Brother

Chapter Fifteen

We had been staying in Shady Bell for a few days now, I missed Sean but there was nothing I could have done. Dutch had also grown somewhat distant and it was growing scary in some ways, he was being over protective and I wasn't even allowed to leave camp anymore without his say so. The swamp air was thick and stunk like something had died, the crocodiles weren't too bad they just got curious but kept their distance thank the lord. Slowly I opened my eyes after yet another nightmare filled sleep, the warm arms of Dutch held me close as he seemed deep in sleep. I began to slowly peel his arms away which caused him to awaken, with a grumble of him saying something to himself as he sat up to stretch and rub his eyes.

"Ello," I muttered as I stood up, in all honesty I wanted some space from everyone and everything.

"Hello Grace, how did you sleep?" He groaned as he looked over at me, with a sigh I stood up and turned away.

"In all honesty Dutch, I haven't slept more than a few hours since that incident, I feel like I'm choking from how restrained I am, FOR FUCK SAKES I FEEL LIKE I HAVE NO USE ANYMORE AND IT!....." I began to shout when Dutch grabbed my shoulders and stared into my eyes which made me freeze, I felt like my body was melting in his grip.

"Grace, you out of everyone here mean more to me than anything in the world, when Colm did those things to you I felt nothing but anger that he hurt the one I held closest even if we disagreed on some fronts, now, don't you DARE question your meaning here, I will sacrifice myself to keep you safe even if it means I get hanged, you are who Jack looked up to on most occasions because of how strong you are, if everyone sees you falter and fall they too will follow after you without hesitation, please, hold strong in these dark times, soon we will have enough money to leave these damn idiots chasing us behind and buy a new place where we can have little to no troubles, you just need to have faith in what I'm doing," Dutch growled, my heart felt like it was pounding and without thinking I pulled him in and kissed him. I don't know how long we were standing there locked in each other's embrace but eventually it led to me being pinned down against the bed staring into his eyes, for once I felt my troubles melt away as we stayed in that position.

"Dutch....." I whispered, I could see him thinking over his words carefully as he never broke our locked gaze.

"Grace, you are the greatest woman and sharpshooter to exist, if you would let me, I would like to truly make you mine," he managed to say in a surprising husky voice, I honestly didn't know how to react. My heart pounded in my chest and my face felt extremely warm, taking a deep breath I nodded slightly and I saw his eyes light up as he began to kiss me with a passion I had never seen before.

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The sun yet again rose over the mountains which shocked me, lifting my drowsy head my hair fell messily into my face. Yesterday had been a blur of oh so many things, getting up I got dressed as I looked back at a very tired and shirtless Dutch Van Der Lin. With a smile I left the house, last night I had been so afraid that my head wouldn't cooperate but turns out Dutch had been the cure to those thoughts and ease the pain in my heart. I brushed my hair as I walked towards my first chore for the day, grabbing a hay bale I headed towards where the horses stood. Placing it down I noticed Quicksilver was nowhere in sight, walking towards where I had last seen him I hoped he was alright. Pushing through the bushes I found the old stallion laying on the ground, my heart almost skipped a beat as I rushed over to his side and began to gently stroke his neck as he seemed to struggle with his breathing.

"Don't you die on me you old bastard," I growled as I tried to pull the horse to his hooves, with a weakened groan the old stallion attempted to stand only to flop back down. Tears slowly formed in my eyes as the old stallion let out a final groan before going completely still, standing up I wiped the tears from my eyes as I turned from the limp body of Quicksilver and headed back to the main camp where some people were now going about their business. Dutch had left his room and was walking over to check on me like usual, one look at him was all it took for him to pull me into a hug.

"I'm sorry Grace," he soothed into my ear, I took a deep breath and pulled back.

"He was a fine horse, served me many years, at least he died naturally instead of from those thick skulled Pinkerton's, now the problem for me is finding a new horse to use," I mumbled, Dutch began to lead me towards The Count which confused me.

"Come on Grace, lets head into the city and try to find a new horse you could use, that plus I need to go try and find out more about this Bronte guy," he offered as he mounted up, he grabbed my arm as I extended it and pulled me up before taking off towards the city. I closed my eyes as I buried my head into Dutch's shoulder as we rode through the swamp towards the large city, I just hoped I could find a horse like Quicksilver. That old stallion did everything to his best ability, it was always sad to see such a fine horse go. With a deep breath I gathered my courage, I needed to be stronger than ever before for the gang. Our troubles were only just beginning and we needed to try and fix them before they got worse, little did I know that we had a specific rat amongst us who fed every little string to those who hunted our every move.