the greatest man who ever lived - a.morgan

ch.3

chapter 3 — outlaws from the west

(10 years later - 1899)

"by 1899, the age of outlaws and gunslingers was at an end. america was becoming a land of laws.. even the west had mostly been tamed. a few gangs still roamed but they were being hunted down and destroyed"

howling wind, that was all that could be heard as the van der linde gang trudged up the snowy grizzlies. of course a ferry job went wrong and the gang had to hide up a mountain during a damn storm.

it was freezing, and despite the amount of layers she was wearing, (y/n), now fourteen years old, felt like she was about to turn into a ice statue any minute. she was surrounded by a few of the gang members as one of them, davey, sat in the back of the wagon, slowly bleeding to death after being injured during the ferry job in blackwater.

of course they knew there was nothing they could do, so reverend swanson got out of the wagon to tell dutch and hosea the news.

"abigail says he's dying, dutch," swanson said as he walked by the moving wagon, lantern in hand. "we'll have to stop by some place."

"okay, arthur's out looking, i sent him up ahead." dutch responded, which made swanson go back into the moving wagon.

"dutch it's freezing," (y/n) complained as she wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to warm herself up. "couldn't we have gone to a place warmer than here?"

"sorry, kid. but we'll be safe up here, the law won't find us here in this storm." dutch responded.

"if we don't stop soon we'll all be dying," hosea said before continuing "this weather, it's may.. i'm just hoping the law got as lost as we did."

"there!" dutch exclaimed, pointing to a shadow in the fog "arthur! any luck?" he called out to the shadow.

"i found a place where we can get some shelter. let davey rest while he.. you know." he trailed off, not wanting to say the words out loud. "(y/n), you alright?" he called out to his daughter.

"i'm fine," the girl called back, trying to hide how freezing she was so she wouldn't worry her father.

"anyway, i found an old mining town, abandoned, it ain't far." he said, turning his horse around to lead the gang to the town. "come on."

"come on!" dutch yelled to the horses to make them move, snapping the reins in the process.

it was a long trek, but they managed to safely get to the mining town. colter was the name. it was a boring old place, but there were small buildings. at least the gang all had roofs over their heads for now.

hosea went over to one of the buildings and opened the door, "bring him in here!" he called out.

the gang started entering the small building, with davey in tow. he was closer to dying now than he was in the back of the wagon, and they knew they had a shorter amount of time with him left.

"miss gaskill.. get that fire lit quick," miss grimshaw told mary-beth "miss jones, bring in whatever blankets we have," she then told karen "mr pearson, see what we've got in terms of food."

as miss grimshaw ordered them to do those things, (y/n) noticed abigail leaning her head down over davey as if she was checking for breathing. as she lifted her head back up, it was obvious what had happened.

"davey's dead." she announced, making everyone's hearts sink. "there's.. nothing more you could've done" swanson said solemnly.

a gang member then placed coins over davey's eyes, which signified his passing.

"what are we gonna do? we need supplies." hosea said, knowing they needed to act fast before having the same fate as davey.

"well, first of all you're gonna stay here," dutch started "and you are gonna get yourself warm. now, i sent john and micah scouting out ahead. arthur and i, we're gonna ride out and see if we can find one of 'em."

"in this?" arthur responded, referring to the awful storm outside.

"just for a short bit," dutch said "i don't see what other choice we have" he was right. it was either they go out and get supplies, or the gang stayed in the storm and died.

"can i come too?" (y/n) asked, wanting to be of any help instead of sitting around like a sack of potatoes.

"are you crazy?" arthur asked in disbelief as he looked at her "no, it's too dangerous, you're staying right here" he said, making (y/n) sink in her seat.

"listen," dutch began in order to get everyone's attention "listen to me all of you, for a moment" he said, finally gaining everyone's attention.

"now, we've had.. well, a bad couple of days," he started, before continuing "i loved davey, jenny, sean, mac.. they may be okay, we don't know"

"but we've lost some folks. now, if i could.. throw myself in the ground in their stead.. i'd do it, gladly," he continued, "but, we're gonna ride out, and we're gonna find some food. everybody, we're safe now. there ain't nobody following us in a storm like this.. and by the time they get here, well we're gonna be.. we're gonna be long gone"

"we've been through worse. mr pearson, miss grimshaw, i need you to turn this place into a camp. we may be here for a few days. now all of you.. all of you.. get yourselves warm. stay strong. stay with me. we ain't done yet."

dutch then walked to his lantern and grabbed it, getting ready to venture out into the storm with arthur "come on, arthur."

"you stay here now, get yourself warm" arthur said to (y/n) as he ruffled her hair "i'll be back soon" he continued, then left with dutch.

"alright, we got some work to do" miss grimshaw said.