Evelyn woke to the sounds of yelling. Fearing the worst she grabbed her revolver, signaling to Annabell who had also been woken to stay put in the tent. The camp members had stopped to stare at the camp cook, and the blonde woman who she hadn't been introduced to yet, as they screamed at each other, spewing insults back and forth. At some point the woman had grabbed a knife and charged at Pearson, before she was caught around the waist by Arthur. As they quieted down Evelyn couldn't make out what was being said, but she deemed the situation as safe... Enough, and returned to her tent to dress herself and Annabell.
She hadn't been able to grab all of their belongings from the hotel, her only goal being to grab the two satchels of cash that she still had from two years ago, so her and Annabell had to settle with wearing their clothes from yesterday. She hoped she could make a run to a nearby town soon, she sighed as she tugged Annabell's worn brown dress over the little girl's head and donned her own gown, which was a sun-bleached forest green, which Evelyn did not consider to be a very flattering color for her. When she had made her way out of the tent with Annabell following closely behind she was greeted by Miss Grimshaw, who smiled at them and called them over.
"Mornin' girls, get enough sleep?" She asked teasingly. Evelyn apologized for how late they had slept in, surprised that they hadn't woken earlier. Miss Grimshaw brushed her off, saying it was to be expected but that Arthur had asked for her not too long ago wanting to ask her something after they'd eaten breakfast. Evelyn quickly ate and waited for Annabell to finish before cleaning off her face and sending her to play with Jack.
She spotted Arthur at one of the wagons appearing to be getting the horses ready. She approached him, clearing her throat politely when she got close enough.
"Good morning, Mr. Morgan. Miss Grimshaw said you asked for me?" She said, watching as Arthur pat the horse he'd just got done strapping to the wagon. Arthur turned to her and nodded politely.
"Mornin' Mrs. Kings. I'm taking Mrs. Adler to town, and figured you'd need to get some stuff for you 'n the girl. You're welcome to come with." He said, nodding to the woman sitting at the coach who smiled politely at her, her freckled face still flushed with anger.
"Sadie Adler, pardon for not introducing myself sooner." Sadie said.
"Oh, no problem at all. Yesterday wasn't the most opportunistic time for anyone. And I'll take you up on your offer, Me and Annabell do need some clothes." Evelyn said, turning to go retrieve her daughter. Annabell excitedly ran towards their horse, patting her on the muzzle while waiting for Evelyn to place her in the saddle.
Arthur stepped forward, holding his arms out. "Please ladies, let me help you." At Evelyns hesitant nod he grasped her at the waist and set her on the horse, followed by Annabell who he sat gently down infront of Evelyn. Annabell giggled and dug her hands into the horse's mane.
"Thank you, mister." Annabell said. Arthur tipped his hat at her.
"Of course little lady. Don't think I could much get onto a horse in a dress myself." He joked, making Evelyn and Sadie laugh softly. He climbed up into the wagon, taking the reins in his hand and urging the horses forward. Evelyn trotted silently beside them, admiring the nature passing by. She wasn't used to beautiful lush grass and forests, though she had been at Valentine for a while, it was hard to see the beauty of one's surroundings when surrounded by mud and manure. The past two years she'd spent in Armadillo had gotten her accustomed to dry brown dust and wheat colored grass if there was any.
Sadie scoffed to herself as she rummaged through the satchel of mail. She recited the letter Pearson had written, eliciting chuckles and silent laughs from the others, and Annabell who didn't quite understand but laughed with the adults anyway. Arthur cleared his throat, glancing at Evelyn's horse.
"Mrs. Kings, that sure is a nice horse, where'd you get her? I ain't seen any round here before." Arthur asked. Evelyn looked down at said horse, patting her mane.
"What kind of horse is she?" She asked, slightly embarrassed that she had no knowledge whatsoever of horses.
He raised an eyebrow at her, but shrugged. It wasn't too uncommon that women weren't educated in such things as horses.
"A Hungarian Halfbred. They're pretty expensive war horses. Usually you only see em in cities with a lot of lawmen."
"Oh, I had no idea. I got her, Athena, from a good friend. She let me live with her in Armadillo for a few years, and helped me raise Annabell. I'm afraid I don't know where she got the horse from, she never brought it up."
Athena snorted and shook her mane. Evelyn never gave any thought to what type of horse she had been given, she just knew that the horse had never let her down before and Bethany seemed very fond of her. Being the last thing from Bethany, Evelyn had gotten attached to her herself.
Arthur whistled lowly. "Armadillo? All the way in New Austin? You're a long way from home. What brings you up here?"
Evelyn shifted uncomfortably. She'd only really known these people a day, maybe two. She wasn't exactly ready to pour out her life's story.
"It's a long story." She said simply. Arthur nodded and let it go, though he kept it tucked away in the back of his mind. They finally pulled up to a small town, dusty from a high amount of traffic from horses to wagons to a train that the town seemed to be built around. Annabell anxiously shifted in her seat, ready to explore the new town. Evelyn pet her daughter on the head, smiling at the girls antics.
"Be patient, Anna. We need to get our shopping done first." Arthur dismounted from the wagon, wiping his hands on his jeans. He pointed at the building they had parked next to.
"That's the general store I'm guessin'. I gotta go send off the mail, you ladies do whatever it is you need to. I'll meet you here when you're done." He said as he was helping Annabell, then Evelyn down off the horse, since Sadie had expressed her discomfort with being assisted the last time he'd tried to help her.
Sadie nodded Evelyn and Annabell over to her, leading the way to the store.
"So what're you needin'?" Sadie asked, casually looking through the racks of clothes.
"Same as you, I suppose. I couldn't grab anything for us from our room when we... well, when we left. Annabell needs something other than this old dress to wear." Evelyn said, picking out a few stockings, and dresses for the little girl who was currently ogling the dolls that were displayed on high shelves.
"Well, if you're looking for advice, if you think you're gonna be staying with us for much longer it's worth your time to invest in pants." To emphasize she shook a pair of jeans out in front of her, handing them to Evelyn. Evelyn took them and held them up to her waist, seeing they were a perfect fit. Sadie did the same, nodding in approval and grabbing another pair with a few shirts.
"Well, I'm not sure about how long I'll be here, but I'll trust you aren't leading me astray." Evelyn joked, grabbing another pair for herself and following suit with some shirts. For extra measure, she grabbed a pair of toddler sized overalls and a shirt, along with a small pair of shoes that Annabell would be able to run in.
When they checked out they opted to change into their new purchases. Sadie into a pair of plain jeans and a yellow long sleeved shirt, which Evelyn couldn't help but to think that the color brought out the rough woman's beauty wonderfully. Evelyn herself settled to a pair of black jeans and a long deep blue shirt, with snuggly cuffed sleeves and a neck that buttoned under her chin. Annabell chose her new pale green dress, and her new shoes.
Sadie nodded approvingly. "That suits you a lot better. You look like a woman who shouldn't be stuck wearing a frumpy gown." Her eyes softened, regarding Evelyn and the woman's innocent daughter with a distant look in her eyes. "You remind me a lot of myself, is what I mean. I can tell you've been through something awful." She said softly. Evelyn regarded the tough woman curiously, wondering by what she meant by that. She couldn't deny however that there was an aura of hurt and understanding that they both seemed to have in common.
"Thank you, Mrs. Adler." Evelyn said. Sadie snorted at her, waving her hand in dismissal.
"Call me Sadie." She insisted. Evelyn smiled and agreed.
They sat at the wagon, until Arthur finally returned to them, apologizing for his lateness and confusedly looking at the two women's choice of attire.
They all mounted their respective rides and headed back to camp.
"So... You changed clothes." Arthur said awkwardly. Sadie scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"We can wear whatever we damn well please." She retorted. Arthur chuckled and shook his head.
"At least now you look the part. Soon enough you'll be playing the harmonica." He joked.
"I'll have you know I use to be great with the Harmonica, before my house, husband, and everything I owned burnt to the ground." Sadie said bitterly.
Before anyone could reply a man atop a horse trotted up beside them.
Evelyn clutched Annabell to her tightly, wary of the man who leered at her and Sadie. She listened as the man tried intimidating Arthur to pay a toll, to which Arthur boredly declined. She jumped in the saddle as a gunshot rang out, the man harassing them slid off his horse limply. Sadie lowered her gun and spurred the horses into a run. Around them men ran from the forest, shooting at the wagon.
Evelyn blocked Annabell as best she could with her body and kicked her horse into action, coming to a jarring stop by the wagon and throwing Annabell into it as gently as she could. Arthur and Sadie shot at the assailants while Evelyn pulled her own gun out and joined the fight. Her, Sadie, and Arthur took cover behind a large boulder as they thinned out the number of men shooting at them, until finally the men started retreating. Evelyn panted, her heart racing as she stumbled over to where she had hidden Annabell.
Arthur joined her, concerned.
"You alright kid?" He asked, to which Annabell nodded quietly and motioned for her mother to pick her up.
"I'm sorry Anna, I suppose from now on I might leave you with Abigail and Jack." Evelyn apologized, tucking the girls wild blonde hair behind her ears.
"Are the bad guys gone mama?" She asked quietly, shoving her face into Evelyns shoulder.
The adults chuckled; Sadie having returned from emptying the bodies' pockets.
"Yes, the bad guys are gone. Mr. Morgan and Sadie fought them all off." Evelyn assured the girl, exaggerating the events into a playful story for her daughter.
Arthur nodded, helping Evelyn onto her horse then setting Annabell in her lap. "You're safe here little lady. As long as Mrs. Adler can control herself." He joked, sending a pointed look at the woman who pretended not to see it.
"We should head back to camp before anyone comes investigatin'." Arthur said, to which they all agreed.
Later that night as the sun began setting Evelyn found herself preparing vegetables with Pearson. The simple task was a welcome break from the chaos of the past few days. She watched as Annabell played with Jack, the two children focusing intently on building a house out of cards. Evelyn thought that for two little kids their two-story card house was rather impressive. She focused back onto her task, slicing onions. She had volunteered to help with the cooking, remembering how passionate Sadie had been about not wanting to do it and not wanting the woman to get angry once more. Sadie at this moment was out by the little dock they had camped next to cleaning her gun.
Evelyn couldn't help but remember what Sadie had said earlier about losing her husband, then what she had said about feeling like the two had something in common. She felt sympathy for the woman, she couldn't imagine what it was like to lose someone she had loved so much. Evelyn also feared what the woman would think if she were to find out Evelyn herself had killed her own husband in cold blood. She sighed as she plopped the vegetables she had sliced into a pot of boiling broth.
"Something on your mind, Mrs. Kings?" Came a voice behind her, startling her. She turned to see Dutch with his eyebrow raised at her and a kind smile on his face.
She hesitated. "I... Well, I'm just thinking about how I got to where I am in life, is all." She said simply, hesitant to divulge too much to someone she had just met.
Dutch kindly grasped her shoulder and pointed her to a rock overseeing the water. "Come, talk and I will listen." He said.
Against her better judgement, she agreed and accompanied him to the rock, where they sat gazing at the water.
"I feel guilty for leaving Pearson to the stew." She said in weak protest. Dutch chuckled and shook his head.
"Nonsense. That old man has done it on his own for years. Now, tell me what's troubling you." Dutch pressed gently, speaking as if she were a spooked animal.
She supposed she was. Lured in by the idea of family, which she never truly had, and a yearning to belong, Evelyn opened up.
"I... The reason that man in Valentine recognized me... Is because, two years ago, I shot my husband dead." She said slowly. Tears began choking her words.
Dutch looked down at his feet and nodded. "I see." He said simply.
Evelyn took that as a sign of understanding and couldn't stop herself from continuing.
"My father married me off to a wealthy banker when I was fourteen. My father was the head of a massive church and had gambled away all of his money. It would be the end of him if everyone found out that a Christian pastor was indulging in such sinful activities that nearly cost him his church."
She explained bitterly and Dutch continued listening silently.
"So, off I went at fourteen years old wed to my husband, Glen Kings, who was over half my age older than me. The night of the wedding I got pregnant with Annabell. She was the best thing I'd ever experienced. She made living with the years of beatings and nights where my husband would drunkenly force himself on me, worth living. Three years after her birth, I became pregnant again. I was so excited." Her voice cracked, and tears flowed down her face. "One night after a social gathering Glen came home drunk and angry. I was at the top of the stairs, begging him to leave Annabell alone after she had angered him. He... He pushed me. Down the stairs. He didn't even look back at me as I lay on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. I miscarried that night, alone in the bathroom. He had taken my child from me, and I wasn't going to risk him taking Annabell from me, too. I grabbed his revolver;" She grasped said revolver from her holster and showed Dutch, who looked at it grimly.
"I shot him in the heart while he was passed out from the drink. I packed up Annabell and a few belongings and fled to Armadillo. We were taken in by a lovely old woman, Bethany, who housed and fed us and raised Annabell as if she was her own granddaughter. Two years later bounty hunters caught up to us, and she gave her life to protect us." Evelyn hid her face in her hands, breathing deeply in hopes to halt the fresh stream of tears.
"I see, Mrs. Kings." Dutch said next to her. He grasped her shoulder, making her look at her. His eyes were serious, staring into hers intently. "You will never have to experience such heartache again, not while you are with us. Your husband was no man at all, and I pray he's rotting." He assured her. Evelyn began crying, this time out of an odd mixture of relief.
"Thank you, Dutch. I was afraid that once any of you found out I would be chased away." She chuckled weakly. Dutch laughed, escorting her back to the camp.
"We're a gang of murderers and thieves, Mrs. Kings, not heartless. Now, continue about your work," He dismissed her. "And, Mrs. Kings, I hope you and Annabell find a home among us. These are good folk." He said, before walking away.
Evelyn smiled, her heart feeling lighter than it had in years. Maybe she would stay. For Annabell, she thought.