Arthur saddled Albus and headed towards Valentine's bar. He felt bad thinking about that body under the bridge, even though it had been two days since he, Uncle and the girls had found the body, there was still no news of the next bodies, and that worried him. He tried to distract himself by smoking a cigarette, although he was not successful and he had not yet been able to tell Hosea and Dutch about it, but he was sure of one thing, he had to solve this mystery himself, Albus trotted as he finally stopped near Valentine's bar. Although Arthur had only chosen Albus as his horse for a week, he still knew that training a stubborn Shire like Albus was not an easy task. Now thanks to Charles, Javier and of course Bill who had invited him for a drink, Arthur could forget about this for a short while.
" Hey Arthur, come here Amigo! "
"Charles. Javier. Where the hell is Bill?!"
" Who cares? Come here and meet our new friends ! "
Charles and Javier were talking while leaning against a corner of the bar next to two hookers.
My my my ! he is a pussycat !
Javier put his hand on Arthur's shoulder and confirmed the hooker's words
" Yeah, yeah he's a pussycat !
" Whatever ya say, Javier. Well, how much are ya worth?"
" Hey! This is not an appropriate behavior for a lady ! "
The hookers said this to Arthur while glaring at him
" I'm sorry. I didn't know I was talkin' to a lady!"
And with that, thanks to Arthur's repartee, they left immediately.
" Well, we missed this opportunity. Thanks to you, Arthur "
Javier lowered his head while Charles could hardly contain his laughter. He never thought that Arthur would be able to talk with women like this, and that was what he liked about him. As the three of them ordered beers, suddenly there was a commotion in the bar, Bill Williamson had caused trouble again. He came inside beating up a drunken man and started a fight. Soon after that Arthur, Charles and also Javier joined him.
It didn't take long for the bar to become a scene of chaos, with glass breaking and shouting . Everyone's faces were covered in blood, and some were lying unconscious on the floor. Tommy, a large man, came down the steps of the bar, like an Ogre who had escaped from a swamp, rushed at everyone. He easily crushed several people with his giant fists and went to Javier. Arthur, who was trying to free himself, was surprised by the chair that hit him on the head, but he was finally able to act in time to save Javier. He punched Tommy in the face, and Tommy lifted him up like a bull and threw him out the window into the mud and heavy rain.
" C'mon, pretty boy ! "
" Pretty boah? huh ? "
Arthur and Tommy grappled together and Tommy could easily beat Arthur, although to beat Arthur he had to revive the legendary bear and again he grappled with this matter, while both of them were fighting with bloody faces that were now mud, Arthur finally managed to knock Tommy down and crush his face under his fists as much as he could.
" Stop ! stop !! Please sir please! I beg you stop ... "
Arthur raised his head and met an elderly farmer, he looked pale, thin and kept coughing as he finally managed to get Arthur to let go of Tommy. With an angry face, Arthur went to the rain barrel to clean himself when he heard Dutch's voice.
" I see ya've made new friends for yourself, Arthur . "
" Dutch. Trelawney. It's been a while. "
" It's good to see ya. Arthur, Charles and ya, Javier. "
Josiah Trelawney was a skilled magician and a member of the Van Der Linde's gang for a time, although he left the gang after the Blackwater robbery. But it seems like he has now rejoined the gang again.
" I see ya're back at camp. "
" Ya guys left a lot of stuff in the Blackwater."
" Yeah. A bunch of damn ol' money! "
" And the young Sean too. "
" Sean? Is he alive? "
Arthur was looking at Trelawney curiously, still rubbing his jaw softly.
" And apparently he's been captured by the bounty hunters. If you want, I can take ya boys there. "
" What could be better than this Trelawney! Arthur, Javier, Charles, clean yourselves up. Then go rescue Sean. He's my boy. "
" What abou' me, Dutch? "
" What about ya, Bill? Well, I'll tell ya, what abou' ya... Get out of my sight, Now ! "
It was a cold morning when the gang members were busy with somethin', Charles choppin' woods, Bill patrolin', Hosea readin' a crime book and Dutch takin' notes. It was almost like his daily routine, although Trelawney and Javier had under control everythin' at the Blackwater, was waitin' for bounty hunters comin' any minute to transfer Sean from prison and ask Charles and Arthur to join them.
.
But now at the camp, thanks to Miss Grimshaw, no one had free time and everyone was busy doing somethin', even Sadie Adler, who had apparently come to terms with this band of outlaws, helpin' Pearson with washin' dishes and cookin'. Finally, Arthur got out of his warm bed and sat by the fire to pour himself some coffee. The weather was cold and a little foggy. However, Arthur was still not used to wearin' his old brown jacket. He didn't seem to want to put on warm clothes anytime soon, and Hosea kept sayin' that if he didn't, he might catch a cold. A pleasant silence settled over the camp, which was suddenly broken thanks to John and Abigail. Since John had returned, he had been constantly arguin' with Abigail, pushin' her and Jack away from him. Apparently, he didn't want to accept the responsibility of taking care of his young son and his wife. Arthur was lost in thought for a while, not because of he regretted saving John, but he was extremely angry with him for abandonin' his family like that. His jaw still hurt from the fight he had with that swamp Ogre, Tommy and now he had to deal with the bruise around his eye, the bruises that Albus had given him had faded but this one was from the night before.
Last night, Abigail, cryin', holdin' Jack in her arms, had asked Hosea, Dutch and Arthur to help her. John Marston had completely forgotten his family and this time he had dated Karen, although Dutch and Hosea insisted on talkin' to him, but Arthur had rushed at him in anger and both of them had beaten each other as much as they could. If they had not both been outlaws, their faces would have been no different from those of a boxer, bruised, sore and bloody. John had punched Arthur in the eye and Arthur had made it almost impossible for him to walk in retaliation. Both of them, with their stubbornness and stupidity, were forced to spend the night as punishment in a burnt town just below their camp and facing the river. Although their fight had not helped in any way to heal and improve, Arthur still thought that John deserved it, and even more so because he had left the group two years ago when Jack was born, and now that he had returned after a few months, Arthur would not accept to call him his brother like before. But unlike him, Dutch was happy to see John's return and had welcomed him back to camp with open arms.
He was a little lost in his thoughts when another sound broke the silence of the camp.
" They took Micah ! They took Micah!! "
Lenny Summers had hurried back to the camp while he went towards to Dutch, pantin' said to him.
" Calm down, son. What happened? "
" The sheriff . They arrested Micah for murder. Say they wanna just hang him. "
" There's hopin'. "
Arthur stepped forward with a smirk. Even the thought of arrestin' Micah was satisfying, but now, as he stepped from the shadows into the light, the bruise around his eye was more pronounced than before.
" Arthur. "
" What? That bastard always causes trouble. This time is worse than ever! "
" I can't go there. My poster is all over the place. "
" So? "
" So, then you have to go. "
" Why? "
" Because that's what families do for each other, and whether you like it or not, Micah is part of this family. But first, take that boy to town. Get him drunk or somethin', and then you're goin' to save Micah. The end ! "
Arthur growled angrily, kicking a rain barrel that was near him.
" C'mon, kid. Let's go to the Valentine. "
They saddled their horses and rode into Valentine's bar, a heavy silence reigning throughout the journey until finally breaking it, Lenny coughed to clear his throat to speak.
" Well, ya know about Micah..."
Augh ! never mind, let's just forget about that idiot for now. Let's have some fun. "
They left Albus and Maggie nearby and went into the bar, both Arthur and Lenny determined to calm their minds for a while and drank as much alcohol and wine as they could, jumpin' up and down happily and shouting like madmen. It had been a while since either of them had been drunk. Arthur was terribly dizzy and stumbled through the bar lookin' for any sign of Lenny,as he disappeared suddenly .
" Lenny? Where are ya? LENNY!! LENNY!!! Ha Ha !! found ya LENNY!! "
" Do I look like Lenny to ya?? "
The man who was eatin' his meal just glared at Arthur. Meanwhile, he kept stumblin' around the room, looking for Lenny.
" LENNNNNNNNNNNNYYY!!!!!!!!!! LENNY, MY BOAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! "
As he stumbled and opened the doors to the entire rooms, he suddenly saw a couple havin' sex and continued on his way, growlin' and shoutin' .
" LENNNNNNNNNNNNYYY!!!!!!!!!!! Ya're here, LENNY. "
" I'm not Lenny, ya idiot! "
A dignified woman in elegant, formal clothes slapped him, and at that moment Lenny pulled Arthur towards himself .
" Arthur! Arthur!! What are ya doin'?? "
"He slapped Arthur and Arthur slapped him harshly, both of them started laughin' and drinkin' while they stumbled .
" Why haven't ya gotten married yet? "
" Nobody loves me!!!!! "
They both stumbled out into the street and fell to the ground, while Lenny vomited and Arthur was in the corner urinatin', lettin' his big cock fall out of his pants.
" Hey! What are ya two drunks doin' there?? "
The sheriff and the Deputy both went after them and eventually caught Lenny while Arthur jumped over the fence and disappeared.
His head ached, he felt nauseous. As he suddenly heard a noise and when he opened his eyes saw Albus lickin' his face. He pushed the horse's head aside and crawled to a corner as he vomited. Arthur lost his balance and leaned against a tree to get some rest.
" Moron Morgan... "
After a few moments he pulled up his trousers and fastened his belt, as he mounted Albus and headed for the camp.
