To Tame the Wild: a Red Dead Redemption fan fiction

Chapter 17 - Logic and Morals

The campfire crackled and snapped in the darkness, filling in the silence between the two bounty hunters that sat across each other. An unnerving chill had settled over the Great Plains as night cloaked the world. The campfire glowed in the night, keeping the dangerous wildlife of Tall Trees at bay: Maddie and Jack had settled in for the evening in the clearing between Tall Trees and the Pacific Union railroad camp.

Jack lay on his back atop his bed roll with his saddle serving as his pillow. Beside him, his father's hat lay a safe distance away from the fire, as well as his satchel and duffel bag. In his hands he held the red leather-bound book Maddie had given him for Christmas: as soon as camp was made, he hid himself deep within the pages, too shook up from the evening's events and hastily wishing to forget them. Quite quickly, the play had grasped him firmly; the old hunger and curiosity he felt when he used to read as a boy reemerged, waking steadily out of its hibernation before consuming him. He felt exhilarated yet calm; his heart raced yet he lay there absolutely still. Despite what had happened an hour ago, he was at peace.

The rain had stopped by the time Maddie and Jack arrived at the MacFarlane ranch with Nathaniel in tow. Bonnie and Drew came outside when the ranch hands had gathered around them and caused a commotion with an uproar of voices. Ignoring Jack's demands, Maddie told Bonnie what happened when she furiously demanded why her husband was tied to the back of her horse and bleeding. Before he could interject and tell his companion to back off, Maddie insisted she let her finish the dastardly man off for his crime. Bonnie's answer was exactly what he'd expected: she grew outraged and cursed her younger, brash friend for taking matters into her own hands when she should've just told her what happened. After being yelled at for five minutes straight, Maddie suddenly threw her hands up and roared, "Alright, FINE! If it upsets you so much that I gave this bastard what he deserved, then I'll just leave!" As she mounted up and rode away, she shouted back over her shoulder, "You should be thanking me, Bonnie!"

Jack had lingered back, feeling torn between following his irate partner and wishing to console Bonnie, who was livid with anger and crying.

"Get goin', boy," Drew said as he held his daughter. "There's nothin' you can do for her now. I'll handle this; you just go after Maddie and make sure she doesn't do anything else stupid."

He trailed after Maddie all the way back to West Elizabeth. It wasn't until midnight when they finally made camp. Not a word was spoken since, and it looked like it would stay that way for the rest of the night.

He paused in the middle of his reading to look Maddie over. She sat cross-legged on the other side of the fire, her face set in a foul scowl as she took apart her pistols and cleaned them. Damn, she's still in a mood, he thought as he returned to his book. Wonder how long it'll last. Hope she doesn't bite my head off tonight when I'm sleepin'. He brought the book closer to his face to hide behind it as he read on.

Half an hour passed; the silence settled deep around the camp save for the sounds of metal clinking together and scrubbing as Maddie tended to her firearms. When they were clean and put back together, she unsheathed her hunting knife and took a whetstone out of her bag. She spat on the stone and began sharpening her blade, her scowl slowly beginning to fade as time wore on.

Jack looked up at her and shook his head. I guess it's best to just leave her be for tonight. Maybe she'll get over it by mornin'. He fiddled with the hawk feather that served as his book mark as he continued reading, once again settling deep within the book and becoming lost within its pages.

The scraping of the knife abruptly stopped. "You're awfully quiet."

Jack flinched. He leaned closer to the book as he murmured, "I'm reading."