Traveler trilogy Book 2, updates every Friday!
Five years after killing Levi Cornwall, Arthur Morgan is happy. He has a wife who loves him, an honest job he enjoys, and two beautiful children named Sadie and Hiram. All of it is turned on its head, h...
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"Good morning," Tori whispered, snuggling herself against Arthur's warm body. She laid her head on his chest and sighed.
Arthur said nothing, only stroked her hair gently, still a bit groggy from sleep. Waking up with her in his bed would never cease to be an absolute comfort to him, and in spite of their recent disagreements - now hopefully resolved - he'd never stopped loving her with every inch of his whole being. "Morning, darlin'," he said at last, as the first golden-red rays of the early dawn began to peer through the lacy curtains of their room in Smithfield's.
"What's on the agenda for today?" she mused, kissing the hollow of his neck, where it joined his collarbone. "Hunting?" She kissed higher, towards the center of his neck. "Fishing?" Her tongue traced the edge of his ear causing every hair on his arms and back to stand on end. "Riding?"
Arthur smirked at the pun. "Dammit, woman," he joked. "Just once, I'd like to get through a mornin' without you pawing at me like I'm the prettiest whore on dime night."
"You're my whore," she whispered in his ear, kissing his temple gently. "You signed up for that when we got married."
"Maybe," Arthur laughed quietly, "but all we done since Downes Ranch is make love. I ain't hardly left this room in days."
"You're right," Tori sighed, rolling over onto her back. "We should get out today and go do something. Maybe a ride out towards Emerald Ranch? We could have a picnic out by the Heartland Overflow. Maybe we'll even see the buffalo."
"Maybe," Arthur laughed. "You seem to like buffalo."
"Do you blame me? We don't really have truly wild buffalo in America anymore. There are some in Alaska, but in the contiguous United States, all the buffalo are tame. Even the ones roaming free in public places like Yellowstone and Palo Duro are accustomed to people. The ones in Yellowstone are more of a tourist attraction, in my opinion."
"I guess you're right," Arthur replied in a slow, regretful voice. "I hated learning what happened to them as time went on. Like Cornwall and his oil, folk thought they could just take whatever they wanted from the land. Still do, actually. I guess there's nothin' new under the sun."
"No," Tori agreed. "For all the things that change through time, there are definitely some things that stay constant. If it's not buffalo, it's rhinos or tigers or pangolins."
"What's a pangolin?"
"They look like little armadillos and they live in Asia. People kill them for their scales because they mistakenly believe they have medicinal properties. But if you ask a doctor like Francis who knows what he's talking about, you'll learn it's all just people being superstitious."
Arthur sighed. "I can't imagine havin' access to antibiotics and still thinkin' armadillos are the cure for illness."
"I know," Tori agreed. "It would be funny if it wasn't so sad."
