NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY: RDR2

22. WHO SHOULD MISS ME

I do not see why I should e'er turn back,

Or those should not set forth upon my track

To overtake me, who should miss me here

And long to know if still I held them dear

They would not find me changed from him they knew—

Only more sure of all I thought was true."

- Robert Frost  

My head was spinning, my body had lost all fight. I looked up to see blurred figures above me, hands held my shirt together tightly over my chest. I groaned and reached up to grab them, to beg for help. And If no help could come, I'd beg for death. The slow draining of my blood was taking over and I didn't want to die so cold.

"What happened?" a booming voice cut through the thick air; it was Dutch. I felt the ground leave me as unknown arms carried me.

"It was a trap..." I groaned, voice barely audible. "They was tryina' bait you, to sell you to the law."

"I told you, Dutch!" Arthur's voice rang out against my ear, I realized it was his arms that carried me.

"I got away..." I mumbled, swimming ever closer to the dreams that called me. I squeezed my eyes shut and slowed my breathing, finally allowing the calm to overtake me.

"Come on darlin' you gotta stay awake..." Arthur called, but he was too far away for me to reach him.

I'd been sick for a week.

Johnathan had routinely come in to make fun of me for laying in bed all day, he said I was just trying to find a way out of doing the chores. I'd thrown a boot at him. My fever had peaked today, the cold sweat trickled down the back of my neck in an unrelenting flow, my body shivered under the weight of the numerous blankets that had been placed upon me.

"Knock knock." my father said, opening the door to the room, he was holding a bowl of soup.

"Please, I can't eat." I moan, hiding my head under the blankets. He ignored me, pulling up a chair to sit beside me.

"If you don't eat it, your Ma will hang me by my nose hairs."

"Good, they are getting too long."

"Nora..."

I groan, pushing myself upright and holding my hand out for the soup. He smiles and passes me the bowl; it smelled like chicken and parsley. My mouth watered despite my stomach's protest.

"Did you make this one?" I ask, earning a chuckle from my father.

"Lord no, we are trying to cure you, not kill you!"

Fire woke me, the intense burn of the flames licking against the flesh of my open wound. My eyes opened suddenly as the air escaped my lungs, with no thought or direction I thrashed my body wildly, trying to escape the flame.

"Miss, please hold still!" a voice came, I looked around wildly for the source, finding only blank spots in my vision.

"It's okay, Nora. Stay still!" another voice came from near my head, it had to be Sadie. I could feel her hands on my arms, holding me down. "John, grab her feet!"

More hands hold down my legs, I try to scream but find no release. The smell of burning flesh filled my nostrils and bile rose in my throat, it was flesh of my own, cooked alive. I turned my head to the side and vomited.