Bad Blood // Micah Bell (Red Dead Redemption 2 Story)

5 - Sulking

Natasha was sat playing poker with Pearson, Strauss and Lenny, her losing as per usual. She was always unlucky when she was dealt with her cards but when it come to playing with Strauss, she was not surprised. He was a very good player so it was no shock to see him win the pot continuously.

After folding her cards, she pushes away from the table and tips her hat towards Arthur as he passed her, greeting her with a grateful smile. "Evening Miss, I don't suppose you could help me out with something could you?" He requested, a cheeky look on his face as he took off his hat and holding it towards his chest.

"What is it Morgan?"

"I need to offload some debts on to you. I would do it myself but I have been busy with some stuff and I got to go help find that little Irish idiot. I also met that Albert fellow, nearly got eaten by wolves the idiot." He chuckled, leaning against one of the tables in the middle of camp.

She thought about the favour he was asking, not feeling too comfortable with collecting debts by herself. She had done it once and nearly got choked to death by a very, very large man. She had done it with Bill of all people who was completely useless and didn't even realise she was getting choked out since he was too busy ransacking the house.

"I don't know Arthur, I ain't much of a debt collector and you know what happened to me last time." She informed, resting her hands along her gunbelt which she had purchased from a Trapper not too long ago.

"I'm aware but I need you to do this. I doubt anyone else would do it and Strauss doesn't want them dead so you're the only other person I can ask really." With a defeated sigh she nodded her head and grabbed a small journal from her satchel along with a small pencil. "Alright, what are the names?"

Arthur proceeded to tell her the list of debtors as well as their location before walking away, thanking her.

She frowned and looked down at her journal at the first name. "Winton Holmes." She muttered to herself, closing her journal and stashing it away inside her satchel once more before sitting by the campfire next to Hosea.

Hosea, Reverend Swanson and Uncle were all having small talk amongst themselves, nothing to which Natasha could particularly join into so she just listened.

She did enjoy talking to the members of the camp but she found herself having difficulty opening up to them. Unlike Bill who needs a drink to finally open up, she can't do that. Nobody really asked her any questions aside from Arthur but that was only if he needed to do financial business. She would speak to the girls sometimes but she would get shouted at by Miss Grimshaw for interrupting their work and pretty much swats her away like a fly. Realistically, she only spoke to Jack which was sweet but boring at the same time. She was good with children but she would like to speak to someone more her age rather than a child who could barely even read.

All the members of the camp did like Natasha, they were fond of her and quite frankly they liked to talk about her when she wasn't there. To them, she was a very attractive woman but nobody had really hit on her. Bill might have once when he was drunk but she didn't think much of it and laughed at him and calling him a 'silly man'.

She felt a burning sensation at the back of her head, making chills run up her arms as if someone was watching her. She glanced around casually, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. Pearson was cutting vegetables at his wagon, Strauss was working away at his debt book, Dutch and Molly were sat in their tent together speaking amongst themselves. The girls were washing, John was fixing the wagons and Kieran was looking after the horses as per usual.

Her eyes then landed on Micah who was leaning against a tree on the outskirt of camp, playing away with his knife. His head was facing downwards, his white hat covering his face. Instinctively, she thought nothing of it and turned back to the main campfire and watched Swanson stumble up to his feet, sticking his arms out in front of him to guide him with every step he took.