alright?" he says to her.
She nods. "Okay." Now she has two secrets to keep from everyone. She hopes she can pull it off.
"It'll cut down on all the questions," Dutch adds. "And it might lead us to how exactly the Pinkertons knew about you. That is, if we find someone that knows when they shouldn't know."
Arthur doesn't say anything, though he's still sure Micah is the rat.
Dutch walks over to Arthur and lays his hand on his shoulder. "You're going to keep her safe, you hear?" he commands in a way that leaves no questions to be asked. "She stays with you at all times."
"I was gonna suggest the same thing," Arthur comments, already on board with that. There is no way he'll et anything happen to Emmeline. Especially now.
"We introduce her as Arthur's woman," Dutch says to everyone. "We'll try to stick with the truth as much as we can. We say her mother knew Hosea and I years ago and wrote me to help her out after she died. We sent Arthur to see her and the two got sweet on each other. He decided to bring her here. We don't mention she's my kin. We don't mention the Pinkertons know that." He looks to Arthur again. "Alright?"
"Yeah," Arthur agrees.
"Yes," Hosea says, too and Emmeline nods.
"Good." Dutch stands up straight and squares his shoulders as he straightens his jacket. "Lets go tell the gang we have a new member." He puts on his most charming smile and starts to head back into camp. "Everyone! Gather around. We have some news!"