"Now, is this your card?" Trelawny asked, bending down to Jack's level while showing him one card. His jacket discarded and white shirt sleeves pushed up, the heat barely touching his perfectly slicked hair.
Jack giggled, "No, Mr. Trelawny that's not it!"
"Oh dear, I see…" Josiah put his finger to his chin in fake confusion, "let me check one last place, hmmm?" He reached behind jacks ear, pulling out a red card, creating the illusion that it was there the whole time, "Well, young Jack I believe you were hiding your card the whole time."
Jacks face lit up with pure shock, "Mama! Mama! Did you see what Mr. Trelawny did! It's magic, just like in my books!" Jack shouted turning towards Abigail who was watching the exchange fondly.
"I saw, you silly boy." Abigail said, smiling.
Trelawny looked up to see Arthur heading their way, the look in his eyes sent thrills through his body.
"Dear Jack, you can keep a secret, right?" Jack nodded his head vigorously, "Good, then I might be able to teach you the art of magic. But for now, I need someone to hold onto my cards for me? Would you like that job?" Trelawny asked while shuffling the deck of cards with unmatched talent.
Jacks smile grew even more, "Yes Mr. Trelawny! I would love to." Trelawny smiled while standing up and handing Jack the deck of cards, "Jolly good, I'm glad to be bestowed with such a grateful apprentice."
"What do you say Jack?" Abigail said, placing her hands in a loving fashion on his shoulders. "Oh! Thank you Mr. Trelawny."
Abigail looked up to Josiah, a warm smile on her face, "Thank you so much, Josiah. You just made his whole week." She said, her voice conveying just how much this act meant to her, being that Jack had no other kids around and had to be the center of his entertainment usually.
Trelawny smiled graciously and nodded his head, turning to find Arthur's eyes again. They held a fire in them that burned deep for Josiah.
"Like my magic trick did you, dear boy?" Trelawny said flashing a smile at Arthur.
Arthur's eyes were deep blue, "Sure." Arthur stated, his eyes never leaving Josiah's, signaling to him that he was itching to touch him and wouldn't be able to control himself for much longer.
Josiah gave Arthur his look of, 'Don't worry, dear boy. I have a plan'
"I believe I have a job for you Arthur. A stagecoach you see?" Trelawny said, leading Arthur over to his makeshift campsite by Kieran's, knowing once they had left they'd have the day together away from curious eyes.
"Arthur! Hey Arthur." Dutch yelled while walking towards them.
Arthur and Josiah heaved a mental sigh. Arthur believed having Trelawny at camp would be a good thing but no. They hadn't had one moment together, just small touches here and there and conversations hidden underneath small talk.
Dutch stopped in front of them, "Arthur, why haven't you gone to get Micah yet? There's talking of hanging him." Dutch's tone was that of a pleading father who just wanted his children to get along.
Arthur just shrugged, "Eh don't worry, I'm just lettin' him simmer a bit." Arthur couldn't fight the smart ass smirk that appeared on his face.
"Oh well, I think he's been 'Simmering' enough.. He would get you, Arthur, if the roles were switched." Dutch said, his voice raising an octave with annoyance.
Arthur also couldn't fight the sarcastic laugh that came out at Dutch's comment. "Now that's horse shit Dutch and you know it… I'll get him, but I'm taking my sweet ass time riding over there." Arthur said, grumbling off towards his horse like a child who just got reprimanded.
Dutch looked to Trelawny, "I heard you talking about a stagecoach? Why don't you take young Javier with you instead!" Dutch insisted… The sigh from Javier could be heard from the whole camp.
Micah was… regrettably safe from the noose for now. At least he wasn't coming back to camp for awhile, here's hoping he'll never come back, but Arthur knew he wasn't that lucky.
Arthur thought this while sitting on a log by the fire, finishing up his stew with the others. Sadie, Charles, Uncle, and him were all listening to Hosea tell the story of when he almost died.
They were all circled around the fire, but nobody was beside Arthur on the log, that's until Josiah came to sit there with his bowl of stew.
Arthur smiled, looking towards Josiah, "So, how's that stew? Any better than that mess you make up?" Arthur spoke quietly, while the others conversed.
Trelawny laughed, "I told you that was a one time accident, I didn't know you had to skin the rabbit first."
Their knees slightly brushed against the others, causing both men to look away quickly and try to pay attention to the conversation around the fire.
Arthur and Trelawny couldn't help but steal small looks at the other while one wasn't paying attention, and their knees were like opposite poles being drawn together, they would bump into each other and pretend nothing happened.
All of this would've been hard to notice if you weren't paying attention, little did Arthur and Trelawny know, Sadie and Charles were paying attention…
Charles approached Sadie at the end of the night by the chicken coop, knowing she was close with Arthur.
"Sadie, can I speak with you?" He said solemnly.
"Sure thang, whatcha need?" Sadie questioned as Charles led them behind the coop.
Once they were behind a tree Charles sighed and crossed his arms stiffly. "Well, I.. I don't really know what I'm asking, but.. You're close with Arthur, right?"
"I mean, yes. He's the only one I really trust here, but he's already got himself a lady." Sadie said, with a confused tone.
And now, it was Charles's turn to be confused "Wait, Arthur has a girl? I thought he had something with Trelawny?"
"What? Trelawny? Like in the magician that's apparently part of this gang, Trelawny?" She nearly yelled, shock and disbelief written all over her face, "You've got to be joking with me." She said holding back laughter.
Charles looked over his shoulder quickly, "Keep it down. I'm not sure, it's just, I thought you of all people would know?"
Sadie shook her head still giggling, then sobered up when she saw the serious expression on Charles face "Wait, you're serious? You ain't messin' with me?"
Charles just simply shook his head in confirmation.
"Well, why are you thinking this?" Sadie questioned, finally bringing her voice down.
Charles leaned back against the tree, "Well, the day we saved Trelawny from those bounty hunters, I swear I saw them holding each other before I met back up with them. And Arthur was really affected by it, I could see he was trying to act calm but it was written all over his face… he was very worried. Then, this whole week… They've been talking a lot, which I know isn't cause but then tonight at the camp… They couldn't stop looking at each other and their knees were touching the whole night. I'm not one to judge, I consider Arthur a great friend and he deserves to be happy. But, if someone found out.. Someone like Micah, we've have a damn war on our hands. You know how he is." Charles finished, looking at Sadie with tired eyes.
"Oh I know how he is, he'd bring Arthur down in a hot second if he knew… but I don't know Charles, I mean I guess when you describe all that it looks like something. I can tell you've been thinking far into this. You're a good friend to him. But, we don't know anything for sure and we can't just ask. Maybe we just wait and see, he could still have a girl off somewhere and Trelawny could be the one who helped them together… You never know." Sadie said, thinking over the whole situation out loud.
Charles shook his head, "I just don't want Arthur to get hurt over someone like Trelawny, he's not worth the hell that will happen if someone bad finds out. But, I agree… we should wait and see. I'm not completely sure, I just needed to talk to someone and knew you cared for Arthur."
Sadie grabbed Charles hand and smiled up at him, "Thank you, Arthur's lucky to have such a friend as yourself."
And with that they split apart and acted like that conversation never happened.
Arthur left around midnight, the camp was silent as he rode his horse down the path which led to the main road. It was there that he waited for an hour until Trelawny rode into sight.
"Took you long enough." Arthur said, giving Trelawny a playful shove with his elbow. They rode side by side to a secluded spot that Arthur found one day when he was hunting.
It was a huge, beautiful mountain that faced out towards the west, reminding him of the good old times of the past. Arthur swore the whole ride there that it was the best sunrise you will ever see in your life.
Once they arrived they went about sitting up a small tent and campsite. When they finished Arthur sat down with his back against a tree that faced him out to look over all the land below. The sun was just starting to rise, making the darkness of the night fade away.
Trelawny sat between Arthur's legs, he leaned his head on Arthur's chest, looking out over the land with him.
Arthur let out a relieved sigh and gently kissed the top of Josiah's head as he tightly wrapped his arms around the other man's chest.
"I'll meet her... " Arthur mumbled into Trelawny's hair.
Trelawny just smiled silently and covered Arthurs arms with his hands.