Hm, Our Dear Arthur has not only had a dream of unknown certainty and aspects but is now developing feelings for our dear Sadie Adler. Now, obviously, Mrs. Adler still grieves for her husband…I mean, he died just recently…But, in the aspect of some, Sadie wouldn't have to stop loving Jake Adler to love Arthur Morgan, correct? Well, if you wanna look at it that way, then you'd look at it the right way. At least in my personal aspect.
Of course, this dream has deep meaning…but, you do have to wonder…Was it even a dream at all? Was it something…more? Something like a Destined Meeting? Or a Powerful vision? Arthur is no seer so this could not be it. So…What could it be?
You all know the drill.
Only One Way To Find Out…
-Chapter 13- Life is the flower for which love is the honey
Horseshoe Overlook…
Some of the gang had woken up, Mary-Beth was changing into her proper clothing. Uncle was asleep on his back, with a whiskey in his hand, snoring ever so loudly. Tilly and Karen were taking their morning walk. Bill was still sleeping on his stomach on a mattress. Charles was warming the fire up. Hosea was reading a book. Jack had slept in Dutch's tent for the night. Molly had actually done a little work and made Jack a comfortable bed for him. She made sure that when Jack was in the tent, she didn't do anything to Dutch in front of the young boy. Dutch made sure of the same thing as well. Molly was still asleep in her bed, sleeping soundly. Jack too, sleeping on his own little bed next to the cot that Molly slept on.
John and Abigail slept in John's tent. Abigail had an arm over John's chest, her head resting on his shoulder. Both she and John were in their nightgowns. John woke up first, he looked around tiredly. He then looked down at Abigail. He gently took her hand on her chest and caressed it lovingly. Abigail moaned in tiredness.
"Good morning, Outlaw~," Abigail said as she leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on John's cheek. John gave a warm smile.
"Good morning," John said. He couldn't come up with anything flirty at the moment, so he just gave her a good morning.
"We should probably get up," John said as he leaned up, he hung his legs over his cot. But Abigail wrapped her arms around his chest from behind him. She pressed herself against him and buried her head in his neck.
"Do we have to? You're so warm…We can stay in bed a little longer," Abigail said. John's face started to redden heavily. Abigail had never acted like this before…what the hell was happening?
"Abigail…what's gotten into you?" John asked.
"What's wrong Cowboy~...Don't like being with your lovely wife?" Abigail said. Okay…Abigail definitely wasn't normal at the moment. What has gotten into her?
"Well…Yeah, I like spending time with you…but…this is just really unusual…" John said, his face still reddened.
"If you don't like it, I can stop," Abigail said, still having her arms wrapped around John and snuggling into his back. John's face reddened with a heavy wave of heat.
"I…I uh…" John stuttered, not sure what to say or respond to his wife. Was this an act of hers? Was she playin' games with him like he was some player? Well…In a sense, he was a player in her game. She was his wife after all.
"Just uh…Just don't act like this in front of Jack…he won't know what to make of it…" John said. Abigail simply responded with a moan of comfort.
"Whatever you say…Johnny Boy~," Abigail said. John felt a heavy shudder in his body. Johnny Boy? Where the hell did that come from?!
"Okay…okay…uh…I think we should get up now…*gulps heavily*," John said, why the hell was he acting all nervous all of a sudden?! It was his damn wife for Christ's sake!? Why was he acting all nervous and childish around her?! He was a grown man and a married one?! It seemed that overnight Abigail had just decided to play a little act for him…like she was just toying with him…what was she up to?
"If you say so…Johnny Boy~," Abigail said. There it was again, John's body shuddered again. Damn it! Was his body gonna do this every time she said that to him? He remembered Dutch calling him that when he was just a little boy…but that was a long damn time ago…how did Abigail know about it? If she even actually knew about that? John was more concerned with the way she was acting toward him. All flirtatious and smutty. It weirded him out…yet he kinda liked it…
Abigail slowly released John from her grasp. John got up from the cot and slowly walked out of the tent. Followed by Abigail not very long after.
Most of the gang had woken up, with the few exceptions of Reverend Swanson and Uncle. Lenny, who had taken the watch for the night, was now getting his rest. Sadie Adler was currently sleeping in her tent, still sleeping quite soundly.
Arthur rode on Mary as they approached Horseshoe Overlook.
"Hey, Who's there?" The voice of Javier was heard.
"It's Arthur!" Arthur shouted back.
"Good to see you back, Arthur, got quite a catch there," Javier said.
"Yeah, Gang's gotta eat, been a while since we last had a proper morning meal," Arthur said. Javier chuckled slightly.
"That it has, thank you, Arthur," Javier said as he tipped his hat to Arthur. Arthur put two fingers to his head and flicked them forward at Javier, which was a way of flipping his hat if he didn't have a hat on his head. Arthur then rode Mary up a little further. Mary stopped next to a hitching post. Arthur dismounted.
"Charles, would you mind helping me out?" Arthur asked. Charles stood up from the campfire.
"Sure thing, Arthur," Charles said as he came over to help Arthur with getting the deer to Pearson. Arthur and Charles started untying the rope on the deer. Arthur took the first one, Charles the second. They both walked it over to Pearson.
"Thanks for getting us this food Arthur," Charles said as he followed Arthur. Putting the deer over his left shoulder.
"Course, everyone's gotta eat," Arthur said. Suddenly, he felt something in his chest start to swell up. A few coughs escaped Arthur's breath. Arthur covered his mouth with his arm, coughing into his sleeve.
"You alright, Arthur?" Charles said, concerned about Arthur's state.
"Yeah…Yeah, guess it's just the cold air…it's gettin' to me," Arthur said. Brushing it off, not quite caring about it.
Pearson was currently leaning against the butcher wagon. It was his main station and expertise.
"Ah, Mr. Morgan, Mr. Smith, got some good game I see," Pearson said as he walked over to the table.
"Arthur caught these, I'm just helping with lugging them around," Charles said, Arthur got a chuckle and so did Pearson. Arthur set his deer on the table, and Charles put his next to the rack.
"Thank you, Arthur, I'll whip us up something good," Pearson said.
"You think we could try something else other than the stew?" Arthur asked.
"Gettin' tired of the stew huh, I see how it is Mr. Morgan," Pearson said.
"I didn't mean it like that…" Arthur said.
"I'm only messing with you, Arthur, but yes, I actually had a recipe in mind that I wanted to test out. It was made in the 70s, folks call it, Meatloaf," Pearson said. Arthur scratched the bottom of his chin.
"What's…Meatloaf?" Arthur asked.
"It's a type of meat cooked in a certain way, I've been wanting to try it out, so I think now is a good time for it," Pearson said.
"Well, I'll leave you to it, Mr. Pearson," Arthur said as he started to walk off.
"Thank you, Arthur," Pearson said. Arthur glanced back and nodded his head as he kept walking. Arthur looked around to see what needed to be done. Looked like the wood needed cut, horses needed to be fed, and Pearson needed the sacks of grain over to his wagon. That would at least buy Arthur some time before Pearson got his so-called "Meatloaf" prepared.
Arthur walked over to the chopping block where stacks of wood were. He grabbed the axe that rested and started chopping away. Cutting them one at a time.
He got to the last one, he could feel cold sweat trickle down his forehead. It was still slightly cold and nearing the end of winter. But the cold lingered. Probably around 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Arthur cut the last woodblock, splitting it cleanly in two.
He then set the axe aside and walked off to feed the horses.
As Arthur made his way to the hay, he quickly noticed two people next to the tree. Arthur glanced and quickly saw that Abigail had pinned John against the tree. Both her hands blocked his way of escape. Both were placed against the tree and next to John's head. John couldn't do anything at the moment.
Arthur decided to watch and see what the outcome would be.
"Now, John, how you gonna get outta this? Gotchurself pinned by your lonely wife," Abigail said. What the actual hell had gotten into her? Arthur had never seen Abigail act like this before…what on Earth had changed?
"Abigail…this is way…way too unusual of you…" John said, his face was completely red. He was very nervous at the moment. Abigail had never expressed this kind of behavior toward John.
"Oh…You don't like the way I'm acting? All ya gotta do is say, "Abigail, can you stop,". That's all ya gotta say, Johnny Boy~," Abigail said as she got even closer to John. John's body shook again.
"Johnny Boy?" Arthur said to himself. Since when has Abigail called John that? The only people who called John were Dutch, Hosea, and Arthur, but that was only when John was a little kid. He'd grown up since then…or so Arthur thought at least…he was still the almighty nervous boy when it came to women…especially his woman. Not to mention this was all new to John. Abigail had never acted like this before. Arthur wasn't quite sure what had gotten to her. But he would just sit back and enjoy the spectacle that Abigail was putting on for John.
"Well…I…Uhm…" John stuttered. Arthur chuckled, finding this absolutely hilarious.
"Aww, is Johnny Boy nervous," Abigail said as she pressed herself against John and got her face extremely close to John's. Their noses nearly touching.
"Abigail…" John said slightly irritated yet flustered and nervous.
"Arthur's watching…" John said.
"Let him watch," Abigail said, not caring if Arthur was enjoying the show. She slowly pressed her lips against John's. Biting them softly.
Arthur simply chuckled, guess he wasn't being really stealthy about it. But that obviously wasn't his goal. Stalking wasn't exactly his thing. Besides, it was just Abigail and John, he'd known them for twenty years now.
Arthur having a good laugh walked away to give the two their moment…despite John being extremely nervous and flustered.
Roughly an hour passed by, and the Meatloaf was ready to eat.
"Everyone! Come on and eat!" Pearson called out as he placed the bowls on multiple tables. Making sure there was enough for everyone. Much of the gang made their way and started to dig in. The meatloaf was by far the best meal that Pearson had cooked in a long time.
Arthur came over to get a plate. Suddenly, his chest started to hurt again. This time it felt like something had just broken his chest. His lungs quickly started to get worse. He started coughing.
"*Cough* *Cough* *Cough* *Coughs blood*" Arthur coughed heavily, and the pain in his chest got worse. Arthur bent down, barely able to keep his balance.
"Arthur!" Dutch shouted as he came over to aid his friend. Dutch placed a hand on his back and helped him sit up straight.
"What is wrong, son?" Dutch asked worriedly. Everyone in the camp now had their attention on Arthur, many were worried about him, especially the women and Jack, along with John and Charles.
Arthur clenched his chest tightly. He tried to get his breathing back to normal but found it extremely difficult.
"I'm alright…I'm alright…" Arthur said.
"Clearly not," Dutch said quite worried and serious.
"It's going away now…it's going away…" Arthur said. The pain in his chest started to go away and he was able to breathe better.
"What on Earth was that?" Dutch asked. Arthur shook his head.
"I don't know…it just came outta nowhere," Arthur said. He took a few more deep breaths until his breathing had calmed. Dutch stayed by Arthur, making sure his best man was well.
"I think I'm okay now…Don't worry about me. Let's just…eat our damn breakfast," Arthur said as he walked to the table, leaving Dutch where he stood. Dutch looked on at Arthur, not sure how to contemplate what had just happened. Dutch put his hands on his hips, then let out a small sigh. He walked back to Molly who was now awake, dressed in her skirt and fancy dress. She too had a worried expression on her face. Watching on from the tent.
Arthur grabbed a bowl of Meatloaf. He was about to walk off, but he stopped himself. Looked back at another bowl. He quickly thought of Sadie. She may still be in her bed. She was still recovering after all. Guess Arthur would be a gentleman and give Sadie some food. She can't go by the day on an empty stomach.
Arthur picked up the other bowl and walked to Sadie's tent.
He stopped once he got to the front of it.
"Uh, Sadie, I gotcha some Meatloaf," Arthur said. The Tent opened as Sadie stood there, no longer in her nightgown and instead in a Black Valdez Vest with a white Inesta Collared Shirt and Brown Padded Work Pants, her hair was no longer messy, it was let down and free, untangled, and clean. She looked a lot better than before, which was promising.
"Arthur, you didn't have to do that, I was gettin' up anyhow," Sadie said with a small smile.
"Well…I thought I'd be a…gentleman and getcha your food myself," Arthur said as he handed Sadie the bowl. She looked at it for a short moment and took it.
"You're a good man, Arthur," Sadie said.
"I don't know bout that…but, I'll be a gentleman every once and a while," Arthur said. Sadie let out a small chuckle.
"I'm interested if that gentleman would show up every now and again," Sadie said as she leaned against one of the posts that held up the tent.
"Guess that would depend what kinda mood I'm in," Arthur said. Sadie started to engage more in conversation. She was getting somewhere.
"And what would it take to get ya in that mood?" Sadie asked. Arthur could feel himself flustering a bit…oh…he quickly saw what she was tryin' to get at…well, two could play that game.
"Well, I suppose it would, once again, depend on who I'm with for an extended period of time," Arthur said, playing the game with Sadie.
"If it was Micah or Bill…I'd probably be put in a not-so-good mood…But if it's…Jack or Miss Tilly, then the mood is right as rain," Arthur said. Sadie seemed to be getting a little more anxious. She wasn't sure if she was getting somewhere…but Arthur was a hundred percent getting somewhere.
"And the astounding, yet dangerous, Mrs. Adler…Well…That would depend if she would want me around," Arthur said with a smile and gave Sadie a wink. This time, it got to Sadie. Sadie's face reddened, completely caught off guard by Arthur's reaction. She looked away, trying to hide her flustering emotions.
Arthur simply chuckled slightly.
"Well…" Arthur said. Sadie tried to stop blushing so madly.
"Would the Widowed Mrs. Adler have me company for a little while?" Arthur teased her once more.
"Shut up and get in here," Sadie said as she went into her tent. Arthur chuckled to himself.
"Honestly, I can't believe you'd fall for an ugly bastard such as myself," Arthur said as he closed the tent behind him. As he turned around, he was smacked on the cheek, not too hard…but also not too light.
"Ow, what was that for?" Arthur asked as he put a hand on his cheek, it sort of stung despite Sadie barely using any effort. Damn was she strong.
"Arthur Morgan, that is not true and you know it," Sadie said, denying the fact that Arthur was ugly.
"If you say so…" Arthur said. Sadie sat down on her cot to eat her meal. Arthur followed after, sitting next to her.
They both ate in silence for a few short moments. Arthur tried to think of something to say, just anything! He was acting all high and mighty not too long ago, so why the hell couldn't he think of anything right now? Complimenting about the food could be a start.
"I've never eaten meatloaf before," Arthur said to Sadie as he ate a piece of it with his fork.
"That makes two of us, Heard it was made in what…1870?" Sadie said as she too took a bite of hers.
"It's different that's for sure, but it ain't too bad if I'm honest," Arthur said eating his food.
"Yeah, I'm glad Pearson decided to make something different, I was gettin' tired of his stew," Sadie said.
"Ah, his stew ain't that bad," Arthur said.
"It wasn't bad, I was just craving something else, the stew's good and all but, eating the same thing consistently ain't really the best thing for ya," Sadie said.
"I guess you're right," Arthur said as he took another bite of the meatloaf.
"So, what exactly did you go up in the mountains for? Heard something about you gettin' a rock of some sort," Sadie asked. Arthur paused for a moment. Shit, how was he gonna tell Sadie what he saw? Would she even believe him? Undead Knights, A Glowing orb, A huge temple inside a damn cave, and…Eliza…Standing in front of him and speaking to him…Everyone in the camp would think he was crazy. He wasn't even sure Hosea or Dutch would believe him…Let alone, Sadie…
Arthur let out a sigh.
"You ain't gonna believe me if I told ya," Arthur said.
"Try me," Sadie said.
Arthur let out an exhale of defeat.
"So…I met this woman named Madam Nazar, She said to find this relic in the Mountains. She gave me the map, and I was on my way. When I got to the Mountains, I found this cave. And…*Sighs* there was this big Temple, I guess, inside this cave…This uh, Temple, well it wasn't normal, I saw…I…I saw my…I saw my dead wife…She was standing right in front of me, she was trying to tell me something, she said to…find someone to…make me happy…whatever that means, and she disappeared…Then this is where it gets mediocre…I started to hear voices in my head. Then I find myself surrounded by Undead men in knight armor like somethin' outta fantasy book, It just got weirder from there…" Arthur said, not really sure how to explain everything to Sadie clearly. Sadie looked at him puzzled and in slight disbelief. Arthur looked at her, he felt dumbfounded and stupid.
"I know you don't believe me and you think I'm just makin' this stuff up but, every word of it is true," Arthur said. Sadie wasn't quite sure how to respond to this ordeal. She trusts Arthur, but Undead Knights? A Temple in the Middle of a Mountain? She never took Arthur for a man who made up stories.
"Well…Some of that does sound a bit fishy…" Sadie said.
"Look, does it really matter how I got it? The point is we got the money and everyone came out alive," Arthur said. Arthur, however, left out the important part of the O'Driscoll he had encountered up the mountains. Tom…The man who murdered Sadie's Husband…nearly done Arthur the same too. If Dutch and The rest of the boys hadn't shown up…Arthur might not even be breathing or standing. Hell, if not for Sadie he wouldn't be said actions. Or Jack.
"I guess, but…What all happened with the O'Driscolls? Did you make those bastards pay!?" Sadie asked, her tone quickly changing to the subject of the O'Driscolls. Arthur froze. How would Sadie react to Arthur killing the man who murdered her husband?
"You probably ain't gonna like it but…The O'Driscolls caught up to me when I came out of the cave…They chased me through the woods…I ended up near the broken-down hideout near Colter. Turns out they were waitin' for me. I uh…I ran into the man who claims he killed your husband…" Arthur said. Sadie's expression started to darken.
"What did he look like?" Sadie asked, her voice tensing up.
"A scruffy beard, slightly big, close to my height, maybe a little shorter, a scar across his cheek…He said his name was Tom," Arthur said. Sadie seemed to be shaking a little.
"That's him…That's the bastard…" Sadie said. She wasn't looking at Arthur anymore, the rage inside her was boiling heavily. Her fists clenched the bowl in her hand and it started to shake. Arthur quickly put a hand on her shoulder.
"But he's dead now…" Arthur said, Sadie immediately stopped shaking and looked at Arthur with surprise.
"I killed him…He uh…tried to do to me…what he did to your husband…But I got him before he got me…You don't have to worry about him no more," Arthur said, easing Sadie's tension.
"What do you mean, tried to do what he did to my husband?" Sadie asked, this time she was showing worry and concern.
"Well…let's just say it wouldn't be a pretty picture…" Arthur said.
"God Arthur…I'm…I'm so sorry," Sadie said.
"Why would you need to apologize? The men who took your husband from this world are dead…at least one of 'em, you had nothing to do with them, nothing at all," Arthur said as he set his bowl on the table.
Sadie didn't quite know how to respond.
Arthur then gently took both her hands.
"Sadie Adler, you saved my life, you, Jack, Dutch, and the rest of the boys, I wouldn't even be here if you weren't for you and everyone else. Rest assured the man who took your husband from this world…he's long gone. Your husband can rest now," Arthur said looking into Sadie's eyes.
"Arthur…" Sadie said, she seemed to stop what she was about to say…almost like she was thinking. She looked at Arthur again, and this time she reacted quickly. She cupped Arthur's face and smashed her lips into his. Arthur was taken by immediate surprise as his face started to redden heavily, but he didn't pull back…it wasn't until after a few short moments of Sadie biting Arthur's bottom lip and dancing her lips on his, that he kissed back. She gently grabbed her wrists and pulled her in closer. Sadie was nearly on top of Arthur's lap, she leaned forward a little more deepening her kiss with his.
They broke apart to catch their breath. They stared into each other's eyes. Arthur's blue eyes stared into Sadie's brown eyes.
"Sadie…" Arthur said, finally realizing what he'd done.
"No…We're not finished," Sadie said, she leaned in again and connected her lips with his, Arthur…kissed her back…as he fell on his back on the bed, with Sadie on top…
To Be Continued…