The Dusty Shamrock ~ OC RDR2 fanfiction

Chapter 16

"How's the camp coming along?" I asked Vix.
"Just fine, Javier's slacking off though"
"Hey!" Javier then started tickling Victoria's sides making her giggle uncontrollably. I walked over to Charles who was using a mallet to pin the last and biggest tent up.
"Hey, sorry I jus' had some business to sort out" I apologised, standing at Charles' side as he halted his chore to talk to me.
"It's fine, what's happening between you and Arthur? Do you know?" He asked, his eyes gleaming with hope.
"Yeah... I do" I looked him in the eyes, taking a step closer "He's still getting over Mary, so there's nothing going on between us" I smiled at him, he returned the smile. He took me into his arms with a warming hug, one his hands cradling the back of my head and the other resting in the small of my back. I pressed my face against his chest as we embraced.
"C'mon, lets get this camp up"

Eventually we released each other from the hug and continued to set up our camp. Being that we needed some muscle in our gang, Charles agreed to join us. He was only the Van Der Linde gang's resident huntsman so he assured us he wouldn't be missed. Our camp wasn't much, but it was home. We had a large tent in the middle, along with one another tent which was similar in size and two other smaller tents. Charles and I were in the main large tent, Victoria in the other large one and Belle and Nellie were in the two smaller tents. Javier said he would've loved to have joined our posse however he had to stay loyal to Dutch, and rightly so. Loyalty is so scarce nowadays. I had talked to Dutch about our gangs doing business together, he agreed that they should and that, should we ever need it, he and his men would lend a hand.

A few hours later, just as the sun was setting, I decided to go and tell Hosea of me and my "Feller". I invited him to our camp, he inspected it, closely but couldn't fault it. We sat by the fire as I readied my telling.
"So, tell me about this feller you've taken a liking to" Hosea said.
"He's really great Hosea, he's strong, he loves nature- knows a lot'o 'bout it too. He's real gentle too, a wonderful man..." I gushed, not noticing that Charles had taken a seat right next to me. Upon turning around, I found him staring right at me with a smug grin on his face as the flames flickered, making his eyes seem all the more loving. I let a sigh of contentment escape my nose as I stared at the sweetheart sat beside me.
"I'm a wonderful man, am I?" I snorted and nodded, shyly, leaning my head Charles' shoulder. Hosea cooed at Charles and I, Charles showing slightly more affection by curling his arm around my waist.
"Charles, you're the man that She's been seeing? I couldn't think of anyone more suited to one another" I smiled, Hosea approving of Charles' and I's relationship was more than I could've ever asked for - Hosea was like a father to me.

The sun had long been set, the night sky now cradling the moon, and Vix had gone to sleep, along with Nellie, but Belle was guarding the camp.
"Hey, come on - I wanna show you something" Charles gestured me towards him and Taima. I assumed that I would be riding on the back of Taima as I had given Ama a rest for the day. Charles held his hand out to me, I gently took his hand and he guided my to his steed. He lifted me onto his horse, seeing as I was too short to mount up myself, I settled into the saddle as I shot him a questioning look. He then placed his foot in the stirrup and hoisted himself onto the saddle's space behind me. He held the reins with one hand so that he could keep one hand on my waist to ensure I was steady. He spurred Taima on, collecting her up into a tidy canter.

We rode across the plains, him pointing out how magnificent the bison were from time to time as they thundered across the ground. The plains were beautifully deserted, Charles pointed out all the wildlife as that was around as we saw them. I hadn't the faintest idea where we were going, but I knew it wouldn't be anywhere I'd expect to go at this time of night. Taima was a fine steed, she obeyed Charles' every instruction without question, much like Ama and Otto- my mind wandered, wondering how Hosea had been doing with Otto, I hoped that my old work horse had been behaving himself, however I was positive he would.

Charles had finally halted our journey, he helped me dismount from his horse. He set us up on a plateau, leaving me quite confused however graciously flattered. I shot the man a quizzical look as he laid out his bedroll on the ground.
"Don't worry, we're only stargazing" Charles' assured. I let a sigh of relief escape my mouth as I joined the man I had found so wonderful on the bedroll he'd set out. The crickets were out and chattering like fish wives, the plains were filled with sounds of nature and wildlife. There were no signs of man though, no gunfire, no carts, just pure peace and harmony of the natural world.
"So, why'd y'bring me here?" I asked, Charles let a few melodic notes of a chuckle sound from his voice before replying.
"There's supposed to be some real pretty views of the stars up here" I grinned at his words, to think he'd bring me up here for something so romantic was astonishing. Charles gestured to the sky above us. The midnight sky was dotted with tiny fragments of light and wonder, some made shapes if you connected the dots. I closely observed the sky that I had never found so beautiful, I tried to match up the wonders of the world within that sky and make sense of the life I knew. I tore my gaze away from the night sky above to admire the gentleman laying next to me, when my eyes met his I found him to be already staring at me. Not in a creepy way, his eyes sparkled with affection and admiration saying more to me than words could have ever. I leaned over and placed my lips on his, kissing him on the lips, he graciously returned the gesture- when we broke the kiss, his eyes remained closed for a moment or two almost as if he was savouring the feeling of contact between his lips and mine.

Charles and I camped in that spot for the night, enjoying the romantic alone time whilst we could. We talked about our hopes and dreams and aspirations, about how we felt lost without each other. Charles and I were truly a two piece puzzle, only feeling complete when we were in one another's company. Without Charles I would be too coarse and callous, without me- Charles would show mercy far too quickly to know trust. We contrasted each other in the most beautiful of ways, scripting a story most fascinating and more romantic than any of Mary-Beth's novels.

In the early hours of the morning, Charles and I set off back to camp. We were greeted by grouchy and lethargic neighbouring gang members, whilst our own members were up and at 'em with no fuss.

I looked around the Van Der Linde camp for one particular boy I was eager to see once again. I asked Sean about the whereabouts of young John, however Sean hadn't seen any sight of him either. I was concerned, the boy had become like a son to me in the recent weeks. I was supposed to teach him how to shoot and I'd thought that today would've been a good time to do so.
"Dutch? 'ave y'seen John anywhere?"
"No, I haven't. Perhaps Arthur might know" I briskly walked over to where Arthur was smoking near a nearby tree.
"Y'seen John?" I asked.
"No, I'm sorry" he replied. I huffed in annoyance, I'd looked in John's tent, near the river, he couldn't' have been with Hosea because Hosea was talking to Victoria near the stew pot. I grew increasingly worried as the moments passed and I still couldn't
find John. My breathing became rapid and panicked, I stomped over to Charles to tell him of the predicament. Before I could open my mouth to speak, Charles spoke.
"I know, the horses are saddled up- I think it was the O'Driscolls" he said. I nodded, not able to say another word, and mounted Ama. All my guns and equipment were ready too, Victoria would take care of the camp whilst I was gone. We set off to get that boy back.

I was going to get John back, and make Colm O'Driscoll pay.