It had been three days since Evelyn and Dutch had talked about her past. Since then Evelyn could feel herself grow more and more comfortable with her surroundings and the people around her. She had found friendship in Abigail, Sadie, and even the mysterious Charles who had agreed to take her hunting sometime. She hadn't had much of an opportunity to bond with the other women, Karin, Tilly, and MaryBeth because Miss Grimshaw had seemed to keep a tight leash on those particular girls, keeping them busy with camp chores and giving out a harsh scolding if they'd begun to fall behind.
Molly O'Shea seemed to keep to herself, opting to isolate herself in her and Dutch's tent or sit near the river and read. Evelyn couldn't get a solid read on the antisocial woman but she seemed nice enough if not maybe a little snobbish. The men of the camp tended to keep themselves busy so Evelyn opted to stay out of their way as best she could. John seemed nice enough, if not a bit careless when it came to Abigail and Jack. She didn't understand why he so vehemently denied relation to Jack especially when the boy was his spitting image but she knew it was none of her business, so she didn't pry. Javier, Sean, and Bill seemed to be good people, Sean being a bit too much of a pervert for her tastes but she enjoyed his company when they all gathered around a fire at night, and Javier seemed genuine and kind and Annabell loved it when he would sing and play the banjo for everyone. Kieran and Lenny seemed to be the youngest of the men, and Evelyn liked them both a lot so far. Lenny was a sweet younger man, and she appreciated his good manners and calm temperament, same with Kieran who was a wonderful help in keeping the horses, in Evelyn's case Athena, in good health and happy moods.
Evelyn was interrupted from her thoughts by Annabell, who had started tugging on her dress to get her mothers attention.
"Yes Anna?" She asked the little girl who smiled sweetly and pointed at Jack who stood a few feet behind Annabell.
"Mama, can Jack and me go looking for flowers? He said he can teach me how to make flower necklaces!" She asked excitedly, and Jack nodded behind her hopefully.
"I wanted to show her so we could make you and my mama pretty necklaces." Jack said, still slightly shy around the new adult.
Evelyn smiled down at them both and looked around for Abigail who was busy hanging clean laundry on a line.
"Tell you what, if Jack's mama agrees to it then you can go look for flowers until lunch is ready." Evelyn said, eliciting a happy giggle from the children who ran excitedly over to Abigail.
Evelyn smiled to herself as the children got permission and ran to into a small clearing by the camp that had an abundance of dandelions and some other small red flowers. She hadn't seen Annabell so happy before meeting Jack. She felt so guilty that she hadn't been able to give her daughter a stable life filled with schooling and regular play dates with kids her age but she wouldn't change how their lives had played out; it was this or a miserable and painful life with her husband. She couldn't be sure that that life would've been safer than the one they were living now.
Sighing happily she returned to her work that she had been distracted from. Arthur and Bill had returned the other day from a day of work, something about a moonshine deal and being promoted into Deputies by the Rhodes sheriff and they both had been nicked by bullets and Arthur had gotten into a knife fight with some poor idiot who had managed to give him a shallow cut on his stomach. So, she had taken up the task of mending Arthur's shirt and patching Bill's jeans. She wasn't the best at sewing, a skill she had never been able to quite pick up on during all of her lessons as a little girl, but she could mend things just fine, as long as no one cared if it was pretty. She found herself zoning out again, lulled by the background noise of the camp that never truly sat still or quiet, a trait that she appreciated after being alone and silent for so long.
With a satisfied smile she finished the last stich on Bill's jeans and got up to return them to Bill who was across camp sitting at the center campfire along with Hosea and Uncle. On her way over she ran into Sadie who greeted her, sipping on a cup of coffee. Evelyn returned the pants to Bill, who stared blankly at her for an uncomfortable second before stuttering a hurried thanks. Their attention was adverted to a commotion by the entrance of the camp where a blonde man Evelyn hadn't seen before rode up to the hitching posts loudly announcing his arrival.
"That's Micah. Keep an eye on him and stay away if you can, I don't trust him one bit." Sadie said quietly, having come up to stand next to her. Evelyn nodded, slightly confused.
"Why? Did something happen?" She asked. She watched as Micah sauntered up to Dutch, saying something to which Dutch nodded and patted him on the shoulder.
Sadie scoffed. "More like what hasn't happened. He's trigger happy, and thinks the women here owe him something for nothin'." She explained, waving to Arthur who just rode in slightly behind Micah.
"Afternoon ladies." Arthur greeted with a tip of his hat. Micah, finished with his conversation with Dutch made his way over to them. Evelyn shifted uncomfortably as he eyed her up and down slowly with a twitch to his lips.
"And who's this? Replacing me already I see, I ain't been gone that long." Micah said, to which Arthur rolled his eyes.
"Evelyn Kings, and you are?" She figured it couldn't hurt to introduce herself, as uncomfortable as she was with the man. Micah raised an eyebrow at her, his eyes scrutinizing her even more as he looked at her face.
"Kings, huh? Sounds awfully familiar." He taunted. Arthur cut in, placing himself between them.
"Micah. You talk to Dutch yet?" He asked.
As they talked Sadie pulled Evelyn away, leading her over the stew pot where lunch had been prepared. Evelyn thanked her and prepared a bowl for herself and Annabell. She decided to sit with Abigail and called Annabell over so she could eat. Jack followed her and Abigail handed him his portion and they ate in amicable silence. The rest of the day passed quickly with Evelyn helping as much as she could with chores around camp, and before the sun set completely she called Annabell over to their tent, where she handed the girl a pen and paper. Jack watched them curiously as Annabell practiced writing out the alphabet.
"Evelyn, would you mind it if Jack joined you and your girl? He's been buggin' me since he saw you two a couple days ago. I ain't much of a reader or a writer." Abigail requested, her face apologetic as if she were embarrassed. Evelyn gestured for her to sit next to her and for jack to sit with Annabell. She handed him a piece of paper.
"Sorry I don't have another pen, so you two'll have to share." She apologized. Evelyn and Abigail sat as they watched the two children practice their penmanship, Jack catching on quickly when Evelyn would teach him a new word and Annabell trying her best to help him where she could, happy to show off what her mother had taught her. Evelyn taught Abigail the few basics of reading, though the woman didn't seem much interested in learning.
"Where'd you learn all of this anyway?" Abigail questioned, to her reading was left to the men and a useless skill for women such as herself.
"My family owned a few different churches. My father was a rich pastor, and found it would be suitable if I learned basic reading writing and etiquette. Though I hated it then I'm happy to be able to now. I enjoy reading quite a bit." Evelyn explained. Abigail looked surprised.
"A pastor's daughter? However did you end up here?" Abigail leaned towards her, surprised and intrigued. The children continued writing, unaware of their mothers' conversation.
Evelyn was cut off from her explanation as Micah sauntered over, beer in hand and his breath reeking of alcohol.
"A husband killer, she is." He hiccupped. "Yeah, I remember now why your name is so familiar." He slurred, losing his balance. His loud voice caught the attention of the camp, and they all looked at Evelyn curiously.
Evelyn glared at him and gathered Annabell in her arms, covering the girls' ears which elicited a laugh from Micah.
"I don't know you, Micah, but I know you don't know the whole story." She grit out angrily. Micah made a scared gesture with his hands and laughed.
"What're you gonna do kill me? I ain't your husband." To that he laughed harder and took a swig from his bottle. He turned away, almost tripping over himself as he laughed and muttered 'husband killer' under his breath.
Evelyn looked around her, to Abigail who was looking at her with an expression of concern and the rest of the camp who pretended they didn't hear anything but some still sending her curious glances. Her chest tightened, tears pricking her eyes. She'd gained so much trust and friendship in her time here and she was scared that it was all gone within' the span of a second. Abigail placed a comforting hand on her arm.
"Micah's an idiot, sweetheart. Don't let that fool make you feel unwelcome. If what he said was true I'm bettin' you had your reasons." She said, making Evelyn smile softly.
"Thank you Abigail." Evelyn looked up at the sky, seeing that the moon had risen and was high in the sky. Abigail followed suit and stood up, gesturing for Jack to follow.
"You tell Mrs. Kings thank you for letting you join. And say goodnight." Jack nodded and stepped up to Evelyn, hugging her and telling her that he hoped he could join again tomorrow. Evelyn assured him he would, and the duo parted ways, wishing each other a good night.
Arthur groaned, running his hand over his face as he rode into camp. Somehow he had gotten dragged into some sort of star-crossed lovers situation and he wasn't quite sure how to handle it. Something told him it'd be more than just delivering cheesy love letters, so he'd come to camp to solicit some... feminine help. Lord knows he himself hadn't had success in the romance department. When he thought of someone who knew about romance his first thought was MaryBeth, the girl always had her nose in some sort of romance novel, but as he scanned the camp he saw she was elbow deep in breakfast's dishes. So, he continued looking until he saw Mrs. Kings who sat with Charles, Annabell in her lap as they watched him while he crafted something. Arthur wasn't sure how she was in the romance department, but he figured since she had a daughter she had to know something. Sadie and Abigail weren't an option, as Sadie was still, rightfully, mourning her husband and Abigail was too bitter to the idea thanks to the fool John.
He made his way over to her, clearing his throat and tipping his hat.
"Charles, Mrs. Kings, little lady." He greeted. Charles nodded to him, and Evelyn smiled in greeting.
"Hi mister!" Annabell cheerfully chimed. He smiled, the little girl always put him in a better mood, just like Jack did.
"Sorry to intrude, but I was hopin' I could ask for your help, Mrs. Kings?" He asked. Evelyn nodded and set Annabell down on her feet and told her to go help out with Abigail or Sadie.
"Of course," She said, heading over to her horse. They mounted up and left, following the road towards town.
"What do you need help with, Arthur?" She asked. Arthur chuckled, he didn't even know how to start.
"Well, you see, I ran into this kid. He's got some sort of forbidden love thing goin' on with a woman he ain't supposed to I guess. I don't know nothin' about that sort of stuff so I figured I'd ask one of the camp women." He explained. Evelyn looked at him in confusion, and he felt the back of his neck get hot.
"You need help... With romance?" She asked incredulously. They had made it into town, the dust kicking up around them and the everyday sound of a little town drowning them out.
"Well... I mean, yeah I suppose that's it." Arthur said awkwardly. Evelyn laughed, and Arthur looked at her. He hadn't seen her laugh much, and he couldn't help but notice that she looked awfully pretty when she did. He reached into his satchel and handed her the note. She opened it and read it, her eyes softening and a slow smile crossed her lips.
"He sure has a way with words, and he seems to love her. She's a lucky girl." She said, handing him back the note. "So why do you need my help?"
"Well we need to sneak into a manor. Braithwaite manor. I'm not sure the girl would take too kindly to a brute of a man tracking her down by himself. Plus, I don't know what to even say to her." He said, making Evelyn laugh again. Soon enough they made it to the outskirts of the manor. Guards stood post nearly every ten feet. Arthur gestured to Evelyn to stay quiet. They surveyed the perimeter, and Evelyn pointed to the back.
"Look, there's a pavilion with no one around it. And it looks like the girl is there too." Arthur looked to where she was pointing and nodded.
"Yeah, but the only way to get to it unseen is from the back and its cut off by water." He pointed out. Evelyn shrugged, nudging her horse into the woods behind the manor.
"You can swim, can't you?" She said simply. Arthur groaned. He did not want to go through all that effort for some dumb love-struck fools. They creeped around the guards, coming upon the embankment overlooking the pavilion. They hitched their horses to a nearby tree and prepared to swim.
"Here, give me your satchel. I'll hold it so it doesn't get wet." Evelyn held her hand out and when Arthur gave it to her she stuffed her revolver in it. Arthur left his guns so they wouldn't get wet, and anything else he had in his pockets. Evelyn took off her shoes and slipped into the lake, swimming backwards with the satchel held high up in the air. Arthur shook his head and followed begrudgingly.
Evelyn lead the way, so as not to scare the girl. Penelope didn't seem too shocked when she saw them, as odd as the were. They were soaking wet, Evelyns navy blue dress clinging to her and Arthur looking like an agitated wet dog.
"Are you Penelope?" Evelyn asked. Arthur took his satchel back and handed the girl a letter and a box containing some sort of jewelry, Arthur wasn't paying much attention. Penelope introduced herself, and began reading the letter.
Evelyn and Arthur watched as she swooned, clutching a hand to her chest.
"Oh, Beau... He's so..."
"Strange?" Arthur interrupted. Evelyn elbowed him and he chuckled.
Penelope laughed, "Yes he is strange. But he's also so... human. My family, they're so lost in money and feuds. Beau is like a breath of fresh air." She poured them both a glass of lemonade, which they accepted. "If my family were to find out... Well, he'd be killed and I'd be sent away to some awful place like..." She thought for a second then blurted out; "Ohio! My uncle lives there, he has a factory. My family shunned him for leaving, but now they accept him because he's a vicious snob."
She scoffed, her blonde curls bouncing as she shook her head. "Do either of you have a family?" She asked them, looking back and forth between the two of them. Arthur cleared his throat awkwardly.
"No, not really." He answered. Penelope looked to Evelyn expectantly.
Evelyn smiled. "I have a daughter, but that's all. Like you, I suppose, I've been at odds with any of my other family." Evelyn answered. Penelope smiled at her in sympathy.
"They tolerate me for the money. But me, as soon as I have ideas above my station, they can't stand me." Penelope lamented. She sighed and rose to stand, making her way over to the pair.
"Could I ask you to send this to Beau? Please." Arthur sighed and took the letter, stashing it in his satchel.
"I suppose." He said, and tipped his hat at her before taking his leave. Evelyn said her goodbyes and followed after.
"Well." Arthur sighed. "You get to meet lover boy now." He joked.