Under The Eyes of The Wolf (an rdr2 Arthur Morgan x oc story)

43-Welcome To The Rock

(hopefully everyone gets the reference in the chapter title)

As the day progresses into night there had still been no sign of the boys' return. K lifts a crate into one of the wagons but stops in her movements at the sound of approaching hooves. She looks towards the main entrance of camp, her hand resting on her sidearm until suddenly Taima comes bursting through the woods. Charles pulls her to a skidding stop before he jumps off. K rushes over to him and practically leaps into his embrace as she throws her arms around his neck.

"Charles! Thank God you made it outta there!"

He welcomes the contact between them for a moment with a low hum of contentment before letting her go. "Yes. I was fortunate. Did Hosea make it out?"

"Yes. I was able to find him and get him back to Silver Dollar then we came straight back here. Where are the rest of them?"

"If they were able to make it to the boat then they're somewhere on the Atlantic Ocean headed far away from here."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"There were just too many Pinkerton's and police crawling around everywhere in order for all of us to get out of the city undetected. As it is I had to cause a distraction to draw their attention away long enough for the others to sneak past and board a ship to hide out on. Dutch figures they'll use some of the gold to pay off the ships captain then they'll lie low at whatever destination they reach, maybe for a week or so then they'll come back and regroup with the rest of us."

A rush of disappointment and worry fills K's stomach, bubbling up until it fills her chest, weighing down her heart.

"Charles!" Abigail calls out as she rushes over to them, followed by Hosea then gradually the rest of camp. "Where's John?" She questions him, her voice laced with concern.

Charles looks down for a moment as he sighs a deep breath. "I'm sorry Abigail. The Pinkerton's managed to capture him while he was holding them off at the front door to the bank. He insisted that he would hold them off long enough for the rest of us to escape out of the side of the building. We were able to get away due to his bravery."

"No...no!" She breaks down in a panic of tears and denial. "That can't be, maybe he slipped out another way..."

"I'm sorry Abigail." Charles apologizes again.

"No...that...that foolish, stupid man! What am I, what is Jack...damn him!" She held her hand to her mouth in an attempt to hold back the building emotion as Sadie steps in and places her arm around her and guides her back towards the house.

"You're sure he was taken alive?" Hosea asks quietly.

"Yes. We saw them take him away from where we were fighting them off on that rooftop, his wrists bound with an officer on either side of him." Charles confirms.

"Well, for now then he'll be alright. We'll figure out where they took him and what to do about it after we safely get ourselves away from here." Hosea figures. "When Milton had me in custody I overheard him talking to his men. He was saying something about our camp being somewhere not far from town and near the old war battlefield, meaning Boldger Glade. If they're that close to knowing where we're at then they'll figure it out in no time. We need to finish packing and be out of here before sun up if not sooner or we'll end up right there next to John." He speculates.

"There's one more thing." Charles adds sullenly. "When we were running across the rooftops, two agents got the drop on us. Arthur managed to take them out but not before one of them shot Lenny. He didn't make it." Charles reveals the unfortunate news heavy heartedly.