Miss Morgan

Two

Fall 1877
-Hosea-

"Good morning my dear." Bessie plants a soft kiss to my cheek as she puts a bowl of stew from the night before into my hands. She casts a smile at me as she walks away to get back to her chores, but the smile doesn't meet her eyes.

She's been acting different since Dutch and I found Arthur and Ivy on the road. I noticed Susan joining us lifted her spirits some, since she's not quite so alone anymore, but the sadness in her eyes when she looks at those kids is haunting.

I take mental note to address that with her later, but for now, I eat and the hot stew warms my hands. Winter is quickly approaching and we need to find more suitable shelter before snow falls.

Dutch lights a cigar as he sits next to me by the fire and he warms his hands.

"Need to find better shelter for winter." I know it's been heavy on his mind lately too, but we've been busy working odd jobs.

"It's like you read my mind." He grumbles. "What do you think?"

"Maybe we should head south." I shrug. "Don't imagine we'll make it clear to Florida by winter but surely we could get somewhere warmer."

"Heading south could bring more problems. It could be more populated with everyone else trying to escape the cold." Dutch shakes his head. "I say we head out west. Not too far, maybe to Indiana somewhere and find an old farmstead between here and there."

"Sounds good a plan as any. We've gotten just about all we can out of this area. Law has been getting smarter."

As I speak, Susan sits down on the other side of Dutch, handing him a bowl of stew and another bowl for herself. She licks her thumb and wipes off a smudge of dirt on his cheek. "You need a wash." She furrows her brow.

"Not now miss." Dutch rolls his eyes.

Suddenly a hand whips across his face. "I wasn't asking! You're revolting. You stink like shit and I won't have it."

I have to cough into my fist to hide my laughter.

"Jesus Christ, can I eat first?" Dutch growls, rubbing his cheek.

When Susan joined us, Dutch had only been sneaking off to see her in town. Can't imagine why he ever felt the need to hide her from the rest of us. She's fierce and beautiful. She has her long dark hair piled neatly into a bun on the top of her head and her clothes are always pristine. It seems to be a bit of a power struggle for the two of them at times, but I see why Dutch is sweet on her. She's just like him.

Once Arthur and Ivy are up and we've all dressed and eaten, we load up the wagons. We only have four weeks before winter, five if we're lucky, and we have to find an old house of some sort to call home until spring.

Susan drives the supply wagon while Bessie and I drive the covered wagon with Ivy and our tents and bedding. Dutch rides his horse, Bourbon, alongside the wagons with Arthur on my horse, Bullet.

Dutch and I both ride bay thoroughbreds. They're old but they don't show their age. We need to find a horse for Arthur. I'd prefer he finds one in the wild to tame and break on his own because it's a good skill to know and one that is best learned by doing. I'd like Ivy to find one of her own as well but she's too small to take on a wild horse.

"Hosea, look!" Ivy's small voice breaks me from my thoughts. I look into the trees where she's pointing and I see a huge buck staring back at us. The sunlight glistens off his antlers.

"Can you get it?" I question. Ivy's shooting has been getting better every day. She hasn't shot a buck since the first one I helped her with but she's practiced every day for months shooting cans off a fence post outside of camp.