Brother

Chapter Nine

I leapt onto the back of Quicksilver and kicked him hard as he took off, I ignored the calls behind me as I raced away on the back of my confused black stallion. I had no clue where I was going but wherever it was it better be far away from that disgusting filth of a camp, tears flowed down my cheeks and stung my eyes as they continued to form in the burning wind. Because I wasn't thinking Quicksilver decided on our location for me, the old stallion knew this area better than I ever would which I was thankful for. We ran and ran and ran until Quicksilver came to a stop by a quiet pond, the smell of pine trees stung my nose and helped relax my burning mind. Jumping down off the tired stallion I took the bit off his bridle to allow him to graze without the piece of metal annoying him, walking forwards I sat down beside the pond and allowed my mind to burn with anger and rage at Dutch's false words.

"FUCKING ASSHOLE!" I screeched as I threw a small rock into the pond, by now I had almost no tears left in me and my body was exhausted. The only other gang members who knew of this spot were Arthur and Hosea from when they hunted the bear, wiping away stray tears I fell onto my back and just laid there as the night began to set in. Finally standing up I un tacked Quicksilver and set up a mini make-shift camp, it wouldn't be long before Dutch sent either John, Arthur or Hosea to find me since we were the original four but I could wait for them so long as Dutch didn't appear. With a sigh I pulled myself into my small tent and under the covers of my bed roll, with a pounding heart and mind I slowly drifted into a restless sleep.

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The sun shining through the entrance to my tent caused me to awaken, memories of yesterday flooded back to me causing me to sigh. Last night I had been attacked by a cougar which earned me a few scars across my face but nothing too serious that I couldn't fix myself, shuddering I left the safety of my tent and looked around. The sound of horses running made me smile as I watched a herd of wild horses run by in all their glory, I loved watching nature go by at its own pace. With a sigh I packed up my things and put them back with my saddle and such as I sat near Quicksilver as he grazed, the moment Quicksilver lifted his head and let out a soft nicker I groaned internally.

"Grace!? Grace are you here!?" Came a loud and worried voice, with a sigh I stood and began to tack the coal black stallion up.

"Over here!" I called not even bothering to hide my anger, the sound of two horses approaching signalled whoever had come hadn't come alone.

"Grace are you alright!? You left in such a hurry that we thought you were going to get yourself killed!" Arthur growled as he jumped down off his horse to pull me into a worried hug, Hosea who had come with Arthur joined in as I burst into tears again. Arthur wiped my tears away with a soft smile when he noticed my fresh scars across the right side of my face, Hosea noticed too and I couldn't help but chuckle as they acted like concerned parents when their kid got beat up.

"Looks like cougar claws did this, come on we need to get you back," Arthur sighed as he turned but stopped, I felt anger brewing in my chest again as I shook my head.

"I ain't returnin' there, don't know how I would even be able to look at Dutch let alone follow him," I growled, Hosea seemed confused while Arthur looked purely pissed.

"Dutch is going to have a serious problem when we get back don't worry, I reckon it's mostly Molly's doin' but that's just me," Hosea muttered, with a heavy heart I finally caved in to their plea's and leapt onto Quicksilver's back. Both boys rode on either side of me as we rode back towards camp, my arm still hurt like hell but I would live. We spoke little about camp as we headed back, the moment we returned and I dismounted I was surrounded by concerned camp members. Everyone except Dutch and Molly were there which only made my heart break further, with a sigh I pushed everyone aside without so much as a word and headed for my tent. Once inside I flopped onto my bed and let the tears flow, why did a man hold such power over my emotions. I had been played like a fiddle until it's strings broke, I rolled over when I heard footsteps approaching so no one would see my tears.

"Grace?" Came a soft and saddened voice, I curled up tighter knowing it was Dutch.

"Go away Dutch," I managed to choke out, my bed sunk slightly and I knew he had sat down at the end of it.

"Grace I..." he tried to get out but I only curled up tighter, my body was shaky and my mind was racing and what I did next scared me more than I ever thought it would.

"Go away! Don't even try to save your sorry ass because I saw you kiss her!" I snapped as I sat up to glare at him, I could see I had snapped his nerves too but he didn't move.

"No, not until you listen to me!" He growled making sure I couldn't leave, I felt trapped and began to panic. Before I could do anything stupid he grabbed my arms and held them close to his chest, I tried to pull away but the pain in my bad arm caused me to stay.

"Dutch..." I sobbed, before I could say another word I was held tightly to him as if wrapped in a warm blanket in the winter mountains.

"Grace, listen to me, Molly did that herself, I didn't do anything, now please, understand I don't love her and I ain't that kind of man," he whispered into my ear as we stood there, slowly I began to calm down and my tears stopped.

"Dutch Van Der Linde you have no right even being in my tent, but, here you are, wether it was Molly or not I don't know if I can trust myself to let it happen again," I rasped with a shaky voice, Dutch nodded though his eyes were sad he knew he would have to earn my trust back. Slowly he left me alone to rest, standing up I headed out to go see what work needed to be done.