Arthur Morgan x Reader

Three

Going to church was one thing.

Seeing the priest, father McLean, was another.

That weird bastard had lured behind your back ever since you had bought the saloon. At first you had thought he was just a bit weird with his friendly fake-smiles and the overbearing wish to help those who sin.

But after time it had started to get a little too much.
His interest in you was starting to weird you out too.

Maybe he really was such a huge man of god and wanted to redeem the unredeemable. But the fact that he visited the saloon almost every night made that seem rather unlikely.

"(Y/N).", McLean greeted you with a yellow smile. "I missed you and our young one at the mess today."

You swallowed.

He always said auch things, only to later accuse you of things that didn't have anything to do with them.

"My apologies, father.", Ginny said out of the blue. "I wasn't feeling well this morning. You see, I had terrible cramps and needed to shit for ages. I wasn't sitting right on the toilet and moved and it got messy. Everything was dirty and I needed a bath and-!"

You pressed a hand on his mouth before his mind came up with worse excuses.

With a fake smile and your head bowed, you placed both hands on Ginny's shoulders and pushed him into the small town church.

Father McLean followed you with his eyes. But he seemed to disgusted to continue the conversation.

Candles were lit on the altar, right in front of a huge cross where mother Mary cried over her crucified son.

"You don't have to pray if you don't want to.", you whispered into Ginny's ear. "Just pretend."

He hummed.

"I know how to do that.", the tone in which he spoke made clear that he already knew what to do and it started to exhaust him.

He was already itching to leave.

But this was a necessary evil in order to remain at least a small part of this community.

Being the reason for their money and trust issues was one thing.

But not going to church, that was where the townspeople drew the line.

Ridiculous, you thought, but it was what it was.

Closing your eyes, you folded your hands and kneeled down on the first step of the stairs to the altar to do what you always were doing.

A few whispered words left your lips.

It wasn't a prayer.

God had never helped you in life. And at this point you didn't even want his help. You had made it on your own.
God could just stay away and fuck himself.

The tingling of steps tugged at the back of your brain.
They weren't male steps, too high and clicking like heels on stone.

Opening your right eye a crack wide, you spied to the side.

A group of women had entered church.

Their faces were unfamiliar, but they way they were dressed gave away that this wouldn't be the case for long.

Every now and then certain types of women passed by town and settled for a few days. Only rarely they stayed for weeks or even months.

Lust was their kind of business and it was viable that these ladies knew a lot about it.

But it seemed off to see them in church. Usually, they had other worries than ending up in hell.

They were also way too chatty. The way they carried themselves also told that they were out hunting for clients.

With sweet smiles they walked through the rows of benches and kept gifting every man a glance.

Curling your lips, you got up to get Ginny.

He was way too young to be a potential client and it wasn't like you judged these ladies for their work.

But he was a child and didn't need to come in contact with things before the time was right.

"On our way we go.", you told him and gave a small push so that he would move.

One of the ladies noticed you.

"Excuse me?", she asked with her hands on her hips.

She was a black woman, decently dressed and well fed.

Her hair was freshly done and perfectly pinned in place. It even was straightened.

Confused, you eyed her for a moment.

It wasn't like them to be well fed and groomed.

Usually, the prostitutes were too busy to look after themselves. She also didn't have any bruises or injuries that came with the job.

You flashed her a friendly smile.

"How can I help?", you asked and placed both hands on Ginny's shoulders so that he couldn't run and mess with the priest while you were distracted.

She smiled.

"Is there a bank around here? Or somethin' other than a small store?", she glanced at Ginny quickly. "You see we are on the road for months and need a pretty penny. For the business, ya know?"

Understanding, you hummed.

You didn't buy that story.

Yes, prostitutes did wear jewellery to attract new customers, but they usually got it as a form of payments and not through buying it.

But even if they planned something shady, it wasn't your business after all.

And you didn't really care either. In the end, this entire town could just go down the river.

"There's a bank at the far end of the main road.", you said and gave Ginny a push towards the door. "You can't miss it."

She smiled.

"Thank you very much."

"You're welcome."

You just wanted to leave church as a huge shadow suddenly fell onto you.

All of a sudden, Ginny was gone.

Distracted by his disappearance, you looked down and stumbled right into the person who belonged to the shadow.

A gasp of surprise escaped you.

Your legs almost gave in as the force of the impact threw you back.

Hands jumped up to wrap around your shoulders.

"Easy...", a man's voice with a thick southern accent said.

He sounded amused.

"I'm so sorry!", you gasped and looked up.

Your (E/C) gaze met bright blue eyes.

"Don' worry about it.", the man shrugged.