The Dusty Shamrock ~ OC RDR2 fanfiction

Chapter 13

I woke in the morning to a perfect day. A prefect day for what we'd planned. It was dry and cool, not too light out though. The sky slightly dingy and the clouds had blocked out the sun. Guns wouldn't jam in dry weather and we weren't going to be easily seen in low daylight.
"Top o' the Mornin'" Sean greeted as I stepped out my tent.
"Mornin' to ya'" I replied. I sauntered over to Pearson's table, where the coffee was. Much to my pleasure, Charles was stood there too. I'd planned to tell him about the attack on the O'Driscoll camp. I knew that Vix would tell Javier, I just had to let Charles know. We wanted Javier and Charles to stand at the sidelines and provide us with backup if need be, we knew that if we told Dutch or Arthur it would become a gang operation and they would take charge of it all. They'd get the glory of raiding the camp.
"Mornin' Charles" I greeted.
"Good morning, Miss"
"You can call me Bronagh, y'know" Charles chuckled and smiled at me. He had a sweet smile, one that I'd enjoyed seeing on our hunting trip a few days ago, and when I'd found him and Arthur at the gunsmith. "Charles, I've something to ask you"
"And what would that be?" He raised an eyebrow. I stepped slightly closer to Charles and looked around to make sure no one would be able to hear us.
"Victoria and I are going out on some private business, we have to run one errand first - we want you to come along, would you?" The tall man in front of me thought for a moment.
"Alright" he started "but just for you." I let out a sigh of relief, I thanked him and left to go find Vix. Charles followed me, obviously having a few more questions. "So how long will this business take?"
"A day or two, at most." I replied, walking over to the horses where Vix and Javier were chatting.
"What's first on the agenda?"
"We're going to meet up with an ole associate of ours" we reached the horses, Charles nodded and started saddling Taima up. I did the Same with Ama, Vix had already saddled her American Standardbred, as had Javier with Boaz.

We mounted, I took a quick glance at a map that I'd dug out beforehand. I knew a few places where Black Belle could be. We'd start near the swamps, it was at least a 4 hour ride going at a fast pace. We'd have to hope that there wouldn't be any trouble to waylay us along the way.
We took off, hoping for the best.
Vix rode up beside me, whilst Charles and Javier brought up the rear.
"So, where do we start?" Vix asked.
"Jus' up near the swamps, I knew I saw her around there a few years back." I pulled out the map and pointed to where we were headed. Keeping a steady pace to be sure not to tire the horses out too fast.
"And what if the bounty hunters got to her first?" Vix shook her head in concern as she asked me question that I knew the answer to.
"Vix" I chuckled "this is Black Belle we're talkin' 'bout. Bounty hunters ain't gonna be the end 'o her" my best friend nodded, knowing exactly what I was talking about.
"Just saying" Vix started, keeping her voice at a low whisper "I think you and Charles look very cute together" she winked at me. 'Me? And Charles?' I thought. I was with Arthur though... well, we weren't officially together. Come to think of it, I wasn't too sure of the difference between platonic and romantic feelings either. I shook my head at Victoria's statement.
"Same goes for you and Javier" I shot back, letting a low chuckle slip from my lips.

We rode, our paces ranging from walk all the way up into canter. Thankfully, we didn't come across any trouble on our trek to our destination. The sun was beginning to set so we decided to stop off in a nearby forest. Javier and Vix set up the camp whilst Charles and I were sent off to look for food.

"So what are we looking for exactly?" I asked.
"A couple turkeys or a few Jackrabbits should keep us fed until morning" I nodded as we dismounted to look for our prey.
"So, uh" Charles took his bow off of his saddle and placed an arrow at the ready, I did the same and waited for him to finish his sentence. "Did you enjoy your alone time with Arthur?" I stopped tracking for a moment, thinking of why he'd ask such a thing. Part of me thought he was just being polite, whilst the other half thought there was something else going on.
"Uh, it was quite pleasant, didn't particularly get up to much" I replied. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a white and brown bird. Possibly a wild turkey. I took aim at the bird and fired, shooting the turnkey straight in head.
"Nice shot" Charles remarked.

Later on, after Charles and I had caught more game, we sat down near a stream.
"So are you and Arthur a thing now?" My hunting companion asked me. I sighed before answering his question.
"I don' know, Charles, I really don' know" He placed an arm around me "I jus'- I never got me da's guidance on the whole romantic feelin's front"
"So you don't know how you're supposed to feel?"
"I can't tell the difference between romantic and friendly feelin's" I rasped. Charles made eye contact with me, truly trying to search my eyes for some form of answer to a question. "Charles, I know it's not appropriate for me to say, especially with the way modern society views interracial romance" He looked down to me, a small smile creeping onto his face. "But, you're really quite handsome." A large smile flooded the man beside me's face. He winked at me and helped me up from the ground. We walked over to the horses and mounted up, making our way back to our makeshift camp in the forest.

Upon our return, we were warmly greeted by Vix and Javier. Sure, they were having an intense make-out session before they noticed we were back but they did welcome us back nonetheless. "Get anything good?" Javier asked Charles.
"Yeah, Bronagh got most of it though" Charles laughed. I waved it off, he certainly caught more than I did.
"Nonsense" I laughed "You definitely caught more!"
"Well, you made the first catch" we took the turkeys and rabbits off of our horses and sat down in front of the fire to skin, pluck and gut them. Charles managed to skin the rabbits in a millisecond, pulling the skin off in one swift movement. "Want me to do the other turkey?" He asked, gesturing towards the other turkey. I nodded, before handing it to him. He took out a hunting knife from a sheath on his hip, I stared at him in confusion as I continued to pluck the feathers , group by group, from the bird. I cocked my head to the side, watching, carefully, as he used the knife to pluck a flock of feathers from the bird in one swoop.
"How d'you do tha'?" I queried.
"Do what?"
"That." I pointed to his calloused hands as he worked masterfully. He smiled at me and gestured for me to sit nearer to him. I scooted around to sit next to him, he continued his craft as I watched intently. I took out my own knife and attempted to copy his actions, however penultimately failing.
"Here, lemme show you" Charles took my hands in his and began to help me with his method. His hands then left mine when he'd finished his demonstration and left me to try the method by myself. I took every care with trying to perfect this try, I took up a bunch of feathers atop my thumb, placing them against the edge of the blade and pulled them to the side.
"Oh my god! I did it!" I exclaimed Charles laughing and congratulating me on my accomplishment. "I could kiss you right now" I chuckled. In the heat of the moment, he replied:
"Why don't you?" In that moment, I leaned over placing my lips onto his. He was slightly taken aback, but he quickly returned the kiss. I dropped the knife and took his face into my hands, my fingers skimming over the scars scattered along his cheeks. His large, calloused hands found their way up to hold mine. His lips were ever so slightly chapped, giving just the right amount of friction between the tender and passionate kiss. After what seemed like minutes, we released each other from the lip lock we were previously enthralled by.
"We should get these birds ready."