Red Dead Reborn

Chapter Four: Shady Belle

July 3rd, 1899

For the first morning in a while, Danny woke up like shit.

A headache ruined his slumber, even if he barely got a wink of sleep due to the never-ending pain in his head, specifically in his empty right eye socket.

He could hear voices early in the morning that he struggled to eavesdrop on while he pretended to be asleep, at the cost of not being able to ask for medicine to numb his pain.

"... of course Marston's scared rotten. I mean, we killed all those people, stirred up all that trouble... for nothing." Danny recognised Arthur's voice by the gravelly tone and by his accent.

"No, no. Not for nothing. For living. Now we get that boy back and we go. Trust me." Dutch responded with a fierce commitment.

Danny heard footsteps approach him. He kept his eyes shut so he didn't steal a glance at who was now standing near him until he recognised the soft fingers that brushed hair off of his forehead.

"Danny," an angelic voice cooed. "Danny, honey. Wake up."

Danny groaned in response as he opened his eyes. Next to him was Mary-Beth Gaskill, holding a bowl of soup in her hands.

She spoke softly and purred, "Hey, sleepyhead. How's your eye?"

"Still sore. I'm in paaaaainn..."

Mary-Beth pouted her bottom lip and leaned down to place gentle kisses on his forehead.

"Eat up, honey."

Doing as he was asked, Danny sat up and opened his mouth for Mary-Beth to spoon-feed him. It was disorienting enough to try to fix his only good eye on the spoon being stuck in his mouth which almost made him feel queasy. In spite of that, the food was awfully delicious, thanks to Kieran fishing earlier that week.

After the third spoonful, Danny consumed his breakfast before he managed to get his words out before more food was stuffed in his mouth.

"What's Dutch up to?" Danny asked with a mouthful of soup.

Mary-Beth looked over her shoulder at where Dutch was, accompanying Arthur, Hosea and John as they reassured the latter of Jack's health and safety.

"Probably planning on getting Jack back. Ohh. I really hope that poor boy is alright." Mary-Beth frowned as she held the bowl between them with her gaze dropped down to her lap.

"Who takes a child to harm them? Nobody, that's who. Well... except crazy Injuns and psychopaths, but I don't even think Catherine Braithwaite is that much of a psycho." Danny assured her, gently squeezing her thigh.

The comfort and reassurance instantly made Mary-Beth smile.

Even if he couldn't properly see her smile, he knew that he warmed her heart, regardless of the things he'd say.

"Hey, Dutch, we got a problem." A masculine voice alerted his fellow outlaws, mainly addressing his fearless leader.

Lenny Summers stalked two officials wearing black coats and red vests with golden badges on their coats. The moment folk in camp recognised their allegiance, everybody became tense, quickly surrounding the two bravehearts who found and endered their camp.

"Not a problem. Visitors. A solution," said a voice familiar to Danny.

It was Milton.

The Pinkertons analysed their company and the hostility thinning the air as they stood near the table where Dutch, Hosea, Arthur and John were while they were surrounded by almost everyone in camp.