𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 | 𝐒𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐄 𝐀𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐑 𝐗 𝐎𝐂

𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐑𝐄

I was sitting down at my tent getting my hair braided by Sadie. I was honestly so tired recently. It was like this whole mess deprived me of all my energy.

I smoked a cigarette as Sadie braided. I took a look
at our camp. Everyone was so split apart.

Mostly everyone left. Pearson left. Miss Grimshaw and the women in the camp now had to cook the stew.

Even Trewlany left. He left not long after Karen did. He said goodbye to me and everything. He never much stuck with us, but I think this time he was gone for good.

I really did like Trewlany. He was funny in his own way. Josiah knew me since I was a kid. We both changed so much since then.

I looked over at Micah's friends he invited over. Two nasty looking men.

"You feeling better?" Sadie asked and I nodded. "Yeah... yeah, i'm feeling better."

"Good." Sadie pulled more hair into the braid and I thought to myself. "Hey, Sadie...?"

"Yeah?" She asked as I exhaled cigarette smoke. "if you want to leave... you could. You don't have to stay back for me."

Sadie finished the braid and looked over my shoulder. I turned to look at her too.

"Rosa, i'm staying with you. Those sons of bitches could drop bombs in this place and I would still be here with you enduring it all."

I smiled a little. "You sure?"

"I'm sure." Sadie said.

"Mr Van Der Linde! Mr Morgan! Charles!" I heard a voice and turned to it. It was a young man riding in. By what Arthur told me, I was guessing this was Eagle Flies.

"They tried to kill my people for oil!" He said. "For oil." The rest of his group rode in. "Today we ride once more. Ride with me, ride with us. Ride with us against the factory."

We stood up and walked toward him. I didn't know what connection Dutch had with them. I wasn't really involved with most of our group's connections recently.

"I love your courage, son." Dutch said. "It is a thing of great beauty."

"Stop! Everyone stop!" An older man rode in. He dismounted his horse and approached Eagle Flies. "My son... my last son... don't." He told him. "When I was your age, I fought. I saw death. I have killed. The men I knew were slain. My first born, your brother, had his head smashed by a drunken soldier."

That must've been a terrible pain.

"My wife had her throat slit. We made peace. I knew not to trust, yet, I had no choice. Maybe you were right, maybe the slow death is worse than the fast one. Maybe none of these men are good. Maybe a world in which they came to us is a world we cannot endure. But endure we must."

"Father, you are tired." Eagle Flies said and he shook his head. "Do not die for pride, my son! We have suffered too much in this trick. The earth, the water, they have no pride. They endure, and we must endure. My only boy... my precious boy... do not mistake my strength for weakness. As your chief, I implore you."

Eagle Flies thought about it. His expression hardened. "Your words mean nothing to me, father."

"Don't..." He begged.

"Ride with me. Now!" Eagle Flies and his men left as they ignored his father's wishes.

His father walked up to us. "Please, Mr Morgan. After you helped me, after we spoke... this is just a trap. My son, my people, will all die."

"You helped this feller, Arthur?" Dutch asked and Arthur scoffed. "What of it?"

"What else you been doing behind Dutches back?" Micah asked. The question really got to me. I gave him a hard look. "So we need permission to do things now?"