𝘍𝘖𝘙𝘎𝘐𝘝𝘌𝘕𝘌𝘚𝘚 𝘈𝘕𝘋 𝘙𝘌𝘛𝘙𝘐𝘉𝘜𝘛𝘐𝘖𝘕 | ʀᴅʀ

Chapter Fourteen

1893: New Hanover

Mary-Beth yawned, almost falling over as she sat perched on the ground before the campfire, Rosalie seated behind her on a crate.

"Why we—yawn—why we gotta do this so early?" Mary-Beth asked through another yawn, her eyes watering as she fought to stay awake.

Rosalie weaved her hair into a French braid, smiling a bit at Mary-Beth's sleepiness. "I'm leaving early for Knoxville with Mac, remember? I told you if you wanted me to do your hair, you had to get up early." She hummed, braiding Mary-Beth's chestnut brown hair with thin fingers, coming toward her ends.

"I know..." Mumbled Mary-Beth, nodding off. "But you do my... my hair so well. I wish I could braid hair like you."

Rosalie chuckled. "Maybe I can show you when I get back. I had to teach myself. A lot of practice."

"I'd like that." She hummed.

Two French braids started at Rosalie's hairline, descending down the sides of her head before merging at the base of her skull in a longer braid. A few stray hairs curled rebelliously at her hairline, unwilling to be tamed with the rest of her hair, though most of it was hidden underneath her black cowboy hat.

Her curls hung loose beneath her braid, cascading down to her waist. The morning was cool for fall, but not so cold that she had to wear a jacket, so she opted to wear her green poncho and a white button-up, along with her brown riding pants.

"You excited to spend so much time with Mac?" Mary-Beth asked with a mischievous grin.

Rosalie raised a brow. "Sure? We're together all the time, though."

She giggled. "Oh, I know that."

Rosalie rolled her eyes. She already knew Mary-Beth would take any opportunity to wistfully tease her about Mac's supposed crush.

"I'm not going to humor you." She said, unimpressed.

Mary-Beth only giggled in response.

Tilly yawned, walking over to them, her bare feet scraping against the dirt as she wore her nightgown. She rubbed her eyes, blinking at Rosalie. "You're all ready to go, huh?" She said, taking note of Rosalie's readied appearance.

She nodded, finishing tying Mary-Beth's hair. "Yup. Got a long trip ahead of me."

"A long trip with Mac." Mary-Beth added, her smile bright and mischievous.

Tilly scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Would you quit it with that? Always stuck in your head dreamin' about romance."

Mary-Beth pouted. "You're no fun."

"I just don't find romance all that fun." Tilly insisted, crossing her arms. "There's plenty of things that're more interesting."

Rosalie chuckled and stood, patting Mary-Beth's shoulder. "Alright, well, I should be getting on. I'll see you girls later." She said, waving to them as she walked toward the wagon at the edge of camp. It was packed from the night before and ready to go.

Richy was tethering the horses to the wagon, Annie and Blitz at the front. He hummed to himself as he worked.

Rosalie made sure the wagon bed was situated, double checking that all the items were in its proper place, and nothing seemed as though it were going to fall out. Once it looked fine, she came around the side to talk to Richy.

"Thanks for doing that," Rosalie said, patting Blitz's neck. "I hope he wasn't too much for you to handle. He can be stubborn sometimes." She hummed, eyeing her black stallion who snorted in response, the horse taking personal offense.