Arthur woke early the next morning alone. He sprang out of bed when he realised Grace wasn't in the cabin, and ran outside. His horse reared from being startled and cantered away a few steps while Grace was left standing with a horse brush in her hand.
"Good morning," she said, amused, "Thought I ran off?"
"Guess I did."
"I didn't want to wake you, so I came out to feed Smokey and brush him a bit."
"Thanks." He remained standing in the doorway.
"Arthur?"
"Yeah?"
"Go put some clothes on."
"Are you sure you don't want to go straight back to camp?" Grace asked as she walked back in. Arthur was just buttoning up his shirt, or at least, he was trying to since he was missing a few buttons from the previous night. She smiled slightly and held out her hand. "Give me your shirt, I'll mend it for you."
"I guess things got a bit out of hand last night," he chuckled, removing his shirt and tossing it to her.
"Just a little." She sat at her desk, took a small sewing kit out of one of the drawers and started sewing buttons back on. He didn't know why, but he was transfixed by her deft fingers quickly stitching on the buttons. He had watched the girls in camp sew and mend clothing, but it was just regular work to them. Grace concentrated with more finesse, and seemingly with far more skill. She sewed much quicker than anyone he'd ever seen.
"Hard to believe you didn't sew your whole life," he said.
"Well, the first twenty years I didn't. I've had loads of practice since," she smiled, then bit off the remaining thread from the last button. She held the shirt out to him. "There you are."
"You really didn't do any sewing for that long?" he asked as he put his shirt on.
"Well, not unless you count embroidery, but I had a lot of trouble with that," she put away her sewing kit. "I went through a few governesses who tried to teach me."
"How did you have so much trouble with that?"
Grace held up her left hand. "Left-handed. They refused to let me do things with my left hand and then got angry when I couldn't do things correctly with my right. It took me a while to train myself to do things with my right hand."
"I can't imagine what it's like."
She pulled out the chair at her desk. "Here."
"What?"
"Sit."
Arthur hesitated then sat in the chair. She took out a sheet of paper, a pen, and an ink pot and placed them in front of him. "Write with your left hand." He reached for the pen with his right hand but Grace smacked him lightly. "Left hand." He picked up the pen with his left hand, trying to get a proper grip on it before dipping it into the ink. It felt very peculiar as he tried to write out his name, like his hand didn't want to comply. The ink smudged across the paper under his hand and he couldn't help but laugh at his sloppy handwriting.
"Okay, point taken," he set the pen down and accepted the handkerchief Grace gave him to clean the ink off his hand. She picked up the pen with her left hand, dipped it in the ink and quickly signed her name. She then did the same with her right hand and he noticed her writing was considerably different when she switched hands.
"Don't feel bad, I wrote atrociously when I first started using my right hand. I've just had a lot of practice," she tidied up the paper, pen, and ink.
"Did it feel just as strange, using your right hand for things?"
"Yes. I got used to it after a while, but there are still times when it feels like it doesn't work properly. Anyway, I don't have to worry about being ostracized for that anymore."
Arthur nodded, took out a map from his satchel and laid it out on the desk. "So, I thought we'd take this route here," he pointed, "Go up through the Grizzlies."
Grace leaned over for a look. "This road here is blocked by a landslide, happened a while ago but no one's cleared it. So we can head east towards O'Creagh's and the Kamassa, or head west first then north towards the falls."
He considered both options. Heading east would get them back faster, but he had been wanting to head along that northern road. Even if he took an extra day or two to get back, that should be fine. If Dutch needs anything done that badly, there were others he could ask.
"Let's go west, I ain't ever been up that way."
"I guess that's the lead we're looking into?" she winked at him as she opened her wardrobe and started picking out a few things to pack in her saddlebags. "Ugh, this would be much easier if I had Tuula."
"It's fine, ain't like you're bringing everything," he gestured around the cabin.
"But what if I want to?" she whined.
"Tough."
"Damn. Well, I guess I'll just have to bear with just this then," she laughed as she finished packing. She went over to the shelves by the fireplace, picked out a few small items, and handed them to Arthur.
"What's this?"
"Some dried pork, in case we get a bit peckish. Can always catch some fish or hunt some mountain sheep for something more satiating along the way." She then picked up a bow and a quiver of arrows and they headed outside so Arthur could tack up his horse.
"So you really don't use a gun or anything?" he asked as he tightened the saddle's cinch.
"No. I... well, I guess you could say I had a bad experience and it soured me towards them," she said, petting Smokey's nose, "But I usually don't get into situations requiring a gun and I use my bow for hunting."
"I see," he attached their saddlebags to the saddle. He wanted to ask if it had something to do with William being killed, but opted not to.
Grace gave his horse one last pat and moved to mount up when Arthur took her hand. He looked into her glimmering blue eyes and finally told her what he'd been wanting to say out loud.
"I love you, you know that, right?"
She smiled as she nodded and pulled him closer for a kiss. "I know. I love you, too, but you already knew that." She winked then kissed him again.
He chuckled, kissed her again, then lifted her onto Smokey's back before mounting up himself. She squeezed her arms around him tightly before settling her hands to his waist. He smiled to himself as he urged his horse into a trot to the road heading west.
Neither spoke for a while, choosing to just enjoy the ride among the trees. After some time, he heard Grace humming, then quietly singing to herself. He didn't recognise the tune and waited until she had finished.
"What's that you're singing?"
"Just a little French song. 'Plaisir d'amour'. Kind of a sad love song."
"Oh. Sing it again?"
She did so, a little louder so he could hear it clearly. It sounded like the type of song Dutch would listen to on his gramophone, but nicer. Even Smokey seemed to like it as his ears relaxed and turned back. She finished singing and hugged him around the waist, sighing.
"Well it sounds nice anyway," he said. They continued along the road before turning north.
They emerged from the trees and approached the railroad tracks. Arthur slowed his horse when they heard a train coming.
"You going to rob it?" Grace asked.
He turned as far as he could to look back at her. "You serious?"
"I was just asking," she shrugged, "Though I suppose you prefer to have a few accomplices rather than go at it alone."
"So you ain't offering to help?"
"Nope, sorry, I think I'd like to keep train robbery out of my list of things to do." She grinned at him as the train roared past. Arthur turned to settle Smokey who was pawing the ground nervously.
When the train had passed and was making its way across the large bridge, Arthur urged his horse forward across the tracks to continue along the road.
"So what's on this list of yours of things to do?" he asked.
"Oh, plenty."
"Like?"
"There are plenty of places I haven't been yet."
"If you could, where would you go first?"
"Gosh, I don't know. Maybe the Orient? Oo, or maybe Antarctica."
"Where?"
"It's where the south pole is, I don't think anyone's actually stepped foot there yet. We could be the first!" She paused. "No, wait, I have a better idea. That's where the gang can escape to! Who would think to look for all of you there?"
"Hah, I ain't too sure about living there."
"Yeah, there is a lot of ice and snow and I imagine you've had more than enough of that for a while."
"I suppose there's plenty of ice for all that skating."
"That's what I'm going to do," Grace replied, determined, "I am going to skate across Antarctica. Maybe I'll even be the first person to do it."
Arthur was about to reply when she suddenly patted him on the left shoulder.
"Hey, look down there," she pointed down a steep embankment near a waterfall. He looked but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. He stopped and she dismounted to get closer to the embankment.
"What did you see?"
"There's someone down there," she started making her way down the hill.
"Wait!" Arthur dismounted and followed. They slowly and carefully went down the steep rocky hill and he could now see what she was talking about. Someone was lying at the riverbank but seemed to be halfway inside a broken barrel.
Grace reached the person first. "Oh," she said quietly, kneeling down next to them. "What on earth happened here?"
Arthur caught up and saw that the person was a woman and was very much dead. The barrel had some writing on it. "Desirée LaFlamme," he read out loud. "Guess she tried to go over the falls in the barrel."
"Oh, I've seen the posters of her for going over the falls," she stood up, "So why hasn't anyone taken care of her body?"
"What do you think we should do?"
She looked between the body and the river. "I suppose we could leave her be, or maybe push her into the water."
Arthur thought for a moment. "Well, I suppose she should finish what she started." He carefully pulled the broken barrel with Desirée Laflamme's body still inside into the river. They watched as the body and the barrel bobbed in the water before sinking out of view.
They climbed back up the hill to Smokey, who was now grazing by the side of the road. "You know, sometimes I think I live a ridiculous life, then I come across someone who was killed doing something even more ridiculous," Arthur said as he patted his horse.
"Oh you still live a ridiculous life, just a different kind of ridiculous," Grace said, "Anyway, let's continue on."
Arthur lifted her up onto his horse then mounted and they continued along the road. They turned east and headed up a rocky hill.
"So what would be on your life list of things to do?" Grace asked after a little while.
"Try not to get killed," he chuckled. He won't mention the thoughts he had of them getting married and having a family yet.
"Heh, anything else? I mean, there must be something you want to do or somewhere you want to go some day."
"I want to see Tahiti for myself."
"It is quite nice to visit. I stayed for five months before I had to leave. It was too humid for my tastes, and quite small."
"Small?"
"Yes. It's a very small island, you can cross it in a couple days or so. You can go to the other islands too, but they're just as small or smaller. So, nice to visit, but maybe not so much to live for the likes of us."
Arthur chuckled a bit and had to agree. He much preferred a lot of space to roam.
"What else do you want to do?" she asked.
He thought for a moment. "Okay, promise you won't laugh?"
"I promise."
"I want to ride a camel."
"A camel?"
"I have this cigarette card of a camel caravan and there's someone riding a camel and I want to try it."
"It is fun."
"You've ridden a camel?"
"In Egypt. I was working as a translator while they were uncovering the Great Sphinx."
"What's that?"
"It's a giant monument, a statue, with the head of a man and the body of a lion. It's very old, so old they don't know when it was built, why, or even who the face is supposed to be of."
"So you speak, what is it, Egyptian?"
"Well, an Egyptian dialect of Arabic, but only a little. I was translating from French to English. There were other translators too." She paused. "So when you get the gang out, we'll go to Egypt and ride camels."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that. Then we can go to Tahiti so you can see what it's like."
"And then we'll go to the Orient."
"Heh, if you want." She hugged him tightly and he took her hand in his.
Above the rocky hills were grasslands and Arthur kicked his horse into a canter. Smokey eagerly obeyed, not seeming to mind that there were two people on his back. Even though he knew Grace would've preferred to have Tuula, Arthur was happy she was riding with him. There was something comforting about her presence, about her touch. It warmed him in a way he hadn't felt before.
"Faster," she whispered into his ear. He smiled and kicked Smokey to a gallop. She gripped his hand and waist as Arthur turned off the road and across the fields.
A sudden roar startled Smokey as he suddenly veered to the side. Grace lost her hold on Arthur and fell off while he just managed to stay on. As he tried to calm down his horse, he looked to see an enormous grizzly bear emerging from behind some large boulders. Grace was still on the ground, but seemed to be okay.
Arthur took out his rifle and quickly dismounted. As he did, Smokey galloped away. Arthur aimed, but Grace looked back at him and shook her head. The grizzly stood on its hind legs and roared again. Arthur aimed again.
"No, don't!" Grace said loudly. The bear then rushed towards her and Arthur shot it dead before it could attack her.
"Jesus, you alright?" he ran to her, but instead of being grateful, she punched him in the arm.
"You idiot! I told you not to shoot her!" She said angrily.
"That bear would've killed you!"
She pointed towards the boulders. Arthur looked and saw two small bear cubs peering around it.
"Oh."
"Poor things," Grace said sadly at them.
"Oh no, you are not going to keep them," he shook his head at her.
"They deserve a chance, somehow," she watched the cubs sniff at their dead mother then smirked slightly. "Can you imagine if we brought them back to your camp? 'Hey, Dutch, we found you some new friends!'"
Arthur laughed. "Well, I-"
They were then interrupted by what sounded like a booming, echoing sneeze.
"Oh! Excuse me!"
Arthur and Grace looked around, but saw no one. There was only a rocky cave nearby above a tall ledge. They approached it cautiously.
"Um, hello?" Grace called out.
"Hello there!" a loud voice said from inside the cave. "How are you?"
"I'm okay, how are you?" she replied.
"I'm alright. I'm kind of lonely, you see, I'm too big."
"How big are you?"
"Very big. Normal sized people don't like me much."
"Just because you're big? Well that's not very nice," Grace and Arthur looked up at the cave, which had a large rocky boulder in front of the entrance. "Would you like to come out to meet us? We're nice people."
"Oh no, I can't do that," the voice said, "There is always someone watching."
"Oh. Well, can I come up to see you?" Grace asked.
"You- you want to see me?"
"Yes, I do." She turned to Arthur, "Boost me up."
"You sure?" he asked. She nodded and he boosted her up onto the ledge. As she stood and moved towards the cave entrance, he kept one hand on his pistol.
"Oh, there you are. Hello, my name is Grace. And this is Arthur." She pointed to him.
"Hello, Grace and Arthur," the voice said, "Pleased to meet you." Arthur watched a gigantic pale hand reach out to Grace. He gripped his gun, but she reached out to shake one of the fingers. The hand was so big, it could have easily grabbed her and snapped her in two.
"What's your name?" She asked.
"I don't remember my name. I don't know if I have one. The animals just call me 'The Big One'."
"The animals talk to you?"
"Oh yes, they're the only ones who will talk to me."
"Well, we'll talk to you. But first, I think you should have a name. Can I give you a name?"
"Please choose a good one."
"Hmm," Grace furrowed her brow in thought. "How about Magnus?"
"Magnus. I like that! Magnus. My name is Magnus."
"I'm very pleased to meet you, Magnus," Grace smiled, "So you say the animals talk to you, right?"
"Yes. They are my only friends."
"Would you be able to look after a couple of bear cubs? At least until they can be on their own."
"I saw you shoot that bear. At first I thought it wasn't very nice, but then you would've been killed. Then I wouldn't have a new friend."
"I'm sorry."
"I don't know how to look after bear cubs."
"Neither do I, but maybe they can tell you what they need. I think they deserve a chance to grow up, don't you?"
"Oh yes, I agree."
"Okay, we'll go get them and bring them up to you." Grace turned and looked down at Arthur's incredulous face. "What?"
"You serious?"
"You have a better idea?" she climbed down.
"We could just leave, let nature take its course."
"Or we could give those bear cubs a second chance and Magnus can have some new friends."
"I'd like that very much!" Magnus called out from his cave. Arthur knew he wasn't winning this one.
"Fine. Let's go get them." Arthur and Grace went over to the bear cubs who were by the body of their mother, seemingly trying to wake her up.
"Oh, babies," Grace cooed sadly as she approached slowly. She took out a piece of dried meat from her pouch and held it out to them. "That's it, come on. We're going to give you a new home." One of the cubs eagerly waddled over and took the meat from her. She cautiously pet it on the head as it ate. Its brother wandered over as well and she took out another piece of dried meat for him. Arthur shook his head unbelievingly.
"Well, let's go see your new mother, er, father, or whoever Magnus wants to be," Arthur picked up one of the cubs while Grace led the other one over to the ledge. Arthur put down the cub, then boosted Grace up before pushing the cub up to her.
"There we are," Grace said as she hauled up the second cub, "Here you go, Magnus, two new friends for you."
"They are cute now, aren't they?" Magnus then lowered his voice. "Come along, it's okay, I'm bigger than your momma, but I'll look after you now." The cubs wandered into the cave.
"Do you need anything right now?" Grace asked.
"I'm okay, thank you."
"Can Arthur come up to meet you too?"
"Gosh, this is strange, isn't it? Two people who actually want to see me?"
"It'll be okay." Grace reached down to Arthur. He pulled himself up with her help and looked inside the cave. A giant pale man wearing animal pelts was sitting just beside some boulders at the entrance. The bear cubs were sniffing at him. Magnus hesitated then reached his hand out to Arthur. It was so big, Arthur's entire hand was only a third the size of the giant's palm.
"So what do you eat?"
"Oh, sometimes I have to eat my animal friends. But they don't mind. They understand." He looked down at the cubs. "Don't worry, I won't eat these ones."
"We have a little bit of food ourselves, we could have a little picnic," Grace said, then turned to Arthur, "Depending on where Smokey ran off to."
Arthur whistled and a few moments later his horse trotted up. Arthur jumped down and looked through his saddlebags. He took out a couple cans of beans and Grace told him to look in her saddlebags. He did and took out a few bread rolls. He passed them up to Grace then pulled himself back up.
Grace opened one of the cans and handed it to Magnus. He took it carefully from her, holding the can between his finger and thumb. She then passed him a bread roll. "Sorry it's not a lot, I wasn't expecting us to share a meal with such a large friend."
Arthur smiled to himself as he and Grace sat down to eat. Magnus tried to eat slowly, but the can of beans was less than a mouthful for him, the bread roll even less so. Grace continued to talk with Magnus while Arthur stayed quiet. He wasn't much for conversation anyway.
"Well, it's starting to get a bit late and we should get going," Grace said.
"I hope they don't see you," Magnus said fearfully.
"Who is 'they'?" Arthur asked.
"The people in the tower," he pointed. Arthur and Grace saw a watch tower a little ways away. "I see them. They're always watching." Arthur couldn't see anyone, but it was too far away.
"We'll be okay, and we'll see if we can get them to stop watching you," said Grace, "Or, at least we can try."
"Oh, that would be swell," Magnus said happily.
"Thank you for letting us visit, Magnus," Grace stood and held her hand out to him. He reached out and she shook the giant's hand. "See you later."
"Goodbye, my friends! Be well!"
Arthur jumped down from the ledge then helped Grace down. They mounted up on Smokey and headed toward the watch tower. The sun was starting to set lower in the sky.
"You really want to go talk to whoever's at this place?" Arthur asked her.
"Well, I suppose we can see what they know," she said, "Even someone as large as Magnus deserves to live a normal life."
They rode up to the watch tower, which was lit up, but it didn't look like there was much movement within. They dismounted and Arthur took out his pistol. Grace frowned at him.
"You ever thought about just knocking?" she rolled her eyes as she went up to the door. She knocked loudly and waited. No answer. She knocked again and called out. "Hello?" Still nothing. She looked over at Arthur and opened the door slowly, calling out again. "Anyone home? We just need somewhere to sleep for the night, if you don't mind."
"Guess there's no one here," Arthur followed her inside, keeping his hand on his pistol.
"I'm going to have a look up there," Grace said as she started climbing the ladder to the tower. Arthur followed and they found the tower empty as well. There were a pair of binoculars on the ledge facing Magnus's cave. "Hm, maybe someone was watching him." Grace picked up the binoculars and looked towards the cave. She then raised her arm and waved before lowering the binoculars.
"You see him?"
"No, but maybe he can see us." They returned down the ladder.
"You really are something else," Arthur said.
"So you keep saying."
"Adopting out bear cubs to giants."
"All in a day's work," she grinned at him then yawned, "And it's been a long day. Do you need any help with getting Smokey settled for the night?"
"Nah, I'm fine."
"Okay, I'm going to lie down now." Grace kissed him then lay down on the bed.
Arthur went out to loosen Smokey's saddle and remove their saddlebags. He returned inside and sat on the bed where Grace was already asleep. He smiled to himself and shook his head. How is it possible she could be such a good person and still want to be with him? He still didn't understand it, but he wasn't going to dispute it. He didn't believe in fate since there was nothing he'd ever done to deserve her in his life.
He lay next to her, kissing the scar on her right temple before pulling her close. How much longer would his luck hold out?
