Chapter 2:
The ride had last half an hour, perhaps, but it seemed like forever. The pain in her thigh had spread in her entire body and she could tell her 'saviour' was quite worried as well; judging by the way he constantly shifted his weight on the saddle behind her and his legs slightly pressing his horse's flanks every two steps. Maybe a dead girl on his horse was the last thing he needed right now.
-And you? What's your name? he asked, probably just to check if she was still alive.
Her mind was clear, but her body refused to obey her and her vision seemed to darken a bit more each second. And that pissed her off. The only thing she could control was focusing on the pain that that wound inflicted her.
-Harriet Wiley.
She felt the horse slow down as a pair of hands helped her to get down. Yet she couldn't clearly see. The next thing she knew, was that she was thrown on a table and someone held her head still. Blinking a few times, she could make out a few forms, two women and a man were looking down at her.
-Mrs Jackson, help me take her jeans off. Be sure not to scrape her wound. A harsh but female voice ordered.
She felt someone lifting her hips for her as another pair of hands swiftly pulled at her jeans. When the chilly air of the night grazed her legs, she instinctively tried to hide her exposed skin by squeezing her thighs together. A few seconds later, the shame overtook her and almost became stronger than the pain. Almost. Her body violently shook when she felt something metallic insert her wound. Biting on her lower lip to keep herself from screaming was probably a mistake. She felt drops of blood running down her mouth and the taste of it almost made her pass out. It was too much. Too much.
-Mr Morgan! Give her something to bite in before she breaks her teeth! The harsh voice ordered again.
When something blocked her view of the night sky, Harriet thought it was her vision blurring again, but she quickly realised, it was someone's wrist, above her mouth. So it was this Arthur Morgan holding her head.
-Here. Just the shirt please. The man said.
Nodding firmly, she took the fabric between her teeth and bit. Hard. Feeling the intrusive metal again, she threw her head back, biting at this man's shirt like her life depended on it. Well, maybe it did. If she let go to the pain, it would be the end of her. She knew it would.
The next minutes passed in a blur; trying her best not to pass out, Harriet held onto the table, digging her nails in the wood as her teeth almost tore Morgan's sleeve. She only felt someone wrap something around her leg and put a blanket on her shivering body. Slowly letting go off of her grip on both the table and the shirt, she allowed herself to drift off to sleep.
Soft voices woke her up, but she didn't open her eyes. She didn't know if she had the strength yet. Instead, she tried to focus on those voices.
-Why would you bring her here in the first place Mr Morgan?
She recognized the hard voice from earlier and guessed she was something like a boss around here. She heard a low sigh, probably from the man who brought her here.
-The bullet is out, but she lost a lot of blood. I'm afraid your efforts are in vain. She concluded.
She wouldn't die. Not after that. She couldn't. But her body didn't seem to leave her a choice, drifting off to sleep once more, not knowing if she'd wake up.
A soft tickle on her nose almost made her sneeze and as she thought it was the wind, she realized someone was grazing her skin with a feather. Eyes fully opened, she was greeted by a young lady wearing a sweet smile on her lips.
-Rise and shine miss! She said cheerfully.
Slowly sitting up, Harriet blinked a few times before looking around her. The sun was still low in the sky and a few clouds hid it behind their thickness. The camp she was in seemed well organised: Tents were set up and a campfire was slowly dying down as the repetitive sound of a knife echoed in the camp. Completely turning around, Harriet noticed what seemed like a butcher behind a wagon, cutting through a large piece of meat. Who were these people?
-I'm assuming you've got a lot of question. The woman guessed. To answer one of them, my name's Mary-Beth.
-Harriet. She automatically answered.
-I know, Arthur told us. Can you walk? I can show you around if you want.
By this young woman's enthusiasm, Harriet assumed they didn't have many guests around here. Carefully putting her feet to the ground, the woman grabbed her bloodied jeans and put them on as discretely as she could, well aware of a few men's presence around in the camp. But clearly, it didn't work.
-Come on darling, you don't have to put those back on! A large bearded man shouted as he walked around with a rifle in his hands.
She knew she wouldn't be surrounded by very clever and delicate people in here, but she couldn't help the anger that rose in her chest as soon as his stupid remark reached her ears. But before she could unleash it, someone shut his mouth for her.
-Shut the hell up, Bill and find something useful to do.
Turning around, Harriet quickly spotted that Arthur Morgan, walking swiftly between the tents, a deer on his shoulders before plopping it down on the butcher's counter. In the soft light of the morning, the woman could finally get a good look at him. His fair hair barely touched his shoulders and the shadow of his hat made it hard to properly see his face. But she could see that constant frown between his eyebrows and his eyes seemed to be squinted. He looked… sad. Did something happen to him? Recently? Or was it just his normal face and Harriet was imagining things?
-You look better.
His voice tore her from her reverie and she had to shake slightly her head to focus on what he was saying.
-Yes, I am. I huh… thank you. For this and… you know, shutting him up. She gestured at the idiot from earlier.
God she was bad at this. Talking. All these years alone had been bad for her social skills. Especially when the only people she came across were the ones that wanted to insult her, steal some of her things and horses and more recently, kill her.
-Yeah, no problem. He's an idiot but he shouldn't harm you.
The sound of a horse neighing caught their attention, and Harriet immediately recognize the other man from the night before. Charles, if she remembered correctly.
-Well ladies, good day. Arthur said before leaving them to meet his companion.
-Come, I'll help you walk if you need. Mary-Beth offered.
After a good walk between the different tents of the camp, the women stopped at the horses, patting them gently and giving them a few treats from time to time. Now installed in a comfortable silence, Harriet and Mary-Beth were leaning against a wagon, the only sounds reaching their ears being the soft music coming from a closed tent.
-Do you plan on staying here? The young woman asked. I'm sure Dutch won't mind. We lost a few people you know.
Would she stay? Who was Dutch? They lost a few people? What was she supposed to understand? Sighing, she thought about it for a moment. She had her cattle back home, but her horses were no more and to be truthful, she was scared to go back to her ranch.
-Who's Dutch? She decided to ask first.
Mary-Beth let out a small chuckle and shook her head.
-I forgot! He saw you last night, but from where you were, you probably couldn't see him. He's –
-The leader! A cheerful voice announced.
Turning around, Harriet saw a tall man, well dressed and jet-black hair smiling at them. Well if he was the leader, these people must be living a good life she thought.
-Dutch Van Der Linde. Now, I won't lie to you, I wasn't too kin on letting you stay but Arthur said you could fight. And we could definitely use a good fighter. So what do you say?
Harriet tried to answer quickly but, she needed to think. What was holding her back to her ranch? Nothing, she could take care of her cattle in a few days. A husband? None. Not anymore at least. A family? Well it seemed like her new family was standing right in front of her.
-I'll stay.
Hi everyone! I'd like to thank the people who started to follow this story, I mean I didn't think it would be so quick and I hope you guys like it so far!
Anyway, have a good day or good night and I'll talk to you in the next chapter!