𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 | 𝐒𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐄 𝐀𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐑 𝐗 𝐎𝐂

𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐓𝐘 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐒

okay sorry this took so long i had the worst writers block

SEPTEMBER 14th, 1899

I was smoking a cigarette at a tree in camp. I was lost in thought sort of. I was thinking about this whole mess.

"Hey." Javier greeted me and I threw my cigarette on the ground. "Hey, man."

"What's going on with you?" He asked and I looked at him confused. "What?"

"Why are you turning your back on us?" Javier asked. The question felt like a punch to the gut. I scoffed. "Por que me hablas en Inglés?"

"You know, Dutch practically raised you." He said. Javier usually spoke to me in Spanish. It was like our thing. But recently it seemed he to only spoke to me in English. It was like he wanted everyone to hear. Like he wanted everyone to hear that he was on Dutches side and I was not.

"Look, Dutch might have been like a father to me, but he didn't raise me." I whispered. "My real father raised me. Arthur raised me. Everything i've learned, i've learned from them."

"He gave you a place to stay." He said.

"That don't mean i'm gonna follow him around like a dog and watch as he gets us all killed." I told him. "You don't owe him anything, Javier. Neither do I. Get that through your head, hermano." I walked away.

I felt bad for Javier. I felt the same way too. But Sadie reminded me that I owed him nothing.

I joined Sadie by the fire. She gave me a smile. "Hey."

"Hey." I smiled too. Sadie really did keep me sane.

"Hey, you two." John approached us. Tilly was by his side. I smiled. "Hey."

"Twenty four years old, huh?" John chuckled sitting next to me.

Sadie looked over at me confused. "What?"

"She didn't tell you?" Tilly smiled a little bit. "It's her birthday." she wrapped her arms around my neck giving me a hug. I smiled a little. "Yeah.." I patted Tilly's arms.

"What?" Sadie's raspy voice asked in disbelief. "Well, let's go do something."

"Do what?" I asked and Sadie shrugged. "Anything away from here."

I shrugged. "I don't think anything's worth celebrating right now."

"Oh, that's nonsense." Sadie said. "Y'all wouldn't mind if we go out today, would you?"

"Of course not." John said and Tilly shook her head. "Not at all."

"Well, let's go then, cowgirl." Sadie lifted me up and I laughed a little. "Okay, okay. Tilly," I looked over at her. "make sure the camp don't kill each other while i'm gone."

"I'm on it." Tilly said as Sadie and I made our way over to the horses. Sadie mounted up and I did the same. "So where are we going?"

"Well, it's no birthday without cake." Sadie told me and I smiled. "Alright." I got comfy on my horse. "Lead the way, vaquera."

Sadie and I went to that cake shop in Saint Denis. The ride there was nice. Sadie had this special way of making me forget everything wrong with my life. It was like she brought me back down to earth.

We sat down at a table by a window. We talked as we ate.

"Whens your birthday anyway, Sadie?" I asked and she answered with a smile. "Second of January. I'm gonna be twenty six."

I whistled quietly. "Jeez. You're old, lady."

Sadie chuckled. "Sure. Now how are you enjoying your cake, miss?" Sadie asked and I smiled. "I love it. How about you, ma'am? Is it living up to your expectations?"