Blood In the Water

chapter one

"Room for a Friend."

"Get away from me, y-you stupid whore!" Eleanor heard Chelsea yell, somewhere to her left. Probably taking place behind the wagon that Sadie walked away from, carrying with her a bowl full of stew. Mumbling harsh words of her own after she got derided by a sailor-mouthed child, yet again. Eleanor watched with steel-blue eyes, hiding from behind her coffee mug as she took another drink. She sighed once she figured that Sadie had truly given up on trying to get through to the grieving girl.

Eventful was one way to describe the past few days, this entire week even. With Alfonzo disappearing and Diego, Alexander, and Henry getting killed by those damn lawmen, there was no rest. Not for anyone, but especially not for Chelsea. Who was Henry's little sister, left orphan and now left without a brother.

Sure, Eleanor had been through plenty of horrible, fucked up things. She had lost family and had seen her fair amount of dying innocence and bloodshed over the years, but that didn't mean she didn't feel bad for the young girl. Eleanor wondered if she could possibly be the one to get through to her. Tell her that is gets better, looking into those brown eyes that Eleanor knew were filled with anger and sadness.

Eleanor decided to move, not wanting her break to be filled with gossip— mostly from Sadie who was now ranting to her sister Isabelle about Chelsea— and Chelsea's yelling. Eleanor decided to take refuge behind a half tent, a lightly secluded spot since almost everyone was doing their more domestic jobs around their new camp. She knew exactly where to go, mostly since it was her that had scouted this location out with the help of William. She against the peeling bark of a pine tree, closing her eyes for the split second that there was peace.

"Mornin' Miss Cox." Eleanor flinched, startled, more than she would of liked by the sudden voice at her right side. She wondered how she didn't hear the light crunch of his footsteps approaching, but August was always good at sneaking up on people.

"August," She says, sighing before she even opened her eyes. "One of these days you're going to scare the wrong person," Eleanor looked over at him, unalarmed by his presence despite the small scare.

"Yeah, eventually." August gives a weak smile before looking out to the forest, eventually focusing beyond it. Their talking stifling to a quick silence, just simply enjoying the quiet of each other's presence.

"You're okay?" Eleanor eventually asks, once the memory of when August and James came stumbling back into camp fills her thoughts once again. Surely it haunted everyone's mind by now. James was the one who told the story. August was getting tended to for injury. And Eleanor remembers the look in August's eyes that night, remembers it clear as day. He wore it still.

"Course I am," He says, absentmindedly picking at his bandages. They were fresh, so they must of been changed this morning. "Always."

"I ain't dense enough to believe that," Eleanor says standing back up straight and looking straight into the brown-eyed sadness that August tried to hide. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"...No," He pauses for a moment, but when Eleanor opens her mouth to speak, he quickly adds on. "But I will be. Just gotta... figure some things out on my own, let it get better with time."

Silence, again. Eleanor's mind is a little more at ease this time, since August at least managed to acknowledge his troubles. She trusted him enough to fix things on his own, and trusted that if he needed help that he would come to her. So she welcomed the nice bit of quiet, drinking the rest of her cup of coffee in the process.