NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY: RDR2

26. PECK OF GOLD

"Such was life at the Golden Gate:

Gold dusted all we drank and ate,

And I was one of the children told,

"We all must eat our peck of gold."

— Robert Frost 

Cripps stared at me like I'd grown a second head as I stood before him holding the letter so tightly that my knuckles turned white. I felt the sudden and violent urge to throw up, but there were far more pressing matters to focus on.

"Shady Belle? That old swamp house?" he said, eyebrows raised in question.

"Where it is?" I repeated, desperation ringing in my voice.

"Oh god, I can't remember. What's happened?"

"Please....just think." I say, reaching out to clasp the sleeve of his jacket. "I need to go there right now."

"Now why are you runnin' off this time?"

"Jack is missin'-"

"Who the hell is Jack?" he cut me off, growing angry. I understood his reaction, I'd just been gone for weeks, laying half dead in an unknown location. But I didn't have time to sooth him, I didn't have time to convince him. I had to help.

"He's a boy, Cripps! He's just a kid." I gasp, the breath catching in my throat. I exhale slowly, trying to keep ahold of myself. "He ain't done nothing wrong, and he's missin'. I have to help."

Cripps looked at me for a moment longer, eyes narrowed in thought, before he let out a deep sigh and walked over to his trunk. He knelt down in the grass and popped it open, rummaging around for something at the bottom.

"I know it's in here somewhere, damn thing..." he mumbled, halfway into the trunk himself at this point.

I waited as patiently as I could, mind still swirling with the information. Sean, lost. Jack, missing. What the hell had I missed?

"Ah ha! You sneaky bastard!" Cripps exclaimed, snapping me out of my trance. He held up a rolled-up piece of parchment, beckoning me over to join him.

As I threw myself down next to him, he unrolled the paper, it was a map. A map of Lemoyne. I squeezed my eyes shut with relief, suddenly thankful that Cripps was a hoarder.

"There, look. Just behind Caliga hall, if you follow the path." he said, I followed his finger as he traced the line I would need to take.

"May I take this?" I asked.

"Sure." he handed it to me, I jumped back to my feet and ran to Aine, who seemed to sense my urgency and was waiting patiently by her saddle.

My hands were trembling as I hooked the saddle together, I didn't even allow myself a second to prepare before pulling myself up onto the saddle, gritting my teeth as the pain shot through me. I gathered my reins in one hand and checked my holsters with the other, both my sidearms were ready.

"Don't forget this." Cripps said, I looked down to see him holding out a jacket. I took it gratefully, throwing it over my shoulders. "And don't forget to come back this time, preferably before the week ends."

"I'll do my best." I say, urging Aine forward into a lightning-fast gallop.

I could feel the anxiety in each of her strides, knowing that my erratic and fearful energy was shared between us. I held on for dear life, one hand holding my hat in place as we flew down from the cliffside, through the trees and out into the open fields below. She didn't slow for a moment, seeming in fact to quicken her pace as we crossed through the heartlands and into Scarlett Meadows, as though she knew. As though she'd read the letter with me.