Arthur Morgan did not intend to survive when he gave his hat to John Marston and stayed behind to gain his redemption. As he crawled towards his final resting place, he never intended to wake up again.
But he does wake up. Thanks to time travelers F...
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2021
Arthur's pen scribbled hastily on the paper before him.
I have been laid up now for three weeks. The ranch is in trouble, and yet I am powerless to do anything about it. If it wasn't for these goddamn lungs, I could be of more use. I may have gained my redemption, but in doing so I lost the ability to do anything meaningful with my life. While I am an invalid, Tori and Jackson starve in order to pay for my increasing medical bills, and for the new barn, which may not be completed in time for the first snowfall. Things aren't looking good.
Charles and Naomi are here, and Francis never left. Naomi takes care of the cooking and cleaning while Tori helps Charles, Francis, and Jackson with repairing burned fences and laying the foundations for a new barn. But for Charles' hunting skills, we would all starve. It's getting hard for us to afford food.
I miss being able to hunt and gather almost everything I needed. Now, it seems a man must have money to do even that. I have obtained a hunting license, however, and I am feeling healthy enough to use it. I reckon it is time for a hunt.
"What are you writing?" Tori asked, peeking her head around the corner of the house. Arthur sat in the swing on her front porch, staring sadly at the burnt wasteland of the valley below. It had once been beautiful and green, but now it was an inky scar, a reminder of the fire that had injured him badly only a few weeks prior.
He hastily closed his journal and sighed. "Nothin'. I'm just goin' stir crazy and the like. I may go on a hunt soon. I know Charles has been killing us rabbits and turkeys here and there to eat, but we need something more. Something big, if we are to survive the winter."
Tori nodded. "I think about that a lot, actually." She sat down next to Arthur on the swing. "We've slashed our grocery budget considerably, but we can't do that all winter, not with animals to feed. We need more meat." She hesitated, as though about to say something else.
"What is it?" Arthur asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I got our moose tag in the mail today," she replied. "A moose would more than get us through the winter, but I can't spare Jackson to go hunt one, and I've never hunted one myself. Plus, it's already snowed up at our Grizzlies property, and we can't get ATVs up there to our hunting cabin."
Arthur grinned. "You ever consider taking horses?"
Tori shrugged. "Maybe. But we'd have to take pack animals too, and they have to have feed to eat while we're there. Plus, I'm not sure how well the plumbing in the stables up there is currently working."
He smiled at her. "Leave that bit to me. If needs be, they can eat snow for moisture. You ain't never been moose hunting, right? It's time you did. Plus I'll go stir crazy if I have to stay cooped up here any longer."
Tori regarded him warily. "And you feel up to a long trip on horses?"
"Sure!" Arthur exclaimed. "Horses are my favorite way to travel. And I figure we'll need at least five: two to ride, two to pack out meat, and one to pack in some oats and a little food for us. I can keep us fed on rabbits and other small game while we're up there, but we'll need flour and maybe some potatoes and carrots for variety."
