Hey y'all. So, should I keep repeating that I don't own any of this besides the character Lilly? Ok great. Also, do you think the last chapter was a bit of a stretch that the wolves didn't attack her? I tried to justify it as much as I could, but please review and let me know.
Chapter 3: Morning
"But father," Brian began. "Must we leave our home?"
The man looked much like an older Brian, except the man had blue eyes, a tall, lean frame, and short, auburn hair. He sighed in mild irritation. "Yes, my son," he replied. "We must leave. Our home, our country, is dying. We must go to America."
Brian, with black hair and green eyes like his mother, took a moment before nodding in understanding. Just then, two little girls, ages five and three, ran into the kitchen. The eldest girl, also with blue eyes and long auburn hair, ran to her brother and clung to his leg with glee. "Brian! Please play wit' me!"
Brian smiled with an awe struck shake of his head. The other girl, Janet, with green eyes and long black hair, like her mother, ran and held on tightly to Brian's other leg. "Play wit' me too!"
The first girl pouted with jealousy. "Hey, that's not fair! I asked him first!"
Brian laughed and started walking around like a slow giant. Both girls kept their legs and arms wrapped around his legs. "Lillian, Janet. I can play with ya both."
The children's father, Jack, huffed out a deep chuckle just before he took a sip from his coffee cup, watching his son drag the two little girls around. The wife of Jack and mother of Brian, Lillian, and Janet, walked in with a basket of newly cleaned and dried clothes. She groaned in alarm and pressed a hand into her lower back, her swollen abdomen helping her balance the basket. Jack strolled over to her and grabbed the basket. He kissed her cheek with deep affection.
"Are you not faring well, Abby?" he asked.
Abby, long black hair and green eyes, gazed at her husband with love shining in her eyes. "Yes, dear. Just the wee bairn kicking around my insides like an angry mule."
Jack gave her another kiss. "You should rest, mo chuisle. Let the chiselers and I do the work for today, aye?"
Abby beamed with gratitide. "Alright, but you'll be needing a hearty breakfast first. Lord knows you canna work on an empty stomach."
"We'll help you, Mummy!" Lillian shouted with the enthusiasm of a rooster at dawn. When Janet didn't say anything, Lillian nudged her with an elbow. "Won't we?"
Janet rubbed her side and stole an angry glance at her big sister. "Yes, Mummy."
Three rather large wolves smashed their way through the front door with a bang and a crack. They ran to the kitchen, intent on devouring the entire family. Lillian screamed.
Lilly woke up with a start, immediately remembering where she was. Her dark eyes focused on where her fire once was. It'd burned itself out. The pair of wolves she'd met hours ago were asleep, huddled together for warmth and comfort. When the hell did she fall asleep? Lilly sat up slowly, yawning and stretching, once again being careful to not alert the young predators. As she averted her gaze to the cave entrance, Lilly was relieved to see the windy blizzard died down to a slow, gentle array of clumpy snowflakes. Rays of sunshine beamed down at the opening.
Lilly packed up all her items that were left scattered on the cave floor. She grabbed her bow, her quiver of arrows, and her repeater. She had to travel light with only the necessities. After double checking what she needed, Lilly was satisfied with her decision. The auburn haired woman took one more glance at her dead horse, mortified at the amount of blood and bone and flesh. The loss of her friend was still raw, but she had to move. She had to find Dutch and the rest of the gang. As she was leaving, one of the wolves opened its eyes and lifted its head to watch her. Lilly stopped in her tracks and gave a small wave to it.
"See ya, I guess." The wolf, not showing much interest in goodbyes, yawned with a high pitched whine and settled back with its sibling.
Lilly sighed as she looked up, an expression of incredulity plastered on her face. What a fucking night she had. Lilly blew her lips together and headed out of the wolves' den. The snow was even higher now. Damn near to her waist. "Ah, bloody fuckin' hell," she growled through her clenched teeth, then hung her head, feeling frustrated and shocked. "I swear tah the Lord above that if I survived last night only tah die out here, I'm gonna have heated questions at the pearly feckin' gates!" she exclaimed.
Her blue eyes scanned the horizon, glimpsing the pine trees and mounds of wind blown snow. Lilly shivered as she bundled herself up in her winter coat. Again, at least the sun was out to light her way. Lilly waded through the snow as if it was swamp mud. It was thick, heavy, and annoyingly finding its way inside her clothes. Heading to the hill that she and Holly had stumbled down the night before, the snow became lighter and the height decreased. Lilly dared to hope that only this area was so doused in the sparkling white snow.
The occasional breeze made Lilly shiver under her clothes, but walking helped her stay warm. She wanted a hot meal, a hot bath, and a warm bed. She wanted her family. Now at the age of twenty one, Lilly had been with Dutch, Hosea, and Arthur for, what was it? Fourteen years now. Found barefoot and running through the streets of Blackwater, the three men ended up taking her in. Lilly laughed from the feeling of nostalgia. She got to the top of the hill and her eyes scanned the landscape. Everything was just covered in white, glistening snow flakes. In a way, it was pretty, but where to go...
Lilly put a hand over her eyes and stared up at the sun. Now that she confirmed where east was, she began heading north. God, the snow was still so god damn high. Perhaps the slant of the hill was the reason why little snow had accumulated there. Lilly had to lift her legs so high her muscles twinged with sharp, cramping pains. She should've stretched before toiling through the snow like a god damn giant. Or a really fat man. Nope. Fat men would cry like babies if they had to exert themselves in such a fashion.
"Fee, fi, fo, fum. I smell the blood of an Englishman," Lilly said in a deep voice and it made her cackle with glee. "Be he alive, or be he dead, I'll grind his bones to..." Lilly giggled hysterically as she tried to say, "to make my bread! Ha! Shit, that's fuckin' funny!" Lilly had to amuse herself somehow. She was as silly as she was deadly. Gunslinger, master tree climber, the stealth of a panther, and an Irish temper. All properties of the deadly woman she was.
After what was probably hours of walking, Lilly felt bored. Again. What could she do to amuse herself this time? Ah. She started hopping through the snow like a happy little kid. She even twirled a couple times and made steps in random rhythms. She began to 'bum ba dum' in an improvised tune as she pranced along.
"Bum...ba dum," she giggled, watching her legs disrupt the snow dunes. "Bum, ba dum dum...do dah dee dah do!" She laughed like an idiot. At least she wasn't bored anymore. "Bada bada boom, bah da," she sang with a side step. "Da da da da, dum," she stepped to the other side. "Ba da, ba da, da da da da dum," she laughed loudly at herself. She clapped and spun. "Dee da dee da bum, ba bum, da bum. BAH BOOM!" she belted with a jump.
Lilly broke into hysterics. She felt happier, even with the plight she was going through. She tucked hair behind her ear and glanced up. Lilly burst out a giggle at herself. Why was she laughing so much now? Maybe to help her through the whole thing without going utterly mad? Lilly took a deep breath and stared ahead of her. She stopped with a gasp. The stream. She found it!
Lilly smiled and giggled with glee. "Yes! Yes yes yeeeeeeeessss!" She hopped through the snow to the stream and fell to her knees. "Ah, shite. I'm such a fuckin' oddball!" she laughed and plopped onto her butt.
Lilly was unsettled with her abnormal behavior. Actually, it wasn't that unusual, but she was alone. Lilly didn't act like this when she was by herself. Arthur was the one who often lured this side of her out of hiding, among other personality traits. Yeah, he really, really brought out a lot of herself that she withheld from others. Maybe she just missed him. She did. There was no doubt in Lilly's mind about how much she loved pranking him. Driving him crazy. The flirting. Oh God, the flirting. Well, that part was no longer a factor in their friendship. He'd cut that off. Lilly wasn't sure why. He yelled at her when she questioned his reasons. She got angry, he got angry, things were said...and they hadn't spoken since. That was, what, a month ago? Yeah. It was. Lilly pressed her knees into her coat and wrapped her arms at the knees. Yeah. Lilly really hurt from the loss of his absence. She wondered if Arthur missed her at all. Probably not. Lilly began thinking he despised her. Lilly looked up to the sky and sighed. This was only causing her to be sad. She had to get up and go. She stood up and began following the stream north. Lilly wasn't sure how long it would be until she found something. It was almost noon now and she was famished. Lilly grabbed a piece of salted meet and was grinding it between her teeth like a cow chewing cud. She didn't bother keeping her mouth closed. Fuck the manners, no one was around to scold her lack of decorum. Okay, back to being happy. Lilly grinned as an idea flew into her head like a hawk. She jumped back and forth across the stream and giggled. Chewing on her food like an animal, smacking her lips together, and bouncing from one bank to another. Yeah. Happy, happy, happy. Arthur, Arthur, Arthur. Fuck! She landed in the stream and kicked the water furiously. "Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck!" she screamed at the sky. Why was she so angry? Lilly almost hated the son of a bitch. "Stubborn, grumpy, old...dirty, old man!"
He often called himself that when they flirted. Lilly had no idea why. It was just harmless flirting...wasn't it? No, it had to be. Arthur could never...no. Not that she would know what a crush felt or looked like. Arthur had a cool head, most of the time. But when she got him angry? It was cataclysmic, and extracting the anger out of him as she did? Lilly was surprised Arthur didn't hate her. Oh, well, he did now, she guessed. The memory of him chasing her around after pulling a prank made Lilly smile. She took great pride in constraining him into losing his temper. It was a talent she spent years fine-tuning. But now...she had no one to torment. No one she wanted to torment, at least. As much as Lilly thrived on tricking people and playing practical jokes, none of them could compare to the thrill she felt when Arthur was in her sights, and he ruined her for any other prey who dared to be caught in her midst. Lilly's feet were cold. In her musings, she forgot where she was standing. "God dammit," she grumbled.
She got out and began kicking her feet about to shake off the wetness, much like a dog did after jumping in a lake. The fur helped keep the liquid from soaking her feet but now they felt like icicles. Lilly dropped herself to the ground and took off the boots and gloves then proceeded to rub her feet vigorously. As she was doing this, someone on a horse appeared down the stream a ways. Lilly stopped. "Arthur?" God, she hoped it was Arthur.
From this distance, however, she made out the image of Micah Bell. Lilly lifted her head, suddenly feeling very annoyed. Lilly didn't like the man, but on the bright side, she was no longer lost. Oh. Oh! Yes! Yes yes yes!
She started running towards him, waving her hands and yelling at him to get his attention. "Heeeeeey! Micah! Jesus, Miiiiicaaaaaah!" she screamed. He must have heard her because he increased the speed of his horse to reach her. As they met, Lilly bent over, breathing hard.
"Well, I'll be damned!" said Micah, almost excitedly. "Lilly O'Callaghan! So good to see you!" He smiled through his blonde mustache.
Lilly grinned up at him, hating that damn mustache, but also happy to see a familiar face. "I never thought I'd utter these words tah ya, Micah, but yer a feckin' sight fer sore eyes!"
Micah laughed at her. "There's a first time for everything, Missy. But, wait." His eyes shifted down. "Where are your boots?" Lilly crinkled her brow in surprise and looked down. She was barefoot in the snow, and when this information registered itself in her head, that's when the burning cold hit her like a ton of bricks.
"Aaahhhh, feck!" Lilly turned back around and sprinted like a goat man to her boots and gloves. Micah's maniacal cackling drifted through the air as she slid down on her knees. Lilly shoved the boots on in a hurried fashion as well as her gloves. "Gaaawwwd!" Lilly groaned out through her teeth.
"You are a funny woman, Miss O'Callaghan," she heard Micah behind her. Lilly got up and Micah offered his hand. She gladly took it and scrambled up to the back of Micah's horse Blaylock. "You okay kid?"
Lilly inhaled and exhaled with an "aahhh". "Yeah. I'm okay." In spite of herself, Lilly laughed. She was ecstatic to finally be safe. "Is everyone else alright?" she asked.
"Mostly, but Davey died on our way to a place called Colter, just up here a ways. Everyone else is just fine and dandy!" Micah explained, and he clicked his tongue to make Blaylock go forward to a trot. Lilly made a sign of the cross for poor Davey. "Say, where's your horse?" he asked.
"Dead. Broke her leg in a fall, had to put her down."
Micah tsked. "That's a real shame, Lilly. I'm sure she's in horse heaven," Micah said, mockingly.
Lilly made an internal groan. "Thank you v-v-very m-much," she said through chattering teeth. Suddenly, she remembered how cold she was.
Okay. I think I need a nap now. But review, let me know what you think.