His Cure

The Artist's Way

I awoke the next morning wishing I could roll over and never face anyone again but I knew I couldn't. After a few minutes I had to get dressed and exit my tent with one goal in mind: avoid Arthur Morgan.
As I opened my satchel I noticed that I was out of cigarettes so I decided to head into town to buy some more, plus, it gives me a good excuse to stay as far away from Arthur as possible.
"Hey girl." I said calmly as I approached Wish and patted her neck before mounting up and pulling her to trot out of camp. "Where you off to?" Lenny asked as I passed him at the guard post. "Just into town, I'll be back in a bit." "Get me some smokes?" He asked as he flicked a coin in my direction. I caught it with one hand and gave him a nod in acknowledgment before heading towards Saint Denis. I know I said I would be spending as least time as I could there but it was slightly growing on me. Yes, it was still full of bastards, bitches and filthy money, but it had its charms.
As I rode down the long path towards the city my mind began to wander. Arthur... I know that yesterday he said he wanted to talk to me but I really wasn't interested. I didn't want to hear anything that he had to say. He could shove it up his ass right next to his head.
...Although... I was slightly curious as to what he wanted...
I pushed all thoughts of Arthur out of my head as I rode into the city, quickly remembering how awful it was there, before hitching Wish outside the fence and heading inside.
"Ma'am. How did your friend like his book?" The man behind the counter greeted but I was rather surprised that he remembered me. "Oh... yeah, he liked it." I replied. "I'm glad. So, what can I do for you today?" "Two packs of smokes." I requested as I pulled out the money and slid it across the counter. "Of course miss." He responded before passing me the cigarettes and I put them in my satchel. "Thanks..." I began as I went to leave but quickly trailed off as I noticed the bookcase behind me. Maybe I could buy Mary-Beth a book? She was nice enough to lend me hers so it would be nice to repay the favour, but as I was looking at them, I noticed a dried blood splatter that dripped from one of the books to the floor. "Uh, there's not much back there miss..." the owner nervously said as he saw me inspecting it. He was nervous... why...?
As I ran my finger over the blood I noticed something else, scratch marks on the floor going from the feet of the bookshelf as if something had been moved... the bookcase is a door! "What's behind here?" I asked as I turned to face the owner. "W-what are you talking about? There's nothing there! Just a bookshelf!" The man stuttered which made me all the more suspicious. "How do you open it?" I asked but more stern this time. "Ma'am I can assure you-" he began but I cut him off. "How do you open it?" I repeated as I pulled out my gun and aimed it at him. You may think this was a slight over reaction but I had a nasty feeling that I already knew what was down there... "Okay! Okay! Pull the red book with the gold spine..." the man exclaimed as he held his hands in the air.
I quickly pulled on the book and heard something click as the bookshelf swung open revealing a dark set of stairs. "Don't move." I ordered the man before making my way down the stairs.
It was almost pitch black down there apart from a dying lantern in the corner so I picked it up as I looked around the basement but nearly had a heart attack when I shined it upon someone's face. "Oh my fucking god..." I muttered as I quickly put the lantern on the floor and ran over to the two men handcuffed to the wall. "Are you okay?" I asked as I frantically began trying to pick the lock. "S'il vous plait ne me faites pas de mal!" The man exclaimed as I hit the lock which caused it to spring open. "Je suis ici pour vous aider! Je vais te sortir d'ici!" I replied as I thanked the gods that I knew French and unlocked the other man's cuffs. My suspicions were correct... the owner was selling slaves! "Est-ce que tu vas bien?" I asked as I helped the men up from the floor, they looked so frail and weak. "Je veux juste revoir ma famille..." one of the men sobbed in reply. "C'est bon. Allons-y." I quickly said, not wanting to hang around here any longer. I led the men up the steps and into the main store to see that the owner had done a runner but I didn't care. I could deal with him later, I just needed to get these men to safety. We walked out of the fence and through the stalls before making it onto the Main Street when one of the men fell over. "Shit..." I muttered as I went to help him up. They mustn't have eaten in days. "Are you okay sir?" A different man asked as he ran over to help. "I just helped them escape the fence... god damn slave traders!" I exclaimed as I helped the poor man to his feet. "Oh... sorry brother." I added as I noticed the man's robes and felt bad for my blasphemy. "It's okay miss. I understand. Thank you for your services. Come with me friends. I have a place you can rest." He said to the men. "They don't speak English." I quickly added. "Français?" The man asked and I nodded in reply, thanking god that he knew French. "Thank you so much for freeing these poor souls, Miss...?" The brother asked as he went to shake my hand. "Cheban. Elizabeth Cheban." I replied as I shook his hand. "Brother Dorkins." He introduced himself as we began to help the men walk with us. "Where did you find them?" "The fence... in the basement." I replied as he walked towards the church gates. "Thank goodness you found them when you did. I've been trying to rescue them from all over the place but as soon as you take one place down, another pops up." "I get it." I replied as he opened the church doors and allowed the men to enter. "Dites-leur ce qui vous est arrivé. Ils vous aideront." The brother said to the men as he ushered them inside and I felt a great deal of relief, knowing that they were safe. "Here." I said as I handed him a wad of cash. "So that you can keep helping people." I added as I saw the confused look on his face. "You are a very kind lady, Miss Elizabeth." He thanked as he held my hand in his and I nodded in acknowledgment. "I must go, they may need my help but thank you." Brother Dorkins said as he squeezed my hand. "I'll hopefully see you again?" "Yeah, that would be nice." I replied with a smile before saying, "Bye for now." And leaving him to help the men.
Christ. One more reason to hate Saint Denis.

I was thinking about heading back to camp but after all the excitement, I could definitely do with a drink so I headed towards a small saloon and pushed the doors open. It was fairly empty, there were a couple of men sat in the back and one man sat at the bar who said, "Hey, buy me a drink, mon ami." When he spotted me. "Sure. What you drinking?" I asked as I placed two dollars on the bar. "Brandy." "Two Brandy's." I requested from the barkeep as I sat down next to him. What can I say? I was in a generous mood today. "Thank you." The man said to me before we clinked glasses and took the shot. "It's quite a country you're building here, eh?" He asked with a thick French accent. "What, me personally?" I questioned sarcastically. "I don't know... what do you do?" "Mostly I just shoot people." I replied as I tapped on the bar, asking for another round. "How very American of you. I love it." He replied as the bartender filled our drinks again. "What do you do?" "Mostly I, I pose, I show off, I complain." "How very French of you." I copied him which caused him to chuckle. "I know, I am ridiculous. I have been all over the world, I have seen the sights and I have discovered the one eternal truth! That I am a prize, how do you say, whole ass!" "Asshole?" I questioned with a chuckle. "That too. That too!" He laughed which caused me to do the same. "Well at least you're self-aware. Where were you on you your journey?" I asked, genuinely curious. He was a strange man but I loved it. "All the civilised world, painting my little pictures, meeting the locals, you know." "You a painter?" "No. I am a whole ass! I thought we had covered this!" He exclaimed with a laugh and I chuckled. He was amazingly crazy. "Yeah, yeah but you paint?" I asked as I took another shot. "Not according to the salons of Paris, no. According to them, I cannot draw, I cannot paint and I should go away. So I went away." "You miss Paris?" "That smelly, filthy place with old buildings and ghosts and shit and French people? I have that right here." "I guess so." "You know... uh..." he asked so I quickly filled in the blank for him. "Elizabeth." "Charles." He replied as he shook my hand. "You know, Elizabeth, don't believe in art, it's lies. Believe in women, they're the truth. Art is lies but the vagina, that is truth! Breasts is truth! Art, it's for idiots!" He exclaimed which I will be honest, caught me slightly off guard. "If you say so..." I hesitantly replied. "Trust me. I've tried both. One is better, much better. So, I must be boring you but here..." he began as he passed me something but all I could think is 'Bore me? You are quite possibly the most exciting person I've ever met.' "What is it?" I asked as I picked up the piece of paper off of the counter but nearly choked as I flipped it over. "It's just a little doodle." He replied as I stared at the drawing of the fully naked woman, in disbelief that this man actually existed. "You know, entirely worthless unless you want to wipe your bottom with it but I wanted to say thank you for the drinks." "Well... that's very kind Charles." I chuckled as I folded up the drawing and placed it in my satchel. "No matter." He replied with a smile. "Good meeting you." I called out as I left the saloon.
He was a strange man. A bit weird but incredible. Unique, quirky, special... no who am I kidding, he was a fucking freak but an amazing one.
I chuckled to myself as I walked back to Wish, he had certainly cheered me up.
***
As I rode back into camp, I greeted Lenny before hitching Wish at the posts. "Oh, Lenny!" I called out as I jogged back over to him. "I almost forgot." I added as I threw him the pack of cigarettes. "Thanks Liz." "Anytime, Len."
"Elizabeth, can I speak with you?" Arthur asked as he spotted me walking back into camp. "Definitely not." I replied as I continued walking. "Come on, Liz. Let me explain? Please?" He begged but I didn't care. He could get down on both knees for all I cared, I was not talking with him. "You just want to talk?" I asked. "Yeah." He replied hopefully. "Oh, well in that case, no." I shut him down before walking off again and shouting over my shoulder, "And quit following me!" Which caused him to walk in the other direction.
"Elizabeth!" "How many times do I have to tell you— oh, hello Mary-Beth." I cut myself off as I noticed that it was her. "Have you seen Kieran?" "No, why?" "He's been missing since yesterday and I'm starting to get real worried..." "Yesterday?" I asked, concerned. "Yeah, he said he was going out to get some more Burdock root and never came back..." Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. I saw what happened the last time we left together and I quickly did a silent prayer to every god I knew. "I'm sure he'll turn up..." I reassured her, but truthfully, I was worried now too. Why didn't he ask me to go with him? God I hope nothings happened to him... Maybe he just lost track of time and camped out there for the night? That had to be it, right? Im sure he would be back soon... he had to be. Although, I had a very bad feeling in my gut...