Miss Morgan

Fifty-Eight

August 1899
-Ivy-

"Do you think Arthur will come back?" Abigail.

"How long are we gonna stay here and wait for those boys to show up before we give up and move to another camp?" Swanson.

"We're low on food. Are you or Charles gonna go hunt?" Pearson.

"I'm hungry." Jack.

"Are you ever gonna go get Marston? What are you waitin' for?" Uncle.

"Would y'all shut the hell up and let me think?" I snap, shoving past Uncle, sloshing beer out of his bottle all over his clothes. I rush out the front door onto the porch while he whines behind me.

"Everything okay?" Charles asks, handing Pearson a couple rabbit carcasses nearby.

"I don't know how Dutch did it." I sigh. "These people are driving me insane."

"That's why I've spent so much time scouting." Charles laughs. "Come on. Let's talk." We walk around the porch and sit in chairs on the back porch, as rain patters down on the old roof above. Lighting illuminates the dark swamps around us every so often. Thunder rumbles and crickets chirp loudly.

"Find anything good?" I ask.

"There's places up in Roanoke we could go if we had to, but it's nothing nice. More of a last resort option, if you ask me. Law wouldn't come sniffing but law wouldn't be our only concern up there. Apparently there's a gang called the Murfree Broods up there. They're animals. People have been disappearing without a trace in that area."

"Lovely." I mutter.

"You got a plan to get John yet?"

"No." I sigh. "Obviously I can get a boat and just go in blind but a prison like that will shoot me down before I even make it to shore. I gotta be smart about it."

"You'll come up with something. Sadie seems determined to help you get him back."

"Sadie just loves the excitement." I laugh.

Nearly three weeks have passed since the bank robbery and I'm no closer to getting John out of jail than I was the day after we got to Lakay. Trelawny and Sadie have kept an ear out and as far as we know, there still isn't a trial date set, but we also haven't heard if they've transported John to Blackwater.

Meanwhile, I haven't been able to get a boat and go scout out Sisika because, for whatever reason, the gang decided to make me their new leader. I can't even get five minutes to hear myself think let alone go get John out of jail.

The sound of people talking loudly out front pulls me from my thoughts. Charles and I glance at each other before we walk through the door to go inside where we're met by Micah Bell, surrounded by gang members greeting him and asking where Dutch and Arthur are. His eyes meet mine and he silently glares at me a moment. "Can somebody get me somethin' to eat?" He barks and a moment later Pearson shoves a bowl of stew into his slimy hands and goes back outside.

I don't want to believe he's really here right now. I want to call him out but I need to talk to Dutch first. The bruises on my neck and wrists have mostly faded but the broken blood vessels in my face and my eye are still there. It just isn't enough proof to back me up when I tell everyone that Micah ratted us all out.

I need to talk to Dutch and Arthur. Once we have John back, the three of them can take their position in the gang back and they'll be able to handle the Micah situation and all will be right in the world. They'll know what to do. Or at least, I hope they will.

A moment later we hear Pearson yelling outside. I push through the gang and run out the front door where I find Arthur.

"Oh, Arthur, you're alive!" Abigail leaps into his arms.