His Cure

A Quiet Time

"Good mornin'" I said to Kieran as I walked over to the horses. "Mornin' Miss." he replied as he continued to brush Wish. "Thanks for takin' care of her. You're good with the horses." I said with a smile as I patted her on the neck. "I worked in the stables when I was part of the O'Driscolls." He began before pondering something for a moment and adding, "Would you be able to get me some Burdock root if you see some?" "Burdock root? What for?" I asked curiously. "To knock up some poultice. It's great for treating 'em. I would go out and get it myself but... well I can't leave." He replied. "Oh god, Dutch isn't holding you hostage, is he?" "No no! Nothin' like that. If I run into the O'Driscolls out there, lord knows what they'll do to me..." "Sure, I'll keep my eye out." I said as I placed my hand on his shoulder. "You know, we could go out and look together. I'd protect you." I added. "Really? I wouldn't want to be any trouble." He replied. "No trouble at all. I enjoy your company." I smiled. "Thank you. It'll be nice to get out of here for a bit." He said as he smiled back.
"Elizabeth! Where the hell is that girl?!" Dutch yelled out from inside the camp. "Sorry Kieran, I'll come find you later yeah?" I said to him as I rolled my eyes which caused him to laugh. "See ya." He replied as I walked back into camp. "There you are." Dutch said as I sat myself down on the chair outside his tent. "Here I am." I replied. "Could you do a favour for me?" He asked as he pinched the skin between his eyes. "Sure, what's up?" I asked as I looked up at him. "The girls will not stop bugging me about them going into town. Would you take them?" "When?" I asked. "Now. Please. They're driving me insane." He replied, which made me laugh.
"Dutch, please?!" Mary-Beth exclaimed as she walked over to us. "Good news. Miss Cheban is going to take you." He replied, gesturing towards me as I smiled at her and stood up. "Come on." I said as I began walking towards the other girls. "Oh, and Liz? No trouble." Dutch added. "Go tell 'em to get ready, I need to grab my satchel." I said and she nodded in acknowledgment before skipping over to the others.
I grabbed my satchel from my tent before making my way over to the wagon where the girls were waiting. "We ready?" I asked as I hopped onto the front of the wagon and grasped the reins. "Where you off to?" Arthur asked as he walked over to us. "Into town. Girls wanted to get out for a bit." I replied as I turned to look at him. "You should come, Arthur!" Mary-Beth exclaimed, causing Arthur to contemplate it for a moment. "Come on grumpy! It'll be fun!" Karen added, seeing his hesitation. "Fine." He replied with a smile as he made his way to the front and pulled himself up next to me before holding his hands out. "What?" I asked as I looked down at them. "Give me the reins." "Excuse me but I am perfectly capable— wait, I don't have to drive? Cool." I replied as I quickly passed him the reins and sat back, relaxing.
***
"Wow, it's so different to Valentine!" Tilly exclaimed as we jumped out of the wagon once we'd reached Rhodes. "What should we do?" Mary-Beth asked as we began to walk through town. "Do they have a saloon?" Karen questioned, looking around curiously. "They do but I'm on strict orders from Dutch. No trouble." I quickly answered. "It won't be any trouble! We'll just have a few drinks and then head back!" She said. "Karen..." I said as I pinched the skin between my eyes. "Oh come on Liz! I thought you were the fun one." "Fuck it. Let's go." I replied. It shouldn't be any trouble. Just a few quick drinks. Right?
As we entered the saloon, I placed $2.50 on the bar. "5 beers please." I asked the bartender as I sat down. "Coming right up ma'am." He said as he took my money and began to get our drinks.
***
So the whole 'few quick drinks' thing didn't exactly happen as I'd planned... 7 drinks in and I was pretty drunk. "Hey!" I drunkenly yelled at Arthur as he gently shoved me, causing me to land on the floor. He immediately burst into laughter as he stumbled over to help me up. "We should really be heading home..." he chuckled. "Or... we could have one more drink." I replied as I grabbed his hands and he pulled me to my feet. "Yeah, fuck it. One more round!" Arthur called out to the barkeep.
***

"Good morning! Giggled Karen and the other girls as I stumbled over to the table. "My head hurts..." I groaned as I sat down and placed my head in my hands. "You did drink a lot." Tilly replied, smiling at me. "Sooo, are you going to explain?" Mary-Beth asked, enthusiastically. "Explain what?" I enquired. "Do you not remember anything from last night?" Karen questioned, giggling once more. "All I remember is sitting down at the bar." I moaned. "Anyway, where's Arthur?"
"He's over there." Karen began as she gestured towards a bent over figure by a tree. "Throwing up." She added. "Ugh, remind me to never drink again." I said, rubbing my eyes. "Hey, maybe when Arthur has cleaned himself up, you can continue what you started last night..." Mary-Beth muttered, causing the girls to laugh again. "What on earth is so damn funny?" I asked, giving them a confused look. "So you don't remember what happened behind the saloon?" Tilly questioned. "I already said, I don't remember anything." "So you don't remember Arthur?" Mary-Beth began. "And his tongue down your throat?" Karen finished for her.
"Excuse me?!" I exclaimed, perking up quickly. "We couldn't find you both but when we did, you were really getting into it." Mary-Beth replied. "What..." I mumbled, confused. "You were getting pretty 'touchy' with each other." Karen began again. "We stopped it before you had drunk sex in the middle of town!" Laughter erupted from them again.
"Okay, very funny." I replied, rolling my eyes as I realized that they were joking. "I know I'm a bad drunk but I'm not that bad-" I began before my words trailed off as Karen slid a photo across the table. I furrowed my brow in confusion as I picked up the photo to get a better look. My jaw instantly hit the floor. There, clear as day, was a black and white photograph of me and Arthur. We had our hands all over each other and, as Karen had stated, we were in fact kissing. My eyes widened in shock and my mouth dropped open as I tried to find my words. The girls obviously noticed this and, once again, erupted into laughter. "We told you!" Mary-Beth exclaimed, still laughing. "Holy shit..." Were the only words I could find.
"What're you girls laughin' at?" Arthur asked as he walked up behind me. "Nothing!" I quickly exclaimed, hiding the photo in my lap. I felt my face go bright red. "What ya got there?" He asked, gesturing towards the photo. "Nothing!" I exclaimed once again as I stood up. Flustered, I went to walk away but almost tripped. The girls began to laugh again as I turned to them and gave them a stare that meant 'not a damn word!' and quickly made my way back into my tent.