His Cure

Campfire Songs

So it's been 3 days and I'm still here. I'm not sure how long I'll be staying with this group for but it's nice to not have to starve. In the past week, not much happened. I guess the group trusts me more now. As Dutch said, "If I was going to do something, I would have done it by now." He doesn't seem to hate me as much anymore which is good and the others seem friendly, once you get through the rough outsides. I had met everyone in the camp by then. Some I got along with better than others and some I've barely talked to. Abigail and I were still hitting it off, John was still on my side and I have found good friends in the other girls here at the camp. Especially Sadie.
It had started to get dark outside as I finished clearing around the stables. It was a calm, cool night and I decided to get some writing done in my journal about the day so I sat under a tree and wrote about what had happened. Not very eventful. "Evening Elizabeth." "Hi Hosea." I replied as he walked past.
***
I finished writing in my journal and popped it back in my tent before sitting down for a breather. I flopped down on my bed roll and closed my eyes for a few minutes, just breathing in the evening air. I've always loved this time of day. The whole world is asleep, everything is calm and peaceful.
Suddenly, faint guitar music came from outside, followed by singing. I listened for a while as the group sang. It was actually kind of soothing. I found myself sneaking out of my tent and hanging around the front of a tree, just watching the group enjoying themselves.
"I grabbed old Reilly by the hair, I rammed his head in a pail of water, shot his pistols in the air, a damn sight quicker than I married his daughter!" They all sang in unison, followed by cheering and clapping. I smiled, they all seemed so joyful. Kieran had wandered out of his tent and came and stood next to me. He smiled at me but we didn't exchange words, we just watched the show together. Suddenly, John caught my eye and waved his hand as if to be beckoning me over. I quickly shook my head at him as I didn't want to intrude and the others probably didn't want me to join. He rolled his eyes and waved his hand again.
"I think he wants us to join them." Kieran said, chuckling. "I don't want to interrupt." I replied, shaking my head at John again. He waved us over one more time. "Come on!" Kieran said, grabbing my hand. "Kieran, no." I replied, laughing slightly. "It will be fun!" And with that, he dragged me over to the campfire.
It felt as if everyone's eyes were on me. Kieran took a seat on a box but I just stood there, not really sure what to say or do. After a moment, Uncle shuffled over on the bench and patted the now empty space. "Take a seat, Lassie." He smiled at me. I took a few steps forward before gently and carefully resting myself down. I thought it was going to be awkward but the second I sat, they all broke out into song again.
Javier was playing the guitar and singing 'Ciliate Lindo'. A Spanish song. It seemed nobody else knew the words but they all joined in at "Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay!" Which made me giggle. When the song had finished there was once again cheers and applause then it all went silent. The only thing you could hear was the crackling of the fire and the slight gust of wind every now and then.
I watched the grass for a while and contemplated leaving before Sean gently began humming, which made us all smile and watch him. "O' Mollie, O' Mollie, it's for your sake alone, that I leave my old parents, my house and my home." He began. I've always loved this song. My mother used to hum it to me all the time.
Soon everyone else followed suit and began singing along. I watched as they all smiled, laughed and sang. They seemed like one huge, happy family and, for a second, I felt a part of it too. It was nice to feel like a part of something better. I knew it wouldn't last and I was still the outcast but it was nice to forget about the world for a while. The flames flickered, leaving small flashes as they did so. As the others sang, slowly I started to tire.

After a few more songs, one by one the gang started to go to bed and I soon did the same. As I was making my way over to my tent I smiled to myself. Maybe they weren't so bad after all. I climbed into my tent and laid down on the bedspread on the floor. Staring at the roof of my tent, I felt my eyes slowly start to close.