His Cure

That's Murfree Country

[The next day]
"Does something seem off about Dutch to you?" I asked Charles as I sat down next to him. "In what sense?" He questioned as he stopped whittling and gave me his full attention. "I don't know... it's like... he's changed." "Yeah, I know. I ain't exactly sure what's going on with him but something ain't right." Charles replied with a stern look. "Has he ever done this before?" "He's had his off moments but nothing quite like this. Why? You worried?" "Not worried, just... concerned. We got a lot of people relying on him." "We'll figure it out. Always do." Charles responded as Arthur walked towards us.
"Charles, Liz, will you ride with me?" He asked as he stood in front of us. "Always." Charles replied as me and him stood up. "Where we headed?" I asked as I checked the chamber of my gun, fully loaded. "Up past Butcher Creek." "That's... Murfree Brood Country..." Charles replied nervously. "That's why I'm asking you to ride with me." Arthur said but all I could think was what on earth is a 'Murfree Brood'? "Murfree Brood?" I questioned as Charles put down his sidearm and picked up a much larger piece of equipment. "Killers." Charles replied as he turned back to face me. "Ain't we also killers?" I asked, still confused. "They kidnap innocent people, men, women, children, and murder them for fun but... the ways that they kill them is the worst part." Arthur said as we made our way towards the horses. "Do I want to know?" I questioned. "Skin them alive, burn them alive, torture them, rape them, they always try and kill their victims in the most brutal, painful and cruel ways possible." Charles replied which shocked me. "Oh, they sound like a lovely group of people." I said sarcastically. "What are we doing up there anyway?" I added as we mounted up. "We're looking for a place to hole up... even the law won't follow us up there too willingly." Arthur replied as we began to ride up the path. "Alright... but I'm gonna be insanely pissed if I wake up without any skin."
"I did some scouting up there while you boys were away." Charles began after a moment. "And?" "You'll see..." Charles ominously replied which couldn't of been a good sign. "I know the way, follow me." He added as we reached a fork in the road.
"We need to get this done fast. The Pinkertons will have reinforced in another day or two." Arthur said. "Yeah, sooner we get outta here, the better. It's a long ride, I saw some canoes near the bridge up river which would take us right up to Butcher Creek. Might be quicker. What'd you think?" Charles asked.
After agreeing to take a boat we continued to ride up the path as we chatted.
"So, how did you find that spot back there?" Arthur asked. "I assume the skulls on sticks weren't an addition of yours..." he added which made me chuckle slightly. "Old Strauss knew about it. The locals are terrified of the place, so we figured that might buy us some time." Charles replied but I quickly added, "And it did... until one of you brought the law with you." I mocked Arthur which caused him to roll his eyes.
"And where did you end up again? Cuba?" Charles questioned. "Not exactly. An island off of there called Guarma. Landed ourselves in a heap of trouble." "Really? A tropical island... isn't that just what Dutch wanted?" "I guess it didn't exactly live up to his ideals... anyway... I ain't always sure Dutch knows what he wants anymore." I listened to the two boys talk as we rode through Bluewater Marsh. "Perhaps not... but he's always managed to figure things out in the past." Charles replied which I really hoped was true for this time too. "I know... you're right. I'm just... it's been... Guess I just miss Hosea and his... wisdom, you know." Arthur said which hurt to hear because the truth was that I'd been trying my best not to think about Hosea and Lenny. It hurt too much and I was really sick of loosing people. My mother, my father, my brother, my boyfriend, my adoptive father and brother, my entire family and friends... and now, Sean, Kieran, Hosea and Lenny... What a god damn mess.
We rode the rest of the way to the boats in silence as I think we all needed a break from the chaos for a while.
"Come on." Charles said as we hopped down from our horses and walked towards the small canoe in the water. We each climbed in, one by one, before Charles and Arthur began to row us away from the shore and down the river.
***
By the time we had made it to Butchers Creek, it had gotten dark which really wasn't helping with the terrifying vibe that came from this area. "Alright, let's walk it from here." Charles said as we docked the boat at the shore. Arthur held out his hand to help me out of the boat which I gratefully took as the boat wobbled. "Hey, do you know how to get to the caves at Beaver Hollow?" I asked one of the residents of Butchers Creek as we walked through the small town. "You'll stay away if you know what's good for you!" The woman replied which didn't exactly fill me with confidence. "Well... that's promising..." I said sarcastically. "Come on, they're not going to help us. I'm pretty sure it's to the north, up the road here." Charles replied as we continued up the path.
I didn't know what it was about this place but something about it put me on edge. We hadn't encountered any dangers yet but the whole area made me nervous. It was like a constant feeling that someone was watching you.
"These Murfree hills stranger. Might watch where you wander." A man said which made me jump. He was sat on a log to the left of us and by the looks of things, he'd had a rough life. He was extremely skinny, clearly malnourished the his whole torso was covered in scars.
"You sure about this?" I whispered to Charles as we continued along the path. "We don't have any other choice." He replied which I knew was true, I just really didn't want to be burnt alive.
"It's a bit of a walk. We could take these horses, sure no one will miss them if we bring them back by dusk." Charles said so we jumped onto the, clearly neglected, horses and continued down the path. Something told me that this wasn't going to be much fun...