In honor of my second COVID shot and the fact that I'll probably be sleeping all day tomorrow because of it, you guys get an early chapter!

Also, this is the first week that I haven't been playing RDR2 in... a long time. I finally got 100% completion, so I started AC Valhalla. I already miss Arthur Morgan... perhaps it's time to start another playthrough...

Chapter 16: Tilly

"You know, Arthur Morgan, you should work on your people skills," Uncle said.

"And why would you say that?" Arthur said as he leaned back in his chair.

"I mean, without me, you'd never sell anything!"

Ever since Uncle joined their gang, he seemed to work very hard at getting out of work. So, when he realized that Arthur would often set up a stand in town, Uncle determined that Arthur needed him there to talk to potential customers and help make sales.

As much as Arthur hated to admit it, Uncle was sort of right. Normal folk Arthur could talk to. Most of them were grateful to find custom-made clothes meant for hard work outdoors. Rich people were something else, seeing Arthur's items as a fashion statement. So, Arthur and Uncle developed a system. Arthur spoke to the rich people first, setting a firm and high price for his work. Then Uncle stepped in, all smiles and apologizing for his gruff colleague. He set a new price, still way higher than Arthur charged the regular folk. Usually, the rich accepted.

It worked well for both of them. And Arthur would be alright with it if Uncle didn't find the need to constantly remind him of it.

"Without you, I'd actually get some peace and quiet," Arthur grumbled as he continued to stitch the coat he was making for a local rancher.

"Now why would you say that? I'm starting to think you don't like me," Uncle said, before another voice joined in.

"Ah, Arthur! There you are!" Dutch called out from down the street. Well, he might as well give up on the quiet. Ever since the gang arrived in Missouri, Dutch had thrown himself into planning robberies with a greater furor than ever before. It meant that he was constantly checking in to update Arthur on their planning.

There were some disadvantages to working in town.

"How's it going, Dutch?"

"I think we may have some opportunities here," Dutch said, before leaning in. "See what you can find out about Richard Ainsworth. Apparently he owns the wool mill and underpays the workers."

"No problem. I've seen a lot of workers wandering about, I'm sure they'll start complaining easy enough."

"Arthur, I think I'm going to head to the saloon," Uncle said.

"Seriously?" Arthur said.

Uncle brushed him off by saying, "I've worked hard today!" as he grabbed Nell and walked down the street.

Arthur rolled his eyes as he left. "He always finds a way out of work."

"And yet he often brings back decent leads from his trips to the saloon," Dutch chuckled.

"Yeah, and does he ever follow through with them himself? No!"

"Sometimes he does," Dutch said. Arthur raised an eyebrow at him, causing Dutch to repeat, "Sometimes. Anyway, the day's almost done. Want to ride back together?"

"Sure, why not," Arthur said. "I can finish this coat tomorrow."

Arthur started to pack up the wagon when a small blur leapt into the back, burying itself in the pelts. "What was that?" Dutch asked just before a furious and well-dressed traveler ran up to them.

"You see a girl run through here? The little bitch robbed me!" he gasped, his face bright red. It was almost comical to watch the portly man double over from chasing a kid. Almost. It would have been if the traveler didn't have his revolver in his hand.

Dutch took over immediately. "Oh, I did! I believe the miscreant ducked down that alley over there."

"Thank you," the man gasped, jogging in the direction that Dutch indicated.

"Shall we?" Dutch said, mounting Nero and peaking over the side of the wagon to make sure the girl was still hidden inside. After they left town, he called to the back, "You alright, Miss?"

She didn't answer, but the pelts shifted a little.

"Now, we're not going to turn you into the law. We aren't the most upstanding of citizens ourselves. Do you have family in the area? Is there anywhere we can take you?"

Again, no answer.

"Well, we're headed back to our camp. We have warm food on the fire and a spare bed you can sleep in for the night." Dutch kept up a one-sided conversation for the rest of the ride back, trying to get any response from the girl in the back. Arthur had to keep turning around to check that she was even still in the wagon, noticing one bare foot sticking out. No wonder she was stealing. She didn't even have shoes!

"Who's there?" Davey Callander called from the edge of camp. Dutch had found a nice, open area in the forest to set up camp, not too far from the river. Their wagons were set up in a protective circle, some being used as part of their shelters and other tents standing alone.

"Just me and Dutch," Arthur replied.

"And our stowaway," Dutch laughed.

"Ah, we got another mouth to feed?" Davey asked.

"We'll see," Dutch said. "She hasn't said anything to us yet."

Arthur parked the wagon while Dutch called over Bessie, Susan, and Annabelle, figuring that the three of them would probably be best at coaxing the girl out of the wagon. "We're back at our camp, Miss. Now, I promise that we mean you no harm. But we would like you to come out and have some food. And if after that, you want to be on your way, that's fine! You don't owe us anything."

Slowly, the pelts shifted once again, and the girl stepped out. She had dark skin and hair, her threadbare dress was muddy, and her panicked eyes darted between Arthur and Dutch. "I'm sorry," she said. "I just needed a place to hide, I didn't mean anything by it. I'll just go."

"Hold on a minute," Dutch started, reaching out to her. But she flinched back, so he dropped his hands closer to his sides. "We don't mind at all that you hopped in our wagon. In fact, you look like you could use some help. I have a saying. We save fellers as need saving, and feed them as need feeding. And I have a feeling that you could use a bit of both right about now."

She hesitated, then nodded.

"Well, then," Dutch said. "How about you get yourself cleaned up before dinner, maybe get you some shoes to wear? Anna, you think you've got something?"

"Between us three and Karen, we'll have something that will fit her," Annabelle said, offering out her hand. "Come on, sweetheart. What's your name?"

"Tilly," the girl said, taking Annabelle's hand.

"And how old are you, Miss Tilly?"

"Fourteen."

As Annabelle took Tilly over to Susan's tent, and Isaac ran up to Arthur. "Who's that? A new family member?"

"Maybe," Arthur said. "We don't know too much about her just yet. But you know Uncle Dutch. If she wants to stay, she can stay."

"Can I go say hi?"

"How about you wait until dinner? She's meeting a lot of new people right now."

"Oh, okay."

"Are you happy that we're getting more people in the family?"

"Yeah. I think it would be neat to have a big sister," Isaac said.

"You know what? I think it would be neat, too. But that's up to her. Want to help me take care of Rory and we'll see if she wants to talk at dinner?"

"Okay!"

"You remember how that harness comes off?" Arthur asked, and let Isaac start taking apart the buckles.

Soon, they were all sitting down for dinner, except for Annabelle and Tilly. Bessie and Susan let them know that Tilly started to open up to Annabelle, and she'd had a rough life. And, she was alone in the world, like many of them had been before joining the Van der Linde gang.

But then, Tilly emerged from the tent, guided to the fire by Annabelle. "Everyone, this is Tilly," Annabelle said.

"Hi," Tilly said, shy and ducking her head.

"I'm Isaac!" Arthur smiled as his son jumped up and ran up to Tilly. "That's my Pa."

Isaac continued to introduce everyone at the fire while Tilly watched silently. At the end, Isaac asked, "Are you staying with us?"

Tilly looked to Annabelle, then said, "I don't know."

"You should! It's really fun here. What do you like to do?"

"Uh…"

"Do you like reading? I like reading."

"I don't know how to read."

"You don't? Uncle Hosea can teach you! He taught me."

John jumped in, saying, "Hosea and Dutch taught me how to read, too. And how to ride horses, and hunt."

"We'll keep you safe here," Annabelle said.

"This is a real decent bunch," Karen, their newest gang member, added. "We're still outlaws, but Dutch has us try to do good, too."

"What do I have to do?" Tilly asked.

"Nothing," Annabelle said.

"No," Tilly said, shaking her head. "That's not right. That's not how it works."

"Miss Tilly, we promise you-" Dutch began, but she jumped to her feet, the plate falling to the ground.

"You say that, but-" She choked on her next words, before changing direction. "You can have what I took from that man, so we're even." She pulled a few items from the pocket in her dress, shoving them into Dutch's hands and running from the campfire. Annabelle and Susan followed her. Dutch did too, though he kept his distance.

"How about we do the dishes, kiddo," Arthur said.

"Is Tilly okay?"

"I think she will be. It's pretty scary to join a new family when you've been on your own for a while. I remember when Dutch and Hosea first invited me to join them, I didn't know if I could trust them, either?"

"Really?"

Isaac knew a little about Arthur's childhood, that Arthur's mother died when he was very young, that his father was a criminal who died when he was eleven, that he lived on his own for three years, stealing barely enough money and food to survive before Dutch found him. Arthur made sure to leave out some of the more horrible details.

"Yeah. I told you that Dutch and Hosea took me in, but did I ever tell you how I met them?" Arthur asked.

"No."

"I tried robbing Dutch," he laughed. "I saw him in town, wearing those rings and his favorite pocket watch, the gold one, you know? And I thought he was rich, and therefore an easy target. I grabbed his satchel and ran! Got the watch, too."

"And then you tripped on a bucket, if I recall," Hosea said, joining them at the wash basin. "You see, Isaac, Arthur here was going through a growth spurt. And he wasn't used to having all that extra height."

"So you caught him?"

"Yep! Dutch grabbed your pa and demanded he give back his things," Hosea said. "I was too busy laughing at him for getting robbed in the first place."

"I thought he was going to kill me," Arthur said. "Or turn me in to the law. But instead, he brought me back to the camp and gave me some food. Which I desperately needed at the time. But still, it took me a while to trust them."

"And we were very glad when you did open up to us," Hosea said. "We were tired of constantly worrying if you were going to run off on us."

"Ah, well, once I figured out that you really did care about me, I knew better than that. For the first time in a while, I wasn't going hungry."

"We just have to be patient with Tilly," Hosea told Isaac. "But I think she could use a good friend like you."

Arthur felt the same way. He hoped that Tilly would decide to stay, not only because she'd clearly had a rough, frightening time but also because it would be good for Isaac to have other kids around. He often worried that Isaac was lonely, being surrounded by adults all day.

Later that night, Arthur and the others gathered in Dutch's tent to talk about Tilly.

"Alright, what did you learn, Anna?" Dutch asked. The only original gang member that wasn't there was Bessie, who was watching over Tilly at the moment.

"Have you ever heard of the Foreman Brothers? They are gang in Lemoyne."

"I try to avoid the South," Dutch said.

"Some members of that gang kidnapped her, about a year ago. They used her for robberies, as a distraction or for pickpocketing. She escaped them, and tried to go back home. But her mother had died, and she's been on her own ever since."

"Shit," Hosea muttered.

"I think there's more to it than that, but she isn't telling us just yet."

"And I take it there's no father in the picture," Dutch said.

"Doesn't seem like it."

"Well, as long as she is willing to stay, I think we can help her out," Dutch said, glancing at Arthur and Hosea to get their nods of confirmation.

"Karen offered to share her tent with Tilly," Annabelle added.

"We should have enough saved up to get her some new clothes, too," Hosea said. "Maybe tomorrow you and Bessie can take her into town."

"We should be careful with that, though. She was stealing in town," Arthur said.

"Perhaps one town over," Dutch said with a laugh. "Arthur, you mind going with them and keeping them safe?"

"You don't trust me to do that?" Annabelle asked. Her tone was light, but her eyes were serious.

"I'm just being cautious," Dutch said.

Over the last few years, Annabelle's gun skills had gone from decent for personal protection to rather capable. She was ready to join the gang's robberies, but Dutch kept making excuses to keep her out of it. Arthur suspected why, and he was sure Dutch and Annabelle had many private fights about the issue.

They'd probably have another fight later, but for the moment Annabelle sighed and said, "Fine."

The next morning, Arthur got the wagon ready and took the girls into town. Karen tried offering her services as added protection as an excuse to get out of camp chores for the day, but Susan caught her in the attempt.

He could tell that Tilly was torn in whether or not to trust them. But Bessie's maternal nature was hard to dismiss, and Arthur saw the first smile emerge on Tilly' face when Bessie complimented the dresses she tried on.

Annabelle, however, couldn't keep the scowl off her face. Wondering what happened the previous night when they left Dutch's tent and went to sleep, he asked, "You alright?"

She breathed in deep. "I understand why Dutch doesn't want me to work jobs or be the only one with a gun when we leave camp, but it's driving me crazy! I half want to run off for a few days to prove that I can handle myself!"

"Why don't you?"

"Because I have a feeling that will make things worse. But I'm just so…" Annabelle turned her head away, brushing the hair out of her eyes, before continuing with, "I'm so fucking tired of walking on eggshells around Dutch."

"You were always so good at talking to him, though," Arthur said.

"Good at it, sure. Doesn't mean I'm not tired."

Arthur sighed. "You know, I remember how hard it was to convince Dutch that I was ready to go riding by myself again. He just didn't want me to be alone out there. In the end, I just had to sneak out of camp and prove it to him."

"So, what? I'm supposed to go work a job without him knowing?"

"I might be able to help you with that," Arthur said. "Did Dutch tell you anything about Richard Ainsworth?"

"Not yet. He hasn't had the time."

"Well, he's some big businessman around here Dutch wanted me to look into. How about I bring the next lead to you? I still know a thing or two about planning these things out. You could take the lead, maybe bring Mac and Davey along as backup."

"Dutch will be so angry if I do that behind his back," Annabelle said, pondering the option. "Screw it, let's do it."

Arthur chuckled at her reasoning. "Really?"

"Call it petty, but I really don't care if he's angry right now. He doesn't control my life," Annabelle said, quite determined.

"Well, alright," said Arthur. "Next lead I get, I'm bringing it to you."

Their conversation ended when Bessie returned. Tilly was wearing a new yellow dress and good shoes. "What do you think?" Bessie asked.

"You look lovely, sweetheart!" Annabelle said. "How about after lunch we get your hair done?"

"Okay," Tilly said.

"Shall we get a table at the saloon?" Bessie suggested.

Tilly smiled more and more while they ate and talked. They treated themselves to the more expensive roast beef. "You know, Arthur here can teach you how to ride a horse," Bessie said. "He is teaching his son, Isaac. You can join them for lessons!"

"I know a bit of riding, but I haven't done it much," Tilly said.

"Maybe we can run back up to your sister's and get her a nice Saddler," Arthur said.

"Not a bad idea!"

"You alright, Bessie?" Annabelle asked suddenly. "You barely touched your food."

"Oh, I think my stomach is just acting up, but don't you worry about me," said Bessie.

Annabelle frowned, but turned her attention back to Tilly.

Later, as they drove back, Tilly asked, "Do you have a dominoes set?"

Bessie turned quickly and said, "Of course! Do you like to play?"

"I used to play with my mother all the time."

"Most of us love dominoes. Hosea and I play all the time. Arthur, you like to play, too, right?"

"I do."

When they got back, Bessie grabbed Hosea while Arthur set up the table. Tilly, as it turned out, was very good at the all-fives version of the game. She absolutely destroyed Arthur, and he ducked out early to keep a small shred of his dignity in tact. The competition between her and Hosea was fierce, and the game lasted far longer than anyone anticipated.

But when it was just about over, Tilly asked, "What happens if I stay? You guys are outlaws, so you must live on the run."

"We do," Hosea said. "We travel from town to town, working jobs. But we try to keep our robbing to those rich folk who have more money than they know what to do with, or take advantage of those less privileged around them."

"Folk who deserve it," Tilly said.

"Like I said, we try to keep it to that. We try not to kill anyone, either. No need to hurt people unnecessarily."

"So, what do I have to do?" asked Tilly.

"Nothing you aren't comfortable with, just your fair share," Hosea reassured her. "You can help us rob, or you can do chores around camp. Arthur here has his business making clothes from animal pelts. Mr. Pearson cooks. We can find something for you to do."

"Okay," she said, nodding. "I'll stay."

"Wonderful!" Hosea said.

"Isaac is going to be happy," Arthur said. "Everyone else, too."

"Oh, by the way," she said with a sly grin. "Domino! I win!"

Arthur would never forget the look on their faces when both Hosea and Bessie were beaten at a game of dominoes.