Chapter II

As the sun rose on that fateful morning the cries of a small and terrified boy were the only thing Tilly Jackson could hear, Sadie was out cold sleeping on the floor. Tilly put down the revolver that had been glued to her hand since she had arrived at Copperhead landing and put her hand on the young boy's cheek.

"Jack you are gonna have to be strong, your momma needs you now, needs you to be strong" whispered Tilly gently, Jack wiped a tear from his eye.

"What happened to pa?" He said it with such pain not normal for a boy, Tilly was taken back, how was she to reassure him? For all she knew he was gone just like everyone else.

"I...I don't know but he was with your Uncle Arthur, they always look out for each other". As she was saying this to him, she noticed that his gaze had gone from her eyes to behind her up the trail. In an instant she stood up and put Jack behind her and pointed the revolver. A familiar voice rang out, although it was distant she lowered her revolver and took Jack by the hand

"Who is it?" asked Jack inquisitively

"Our family" replied Tilly with a warm and happy smile, "we are safe now Jack".

…

"Damnit Arthur" John said under his breath, he had finally manged to make his way away from that damned mountain, every fibre of John's being kept him walking; he had a badly bruised leg and his arm had started to become unbearable after being shot earlier the day before. He finally made his way to a hill overlooking a lot of the open and expansive land he had become accustomed to these past months, he sat down and leant on a tree; a tinge of regret ran though his mind as he wondered if Arthur had made it down. Why of all people did Arthur have save him, it made the feeling of guilt unbearable.

They were both children once, both raised by Dutch and his silver tongue, even after he had left the gang and returned Arthur made him his priority. After his moment of reflection he got himself up and continued walking until he reached a dirt trail, out of desperation he gripped the revolver in his holster and waited until someone rode towards him.

After what felt like hours, he heard a distant gallop, without thinking he aimed the revolver in the direction of the hooves, the silhouette of a man lingered before him.

"I need your horse partner, I don't wanna kill ya!" shouted John, the man glared at John, he had a top hat and a black moustache

"Whatever you need friend" he climbed down from his horse and spoke with a strange tone "It isn't every day that John Marston makes an appearance" taken back by what the man had said. John couldn't think of anything to say

"See you around cowboy" the man said before disappearing into the trees, John stood there, staring, but then came back around, mounted the man's horse. With a few clicks of his mouth and light kick he started galloping towards copperhead landing….

….

Arthur awoke to the sound of the man knocking on the stagecoach door

"Mister, hey mister! We have arrived" Arthur slowly clambered out of the stagecoach, "obviously you are gonna have to walk across this marsh as the stage is too heavy" said the man with a smile on his face, "anyway thanks again for helping me out Mr…"

"Morgan" Arthur replied

"Thanks Mr Morgan" they exchanged one last nod of the head, the man climbed back on his stage coach and asked the horses to walk on and away from Arthur.

As Arthur walked down the path to the cabin, he prepared himself for what he would say when he saw them all, constantly mumbling to himself as he trudged through the thick and heavy marsh. In the distance he could see the small cabin, he stopped and looked for any signs of life, when suddenly a very hard object pushed into his back.

"Now you better turn around, nice and slowly, who are you? An O'Driscoll" said the voice calmly but in a tone to not be messed with. Arthur recognised the voice instantly, and with a grin on his face he turned around slowly

"Hellfire…." he muttered "if I ain't mistaken….. Mrs Adler", Sadie dropped her gun

"I….I thought I'd never see you again Arthur" as quick as the words left her mouth she embraced Arthur in a hug that lasted a lot longer than what he had become used too,

"Alright, there is plenty of time for that later, is the boy and Miss Tilly safe? What about Abigail?" asked Arthur quickly

"Don't worry Arthur, they are safe and sound. Plus, guess what the dog dragged in…" she paused for a second and looked past Arthur over to the cabin, people had gathered on the porch.

"What?"

"Come and see for yourself" grinned Sadie, Arthur turned around and maybe for the first time in a long time was happy to see that John Marston was still alive, leaning on Abigail for support; both men waved to each other.

….

That night Abigail had insisted that everyone have a drink and give themselves a small amount of time to enjoy each other's company.

The warm glow of the fire illuminated the tired and battered men both sat together with a drink in each of their hands.

Everyone was busy chatting away about the last few days but both John and Arthur were quiet, both silent, they knew it wasn't over yet.

"Arthur!" Sadie half shouted noticing his eyes were shut,

"WH...What, Mrs Adler" Arthur said quietly making sure not to wake John.

"Do you think we should try and find everyone, I mean…" she paused "with Dutch gone and you being back, I think everyone would wanna come home to us, and it's no secret that everyone is looking to you to guide us all out of this damn mess"

Everyone fell silent, all eyes started to look to Arthur's, that's when Jack's little voice rang out.

"Please Uncle Arthur, I…I miss everyone especially Aunty Beth and Aunty Karen" he spoke without pausing and sounded genuine in what he said.

Arthur looked at the boy, "Don't worry Jack, I'll bring them home…" he paused "but only if they wanna come. And I don't even know where to start looking".

"What harm could it do" Abigail said swiftly, "Me, John and Tilly will be fine looking after things here".

"That's all well and good Abigail but I don't even know where to start looking for people"

Arthur was about to continue talking when Sadie cut him off "I know where Charles is… he told me he was gonna take them to Nekoti rock the night before he left." She looked at Arthur and hoped he wouldn't pry.

"Well Mrs Adler", Arthur had a small cough into his hand "I guess we are gonna go get Charles, it's a couple of days ride so I'd stock up while you can".

"There aint enough horses Arthur so we are gonna have to go on foot". Sadie said with a sarcastic smile.

Arthur looked at her almost comically "God dammit" he said under his breath.

"Then I will go and fetch Mary-Beth and Karen, I know where I will find them"

Arthur looked confused, he raised one of his eye brows, and with concern said "you sure you're okay travelling on your own Miss Tilly"

Quick as a flash she replied "I'm more than capable Mr Morgan"

Arthur then pulled himself up and walked into the middle of the group, "that settles it then, me and Sadie will go to Nekoti rock and Tilly will go and find the girls"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Now everyone get some sleep, we are all gonna need it" he slowly lowered himself back down, every second doing so wincing in pain. His eyes then slowly closed and his thoughts drifted away into the night.