The Course of True Love - Book l

Beaver Hollow - Archeology for Beginners

Arthur sighed as he read his pocket watch, seeing that it was a quarter past four a.m. as Dahlia walked slowly along the trail cutting through Roanoke Ridge. He grew nervous as he realized that Roanoke Ridge was not the best of places to be riding alone, let alone in the middle of the night. He kept a sharp eye on Dahlia's ears, seeing that they were moving in different directions every few moments, knowing that if he were to not see anything out of the ordinary, his mare would first as being a prey animal, it was her instinct.

Arriving back to Beaver Hollow, some members were still lazing around the camp, each trying to find the one piece of comfort and happiness that once resided in the Van der Linde Gang at one point. If Arthur had to truly think on it, he would think that things changed after the events that took place in Lemoyne, remembering that Horseshoe Overlook was really the time he would miss as things were far more different. Dismounting Dahlia and rewarding his mare with a removed saddle and bridle, he carried the bulk of leather to his tent, seeing that Minnie was nowhere to be found. Panicking slightly, his mind slowed once he heard the familiar strums of a guitar as well as supportive words, walking around his tent to the bank to see Minnie sitting Indian-style next to Javier, who seemed thrilled to have a guitar back in his grasp since returning from Guarma.

Leave them lights as they are
And keep your clothes on, I've had
More than my fill
Of whiskey and women
And good-hearted villains, but there's a
Wickedness in me still

Keep that gun locked away
Locked away boy
Well you know you're an angry young man
Going in town with six rounds
You're sure to be hell bound
That house you've got is built on the sand

I've been living on the sand
Don't take much to guide my hand
Far from promised land
On the sand

Don't look twice, look twice at that bottle
You'll claim that Jesus turned the water into wine
You'll be wishing that wine you were drinking was water
When you're jumping the bridge in the night

Forgive me, forgive me
Don't it sound more clear when I'm
Screaming day after day
I've lost all my patience
I'm wasted on waiting on
Making my next mistake

I've been living on the sand
Don't take much to guide my hand
Far from promised land
On the sand
I've been living on the sand
Don't take much to guide my hand
Far from promise land
On the sand

"I told you that you weren't forcing it!" Minnie smiled at her friend.

"Well, I had a lot of time to think on that island and I played around with it while I was there," Javier shrugged. "I'm amazed that you still have that paper." He nodded towards her, seeing that she still had the piece of paper with the words from the first couple of verses jotted down from when he started to sing it at Shady Belle.

"Really good playin' there, Javier." Arthur complimented as he had been standing aside, listening to Javier's talent, closing his eyes, and bowing his head slightly as he remembered the songs that he and Minnie would sing every couple of nights back in Horseshoe Overlook, wishing that things still felt the same. To their current situation, he felt that the gang now had a line drawn in the sand, dividing them altogether.

"Thank you, Arthur," Javier nodded. "I feel like the song makes more sense in our current situation." He breathed a chuckle.

"That you're right."