Arthur Morgan x Reader

Forty-Nine

The silence that hung over you was defanging.

Ever second that passed felt like an eternity.

The beating of your own heath echoed inside your ears and took all the peace that you wished to wrap your mind with.

With his head hanging low, Ginny sat in the back of the carriage, as far away as possible from you, and tended to the wounds of Karl.

The boy was still not awake, but at least he let a sound be heard once in a while.

The bleeding didn't stop yet, but Ginny had applied some medications and ornaments that seemed to do a good job at buying time.

It was obvious that this wasn't the first time he needed to take care of those never ending bleedings.

The bag of money rested on the place besides you. A few of the banknotes were drenched in blood.

It was blood money and nothing else. But there was no use crying about it.

You needed every single dollar. A few of them would go to waste on a new place to live, others were needed to put both Ginny and Karl through proper education so that they could turn out better people than you.

And you also wanted to pay some of it to Arthur, as a token for his kindness.

He had never, under any circumstances, been responsible to help you out and yet he had done so much and even more.

Thanks to him, you were alive.

A deep sigh made your chest quiver.

Arthur was late.

He hadn't returned yet and you also didn't know if he'd ever do so.

Maybe he had changed his mind and didn't want to go with you, but he didn't even passed by the hideout to bid his farewell.

Secretly, you were worried that he hadn't shown up yet, but you couldn't afford to loose more time. You had Waited for him about an hour before settling on finally leaving.

Now, you were riding the carriage towards the east, in hopes to find a place near the coast but fat enough away from this godforsaken place that was too lawless and too southern.

Danger was lurking around every corner.

You had been able to live with it all your life, but now it was getting tiring.

You had responsibilities now, need to make sure that others survived with you.

Your eyes jumped over your shoulder.

Ginny was staring at you. As soon as he noticed your eyes on him, he looked away and pretended to be busy with Karl.

Your gaze wandered past him.

In the distance, the familiar crossroad shrank and started to melt into the wide, green landscape.

For many years, days and nights, you had crossed these roads so many times, you knew them by heart, where the old tree was, with the many ravens sitting in the branches and the stones that marked the border of native land.

A few silhouettes appeared at the horizon. It was impossible to tell who it was, just strangers who passed by or townspeople. Maybe even remaining members of Dutch's gang.

"Shit...", you hissed and pressured the horse to walk faster.

But it was just one horse that had to pull an entire carriage packed with stuff and three people on it. There was no way in hell that it would start running.

The other riders approached.

Again, you threw a glance over your shoulder.

More outlines appeared.

They came on three horses.

Two of the strangers were men. They worse cowboy hats on their heads, similar to the one Arthur had.

A woman was with them. She rode one of the horses herself.

A boy was sitting in front of her. He couldn't have been older than Ginny.

A soft breath crossed your lips.

Alarmed by the sound, your brother raised his head and followed your gaze.

His hands wrapped around the edge of the carriage, for his nails to dig into the wood.

"(Y/N)?", he looked at you, eyebrows knotted together in concern.

With your lips pressed into a thin line, you grabbed the bag of money and shoved it underneath some blankets.

"Keep your head down.", you said and turned forward a again. "Just pretend everything's fine. We don't know no one."

Understanding, he nodded and crawled closer to Karl.

"What if they ask about him?", he asked. "He's in rough shape."

"We got jumped by some criminals. Ain't no one's business."

Humming, he pulled his head in and lowered his gaze like a depressed boy from a farm in the mids of nowhere.

The sound of the running horses approached with frightening speed. No one would ride this fast unless they wanted to catch up to someone.

Thoughts shot through your head.

Ginny was sitting in the back.

If the follower would be harmful they'd shoot him first.
Although, if they were enemies, they would have started shooting right away.

Slowly, you turned your eyes to look again.

The group was so close now that a few details of their faces were revealed.

One of the men had scars all over his cheek and lips. There was a grim expression in his eyes.

Next to him rode the woman with a boy that looked just like the man.

They must have been father and son, no doubt about that.

The one who lead them on was someone you had thought to never see again.

The brim of a black hat covered half of his face, but the way he was dressed and the small scar peaking out from between his trimmed beard made him recognisable like no other.

A broad smile appeared on your face. Cheerful, you tugged at the reins to make the horse stop.

"Arthur!", you gasped as he stopped his horse next to you.

There was worry in those bright blue eyes of his.

He let out a deep breath.

"(Y/N)! I found the corpses.", he said and reached out to caress your cheek with one hand. "Are ya hurt?"

Relieved, you placed a hand on his.

"No... No I-...", you looked back at Ginny.

He smiled mildly.

"We're fine.", he said in a low voice.