𝗖𝗨𝗣𝗜𝗗𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗜𝗜 ➳ 𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗜𝗜

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟗.

Eleanor sat on a rock that night by Flat Iron Lake, the large open water that bordered the camp. She looked out at the glistening water, lines of silver reflecting the stars that sparkled and lightened up the deep blue, almost black sky. Small waves washed up onto the shore.

While the water was peaceful, her mind was not. Eleanor couldn't stop thinking about how quickly things turned today. After a successful robbery with Javier, she didn't believe anything could shatter that pride however Micah proved to object. The man who often prowled around the camp like a hungry lion feasting on other's humiliation and hatred.

Even though she had shot him in the arm, Eleanor felt like that wasn't enough to put away her spiralling hatred for the blonde man. He tried to kill her numerous times. He tried pushing her off of a waterfall, then tried to drown her. Once that had failed he then had a bounty hunter come collect her and had her set to hang in Valentine. But that wasn't all, he then convinced Dutch and almost the whole gang to kill her on sight and then found men who worked for Mary and sent them after her. The man had to be the devil in human form. 

"Can we talk?" The voice of Dutch broke her from her thoughts. Eleanor looked beside her to see Dutch standing beside her, the lantern on the ground beside her made his shadow look somewhat haunting. 

"If it's about Micah, then no," Eleanor huffed in annoyance, knowing that was the exact reason why Dutch was here. The man withdrew a sigh, shifting his weight slightly as he rested his hands on his hips.

"Well, that was another conversation I wanted to have with you but if it must wait then it must. I wanted to talk to you about the robbery you did with Javier today," Dutch informed her. Eleanor blinked, looking up at the man who looked out at the lake. "Javier was really proud of you today, you proved yourself."

"I didn't know I had to prove myself to anyone since I ain't in the gang," Eleanor muttered, looking down at her hands that rested in her lap. "I did it as a way of thanking him. No other reason."

"I know, Javier told me that too," Dutch nodded. He was silent for a while so Eleanor felt pressure to look at him. She frowned at the man who stood in silence.

"He told you what he asked me, didn't he?" Eleanor questioned which Dutch responded with a nod. "And you want to know if I've made a decision," she sighed as the man nodded again. "Well seeing that you let Micah off that damn tree my list of reasons to stay became a lot shorter."

"Miss-"

"Eleanor," Eleanor corrected him. "Stop calling me Miss, makes me sound formal or something which I'm far from."

"Eleanor," Dutch corrected before he cleared his throat. "You've gotten use to being alone, that much is clear. It frightens you to be with other people," Eleanor looked up at him in slight shock, trying her best to hide her fright as he spoke the painfully real truth. "It scares you to become comfortable with people who may die... like your family did," Dutch fumbled on his words, trying his best to not upset the woman with her similar hot temper to Arthur. "These folk here... they respect you and trust you like you're one of us. A lot of them were real worried when you were gone. The courage you have when you rode into here and defended yourself, no one had done that before."

"If that mattered so much why did you let Micah off?" Eleanor stopped him from bullshitting any further. Dutch looked at her, his brows slowly knitting together into a frown. 

"We need him as a gun with the storm cooking between the Grays and the Braithwaites," Dutch explained, his tone slightly defensive. Eleanor felt a bitter taste on her tongue as she shook her head slightly, comprehending what Dutch said. 

"So you wouldn't mind him slitting my throat while I sleep? Perhaps gutting me whenever he feels like it in front of little Jack?" Eleanor sneered angrily.