His Cure

Angelo Bronte, a Man of Honour

I was awoken the next morning by the sound of voices, nothing unusual around here so I rolled over and closed my eyes to get a few more minutes of rest. As I listened to John, Dutch and Hosea chat, I suddenly realised... how did I get in bed? I don't remember coming back to my tent... maybe I was just too tired to remember it.
"Hey Dutch! We got a problem!" Lenny called out which instantly made me bolt upright. "Not a problem, visitors. A solution. Good day fine people." Came an unknown voice causing me to quickly scramble out of my tent. Two smartly dressed men were walking towards the table at which Dutch, John, Hosea and Arthur sat. I quickly walked towards Lenny before whispering, "Who's that?" "Pinkertons." Lenny replied with his gun aimed at them. "Shit..."
"Mister Van Der Linde, Mister Matthews I presume. And... who are you?" The man asked as he looked John up and down. "Rip Van Winkle." John replied which made me chuckle slightly. "Something funny Miss.... Who are you?" He questioned, confused. "Your worst nightmare." I responded, calmly. "Huh... good day... Agent Milton, Pinkerton Detective Agency. That's agent Ross." Mr Milton replied as he gestured towards him. "Ah, Mister Morgan... nice to see you again." He said smugly as Arthur turned to face him.
"And to what do we owe the pleasure, Agent Moron?" Dutch asked, clearly annoyed. "I don't know if you're aware but this, this is a civilised land now. We didn't kill all them savages only to allow the likes of you to act like human dignity and basic decency was outmoded or not yet invented." I felt anger start to rise through my body. 'Savages?' He better not be talking about my damn people. "Savages?" I asked sternly as I took a step towards him. "The... Indians." He replied as if he was disgusted by even the word. "Excuse you?!" I exclaimed as I took another step towards him. "Sorry, is 'Indian' the wrong term? Is Native American scum any better?" He chuckled and I felt my rage begin to boil over. How fucking dare he?! "Disrespect my people one more time, I DARE you." I grunted as I pulled out my gun and aimed it at his head. "Alright, let's not do anything stupid now. This thing, it's done." He said as he turned to Dutch once more. "This place, ain't no such thing as civilised." Dutch began as he stood. "It's man so in love with greed, he has forgotten himself and found only appetites."
"And as a consequence that lets you take what you please, kill whom you please and hang the rest of us? Who made you the messiah to these lost souls you've led so horribly astray?" Milton questioned as the whole gang stood around him. "I'm nothing but a seeker, Mister Milton." "You ain't much of anything more than a killer, Mister Van Der Linde, but I came to make a deal. It's time. You come with me and I give the rest of ya three days to run off, disappear and go and live like human beings someplace else." "You came for me?" Dutch asked with a slight chuckle. "Risked life and limb in this den of lowlifes and murderers so that they might live and love? Ain't that fine." "I don't wanna kill all these folk Dutch, just you." "In that case... it'd be my honour... to join you..." Dutch began as he held up his hands and slowly walked towards Milton and Ross. "Excuse me, friends, I have an appointment to keep with..." He trailed off as everyone in camp, including me, cocked their guns in a sign of intimidation. "I think your new friend should leave now, Dutch." Miss Grimshaw grunted as she aimed her shotgun at him. "You're making a big mistake, all of you!" Milton exclaimed as he took a step back causing Dutch to laugh. "Yeah... dreadful. We have got something, something to live and die for. How awful for us, Mister Milton. Stop following us, we'll be gone soon." "I'm afraid I can't, and when I return I'll be with fifty men. All of you will die! Run away from this place, you fools! Run!" "Come on." Lenny spat in pure frustration as he went to lead Milton away. "Get your damn hands off of me boy!" Milton snapped as he pulled away before pushing through the gang and walking away from the camp. "What now?" Arthur questioned as we watched them leave. "We get out of here, and quick. Any ideas?" Dutch replied as he looked around at us. "I know a big old house, hidden in the swamps outside Saint Denis. I'm sure they'll find us eventually but it should buy us a few days." Arthur said. "A few days is all we need." "It's a spot out by Shady Belle. Lenny and I got into that dispute with the previous occupiers. Place is well hidden." "You and John ride out and make sure no one else has moved in. Lenny, go follow those fools outta here, make sure that they leave. And John, we'll get Jack back and we'll get gone. Rest of you get packing!" Dutch yelled causing everyone to disperse.
"Savages?! I'll show them damn savages!" I exclaimed as I walked away with the girls. "He don't know what he's talking bout Liz." Tilly said, trying to make me feel better. "My people ain't savages. What the army did to us? Now that's savage." I replied as I began to help the girls pack.
***
With all of us at it, it only took about half an hour to fully pack everything into the wagons and we were soon on the road, heading towards the swamps. It wasn't nice there. Between the Alligators and the night folk it was a death trap but I suppose it was better than the alternative of waiting to be shot in our sleep and, besides, it was near Saint Denis. We were one step closer to finding Jack.