When the West calls (Micah Bell x OC)

Chapter 2

A few days had passed since the Van der Linde robed the house. The gang has been laying low since then around Tumbleweed, as the sheriff was actively investigating the robbery. They have sold some of the objects they found in the house and used some of the money to upgrade the camp, buy new tents, food and medicine.

Everyone was relaxing, going out of camp only to fish or hunt, and to take a stroll. They had all they could need for some time. But Micah was bored. He was a man of action and would have been happy to occupy his mind to think of something else than the dark eyes of the mysterious woman he met after the robbery.

He wanted to see her again. And in theory, he knew how. He only had to tease those Reyes Brothers a bit. But he did not know how to find them. He only heard about them in Tumbleweed, but even he knew it was not wise to go back there at the moment. So instead, he simply wandered in the area.

One day, while he was in Benedict Point selling some items he has "found" during his many rides, he heard two men talking, his attention being caught when he heard a certain name.

"Those Reyes guys... they're a real pest!" a man said loudly but was quickly cut by another one.

"Sshh! Don't speak about them like this! What if they hear you?!" the other whispered, a horrified expression on his face.

"Yeah! What about it? They're gonna rob us? Burn the farm?! Oh, but wait! They already did! And all my dad's gold? Gone with them!" the first man exploded before standing up and mounting his horse.

His friend looked in his direction in shock before hurrying after him.

A wild smirk appeared on Micah's face after this confrontation. He really liked what he just heard. After collecting his money, he mounted his horse and rode to some high and took out his binocular.

"Gotcha!" Micah said as he put down his binocular and headed West, in the direction of the smoke column he just saw.

When Micah arrived, it was a sad view. The farm, or what was left, had all burnt, as well as the little barn next to it. It was a mess, but Micah was able to found tracks. Three horses, heading south. Micah followed the tracks until he saw some smoke from a campfire. He got closer and indeed saw a little camp with three men. He dismounted his horse and discreetly got closer.

"That was a good one for sure! Who would have thought this shabby farm contained that much gold!" one of them was talking while agitating a bottle of beer in the air.

"You're telling me! Easy money that we just made! Alejandro's gonna be so pleased with us when will bring him the chest!" the second said, his eyes landing on a wooden chest near the horses.

"Wait, no! We can't bring him the chest! Remember, he always says we can't travel with valuable things!" the third and last of them added quickly, some panic in his eyes.

"He did say something like this... But what should we do?" the second man asked, clearly confused about the situation.

"I say we bury it and we do a map for Alejandro!" the first man exclaimed after a few minutes of silence.

"Yes! Let's do that" the second said as they all stood up and hurried towards the river with the chest and a shovel.

Micah was amazed by the stupidity of the three men but was nonetheless glad as he just had a wonderful idea to annoy the Reyes Brothers and thus maybe see the mysterious woman again.

When he saw where the three men wanted to bury the chest, he positioned himself a bit further and simply waited for the men to leave. As he waited, he quickly pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and wrote on it.

"Wrong place

The gold is somewhere else now

Good luck to find it

M. Bell"

A little hour later, the chest was buried and the three men had left. Micah stood up and dug up the chest. He took what was inside and hid it in the satchel on his horse before putting his note inside the now empty chest and going back to the camp.

Now he only had to wait.

***

It has been a few days since Micah played his little trick to the Reyes Brothers. The camp was having one of those nights where everyone felt like drinking, singing and dancing. Micah, not too keen on those little parties, was on guard duty. He grabbed a bottle of whisky and was lazily taking small sips while walking around his zone and enjoying the calmness of the night.

But his little moment was soon interrupted when he heard movement behind him. Without moving his head, he quickly glanced down to make sure his guns were in his holster. He could hear the footsteps coming closer and soon enough, he felt the hard tip of a gun between his shoulder blades.

"You took your time" Micah smirked, still looking straight in front of him.

"I told you not to mess with the Reyes Brothers" the slightly raspy voice Micah longed to hear again said.

"What can I say, I wanted to see you again" Micah shrugged, slowly turning around. When he felt the pressure of the tip of the gun reduce against his back, he faced her completely.

She was even more beautiful than he remembered, with the fire illuminating her face in a dreamy way and her gun still aimed at him.

"They're mad. Really mad. They wanna know where you hid their gold" she said, no emotion showing on her face.

"And what If I don't wanna tell?" he asked, his lips forming a wide smirk and his eyes taking in all her beauty.

"They'll find you and make you say it" she answered too calmly, though Micah could see something shine in her eyes.

"Mmh. But I think I'm still keeping the gold" he laughed before drinking from the whisky bottle, not taking his eyes from hers. But both their heads turned in the direction of branches cracking a bit further, indicating that someone was approaching.

"You're a fool, Micah Bell" she said, slightly shaking her head, before turning around and disappearing in the night.

"Probably" Micah whispered to himself as Charles reached him and took the rifle to start his guard sift.

***

Two days after this eerie meeting, Micah was sent north to explore, and mostly to rob cabins in the area. This type of job lacked action for his taste, but he was still pretty pleased to be out of camp. But despite the calm of the deserted land, Micah felt like he was not alone. He tried to see if someone was following him but was unable to see anyone. At some point, he simply shrugged it and continued his little visits.

He was in a little abandoned cabin, roaming into the drawer of a night table when he suddenly heard the wooden floor crack behind him. But the poor man did not have the time to turn around that he felt a sharp pain on the side of his head, and everything went black.

He only remembered vaguely being carried in a wagon, and a faint voice murmuring something to his ear.

"I told you you were a fool"

And after that, blackness.