Fire and Silk

Chapter 7: A Deeper Fall

     Dutch's tent had never been one of her favorite places to be, the opulence of the leader's living was so drastically different from everyone else's that it made her slightly uncomfortable. The man had an entire wooden floor made from pallets for Christ's sake. Sure he was the one in charge, she was fully aware of that, but did it have to show in literally every aspect of life?

     Wringing her hands together she kept her eyes down, unable to even attempt eye contact with said man staring intently at her from where he was seated. She had been silent the whole way back to camp as she followed behind Dutch, Bill, and Arthur. The latter having turned more than once to look back at her only to look more confused and worried each time. She had barely been able to even register the action with how far she was sunk into her own head. 

     Between the harsh visions still playing on repeat in her head, the realization she had just managed to save Arthur with something as small as paying a debt, and the bitter taste over having discovered this freaky sense of precognition; it was safe to say she was overwhelmed and more than a little freaked out. Was that going to happen every time a life saving decision would need to be made? That agony, those visions? Where the hell did that even come from? Sure she had always had a sixth sense about things but never anything like that. This situation was already stressful enough but now to throw some sort of precognitive abilities on top felt like too much for even her to handle. 

     Especially since Dutch had immediately brought her to his tent for an explanation and she had absolutely no idea where to even start. 

     The man in question sighed as he sat back in his chair lighting one of his cigars. "We've got all day here miss." Talia groaned laying her head in her hands. How should she even approach this? What could she say?

     Sitting back herself, her eyes landed on the roof of his tent and she chewed the inside of her cheek trying to find the words. "I...I had memories come back." At this Dutch stilled and leaned forward again, placing his elbows on his knees and nodding for her to continue. With a shaky breath she stared at the ceiling again. "It was Arthur. That man apparently owed money to the gang. At first all I saw were glimpses, just enough for me to know it was somehow really important. It wasn't until after I handed him the money and was walking away that the memories came all at once." 

     A few silent tears rolled down her face and she closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. "That man had tuberculosis, he would have given it to Arthur. All I did was pay off a debt for a stranger and I just completely changed the course of his life. Dutch I saw it. I saw everything. It was so sad, he was just getting sicker and sicker until he..." Her words were coming out more rushed as the tears flowed faster. She couldn't even finish her sentence, the sadness was all consuming as the memory of him taking his last breath on that mountain top danced across her eyes.

     Silence fell over the tent, the only sound to penetrate it being her light sniffles as she composed herself. The creak of the chair alerted her That Dutch had moved and she peeked open an eye to see him pacing the length of the tent, arms crossed with one hand roughly rubbing his chin. "And you're sure? You're sure what you saw was real?" His voice was heavy with so many emotions, disbelief, grief, anger, and mixed in with them all a bit of hope.

     Talia merely nodded in response, she felt like she didn't even have the energy to talk anymore. Her eyes felt heavy, her body was weighted, and all she wanted was to crawl onto her cot and not move for days. She had a sneaking suspicion she was going to be sore tomorrow despite not having done anything to warrant it.

     Dutch stared at her for a moment before heading to the entrance of his tent and Talia felt white hot panic surge through her. "W-what are you doing?" Dutch turned to give her an incredulous look, as though she should've already known what he was doing although she suspected she already did. "I'm going to get Arthur." The panic increased exponentially and she frantically shook her head.