Traveler trilogy Book 2.
Five years after killing Levi Cornwall, Arthur Morgan is happy. He has a wife who loves him, an honest job he enjoys, and two beautiful children named Sadie and Hiram. All of it is turned on its head, however, when Francis S...
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Jenny lay with her eyes closed and the sun warm on her face, surrounded by a meadow of sweet, green, spring grass. It was far more comfortable than any bed, and all she wanted was to soak it all in, to cling to these last minutes of pleasure and happiness before the end of it all.
Times like these were the ones where Jenny seemed to hesitate the most. Here in the meadow, surrounded by green, growing things and bright, orange poppies and the warm sun, she felt at peace, safe from anyone or anything that could harm her.
Safe from Micah.
She hadn't seen him since the day before the train bridge job. In fact, she hadn't been to Beaver Hollow in an entire week. This meadow in Ambarino was one she'd been to many times with both Eagle Flies and Paytah, and she knew they liked to hunt here. She'd been camping here hoping to see them, but neither one had been by lately. There was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that perhaps things with Dutch hadn't gone so well, but if she let herself consider the fact that she might never see Eagle Flies again, she had a feeling the guilt just might kill her before she got a chance to kill Micah. She had to think of the big picture here.
And so Jenny waited, hoping and praying that Eagle Flies would come to her.
As she waited, she thought about Arthur. Not just as she knew him now, but as she knew he would become in the future. In a way, she was glad the two of them had turned out not to be compatible romantically, even if he might still have feelings for her now. It was better that way. He'd have a few years of happiness with his wife and children before having to come back here and watch her die. She wondered if the Arthur of the future still loved her in the sibling sense, or if he'd given up on her once it became clear to him what she was about to do.
After all, he was perhaps the only one besides Mac that might have figured out her plan by now. If he remembered any of their recent conversations about wiping the slate clean and starting the universe over in a way that was more fair, he might have an inkling. And if he did, she hoped he didn't tell the others.
A buzzing sound broke Jenny out of her thoughts. It was a hummingbird, no doubt here to feed upon the poppies and other wildflowers in this alpine meadow, but as she watched it, the tiny, green bird came to a stop less than a foot above her and hovered, cocking its head curiously at her.
Slowly, Jenny raised her hand to the small, innocent thing, as though she might try to stroke it. Incredibly, the hummingbird didn't fly away. Instead, its minuscule feet wrapped themselves around her index finger, and it landed, continuing to stare at her curiously.
Without quite knowing why, a tear fell from Jenny's eye and cut a track down her temple before it soaked into her braided, raven-black hair. "I'm sorry," she whispered to the bird as two more tears fell free of her lashes. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart, but I don't know what else to do."
The bird made a peeping noise and fluttered its wings a few times, cocking its head again. It seemed almost like it was trying to encourage her to keep going; to keep fighting, even though she felt she had no strength left in her soul to use. Inside, Jenny was in the exact same shape as Arthur was on the outside. She had nothing left to give. Physically, she was healthy, but spiritually, she was half dead and wasting away.
