No Time To Die- ARTHURMORGAN x O/C

part 34- No Man Left Behind

                 Rain hammers down against the walls, everyone inside staying dry. Arthur finally back with his family, after his vacation in Guarma. The door swings open, everyone's heads turn to see Dutch, "he's back! He's back!" Sadie yells making her way over to him.
"How did you folks find each other? What happened? Can somebody get me a cup of coffee or something?" Dutch asks looking around seeing everybody with smiles on their faces.
"It's Mrs. Adler that saved us Dutch, after the robbery in Saint Denis, she got us away from the camp before the pinkertons turned up. Then Mr Smith found this place for all of us to stay" Strauss fills in Dutch with the details, Tilly passes Dutch a cup of coffee with a small smile on her face.
"Mrs. Adler, we owe you!" Dutch responds raising his cup in the air. Everyone yells in agreement, Dutch looks around seeing if everyone is here.
"Where's Claudia?" Dutch questions furrowing his eyebrows in concern. The room falls silent, no one knowing what to say, "where is she?"
"She.. she didn't take Hosea death well," Charles speaks up, explaining to Dutch, "we haven't seen her since yesterday, she rode off."
Dutch sighs running his hand through his hair, "great" he grits his teeth, taking a sip of his coffee. The bitter taste swirling in his mouth.
"I don't know where she could of gone because the law is on us, and bounty hunters as well. We tried to get her together but we couldn't" Charles mentions shrugging his shoulders, Dutch looks down to the ground, not knowing what to do. The door swings open, Bill raises his hands in the air.
"Well here you is, well I asked everyone I could find and eventually someone knew. Said you fools were out here! Shit! Gimme a drink or something!" Bill barges in, like a bull in a china shop.
"Get your own damn drink!" Sadie answers back, shutting Bill up quickly.
"In our absence, Mrs. Adler has been looking after things. Now sit down..." Dutch snaps back at Bill, before he gets interrupted from outside.
"This is Agent Milton..."

                  The next day, sun beats down on Dutch as he rides through the dusty streets, his eyes scanning the horizon for any sign of his daughter. He never thought he would be doing this, when Elenor told him that she was pregnant by letter, he didn't know what to do. The sound of being a father is everything to him but, because of the circumstances Dutch didn't want to raise a child and that has stuck to him. Agent Milton gave him a surprise last night, he had only been back for a couple of hours and the pinkertons were on them straight away, causing chaos. As he crests a small hill, he spots a group of men riding towards him, their faces set in a mixture of exhaustion and triumph. Bounty Hunters. Dutch's instincts scream at him to be cautious, but he forces himself to approach them calmly.
"Ha, I can't believe we caught her. The stupid girl, she looked a mess when we found her!" One of them laughs, raising his hands in the muggy air.
"They are going to see if she knows anything about Van Der Linde, apparently she's been riding with him for about 2 months now. The sheriff told me that they are sending her to Saint Denis tomorrow to be hanged" Another mentions making Dutch's ears prick up. The bounty hunters go past Dutch, not noticing him as they celebrate their achievement. Dutch turns back around to head back to the camp, it must be her that they are on about. His thoughts hang heavy in the air, should he go and save her? If he does the Law will be on them straight away. He sees Arthur from a far distance, brushing his horse near the camp. Dutch hitches Count, and makes his way to Arthur, "She's been captured by bounty hunters," Dutch mutters.
"Shit! Where to?" Arthur questions strapping his saddle to his horse, ready to leave.
"She has been sent to Saint Denis to be hanged, but we can't go" Dutch explains rubbing his hand against his temple, he turns around heading towards inside.
"You just going to leave her to die?" Arthur yells, the anger raising in his voice.
"No but if we go then we will all die!" Dutch argues back, placing his hands on his hips; the air fills with tension.
"She is your daughter, Dutch" Arthur tries and persuades him to save her. Dutch stops in his tracks, the word 'daughter' ringing in his ears.
"I know, I know" Dutch mumbles, loud enough for Arthur to hear. Arthur stays still in shock, loyalty is everything to Dutch and now he is leaving one of his gang members behind. Dutch leaves making his way inside, closing the door behind him. Arthur looks around seeing Charles sitting by one of the wagons sharpening his knife, he meets his gaze. Charles nods putting his knife away, and walks over to Taima to saddle her up.
"She's one of us, Arthur" Charles says mounting his horse.
"Thank you, Charles" Arthur mounts his horse, giving a small smile to Charles. The two of them ride off towards the direction of Saint Denis.
"Dutch has changed, if this happened weeks ago. He would be with us right now" Arthur says, hitting his spurs against his horse to quicken the pace.
"I know, I feel like something bad is going to happen to us" Charles mentions following Arthur.
"I just hope we get there in time" Arthur hits his horse with his reins, going into a gallop. 
"We will Arthur, don't worry about her"