1893 - 21 years old
"I'm so blessed to have a daughter like you, Helen." She puffed out her chest proudly at her mother's praise. The two of them were spending their afternoon outside, sitting in a small canoe in the lake. "How did you manage to afford a canoe like this?" her mother asked.
Helen chuckled, steering away from the shore as they calmly floated on the water. "People have been buying a lot of fur coats lately. I'll need to buy different firearms for the game," she replied.
Her mother smiled warmly at her daughter and she placed a shaky hand on Helen's knee. "I see...so much of your father in you, Helen...." Her eyes widened in surprise at her mother's words, her discomfort surging. Her mother sighed, turning away to gaze out at the water.
"You share his ambition...his determination. Before you were born...he always found new and...inventive ways to bring in money." Her mother fell silent, her gaze dropping to her lap as she let out a sigh.
"Your father was a very capable man...a very dangerous man. He had his way with words...and he didn't hesitate to use his gun...as a last resort." Helen stiffened when her mother's tired eyes landed on her daughter.
"I see that...that same dangerous look in your eyes, Helen...and I've been through th-this bout of wealth before." Helen's earlier pride soon deflated the longer she stared at her mother's knowing look. "What have you been doing, Helen?" she asked softly.
She flinched at her mother's disappointed tone, and she looked away. "We have every right to live a comfortable life, Mother, just like everyone else." Helen leaned closer, taking her mother's hand gently.
"I promise you when I say no one gets hurt! A-and with the amount of money I take, it lasts for months! I never go into town often enough for them to catch me!"
Her mother's eyes slowly watered the longer Helen spoke, and she dropped her head. The silence that fell over them was tense and lasted a few long moments.
"The life of an outlaw is what drove your father away, Helen...it's like a plague that infects the mind...your beliefs and your morals...." her mother said slowly.
Helen leaned back, looking away as she tried to remain calm. "I'm not like him, Mother, I'm not an outlaw - " She was suddenly cut off by her mother angrily. "But you're still a criminal!" she yelled.
Helen jumped in fright, staring at her mother with wide green eyes, but she turned away from her daughter. She doesn't understand...this is what's best for us - I know it.
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Family in Shambles
FanfictionShe had been going it alone for three years, since her mother had passed away. She had been learning to survive and doing what she NEEDED to do to survive, no matter the consequences. She knew how to lie low and hide from the law, and she became a v...
