Clock Don't Stop

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At around four in the afternoon that same day Arthur trotted back into camp on his war horse. He climbed off and before he could even take a breath, Strauss rushed up to him. "Did you remind our do-gooder debtor that he needs to pay up yet, Herr Morgan?" Arthur grunted. "Not yet, Mr. Strauss, but I'll get on it right now if you'll stop bugging me about it." Arthur grunted. He then climbed back onto his horse and left out the west side of the camp. Liam was sitting at the table near the entrance if the camp, crafting a throwing knife.

Strauss came and sat across from him. "Ugh, I can't stand his type. Always acting like they're better than everyone else." Strauss complained. Surely he wasn't talking about Arthur. Liam laughed. "Who?" Strauss looked up from his book. "A sickly man from town. Thomas Downes. You may know him. Always acting like a superior philanthropist." After the name Thomas Downes left Strauss' mouth, Liam's mind went blank for a moment. His eyes widened. He then stood up quickly. "Thomas Downes? Strauss, that man is sick! Did it ever occur to you that he's nearly dead? And does Arthur even know that what he has could easily spread?" Strauss contemplated. "I'm sure he knows the dangers of it, Herr Parker."

Liam panicked. He ran to Colter immediately. He jumped on as fast as he could and headed to Downes Ranch. "Ride!" He yelled as Colter darted through the trail. The entire ride he only thought of Arthur and Thomas. Was Arthur gonna kill Thomas? Was Thomas gonna kill Arthur with that disease? The thoughts raced through his mind as he raced through New Hanover after Arthur. He admired both of the men and didn't want to see any of them get hurt or possibly killed. He definitely couldn't lose someone else. The thought terrified him. His head pounded as he rode past that old cabin that he got a weird feeling from. He thought of nothing else besides getting to his destination. He was breathing hard. He had to get there before something bad happened. The wind almost made his hat fly off with the speed his was riding. Colter had never ran this fast. He was feeling it too. That didn't stop Liam from spurring him and motioning him onward.

After what seemed like forever, he was finally at Downes Ranch. He stormed frantically to the place where he first met Thomas. He wasn't there. Liam panicked. He then heard a crash over the sound of his heartbeat and heavy breathing. He jumped off of Colter and looked to where the sound came from. From the back of the house, Liam saw Arthur grab Thomas by his suspenders and ram him up against the fence. He ran with all of his might to them. Dashing across the ranch, he ran and jumped over the fence into the garden. Arthur was too mad to notice Liam charging him. "You owe him. You took the money! What's not to-" Arthur was cutoff mid-sentence by Liam screaming his name and tackling him with all of his body weight.

Arthur and Liam crashed to the ground of the garden. As they fell, Downes immediately hunched over and let out a violent cough with blood and spit flying everywhere, as if he'd been holding it in. "What the hell?" Arthur yelled angrily and confused, looking at Liam. Liam sat up. "That man... has tuberculosis. Do you wanna end up... like that?" Liam asked between breaths. He stood and pulled Arthur up. "Mr. Downes, please work on repaying that money." Liam said as Arthur followed him outside of the garden out of the view of the Downes family, who rushed to Thomas' aid.

As soon as they were out of sight, Arthur grabbed Liam's shoulder and jerked him around. "What in the hell was that?" Arthur asked quietly and harshly, gripping him by the shoulders. Liam wanted to cower in fear due to instinct, but stood his ground and stared at Arthur with the same intensity and frustration. "Why the hell are you beating on a sick man?" Liam asked, shocked. "He had it coming!" Arthur tried to justify his actions. "Downes has TB. It's fatal, Arthur!" Liam argued. "Yeah, well what do you know? You're just a kid." Arthur said, annoyed, waving him off. Liam stared at him for a moment, the comment had hurt him deep down. "I've already lost enough people in my life as it is." Liam said. Memories flooded back into his mind of those people. He started to choke up and turned away from Arthur to hide his face. Arthur sighed. "Look, kid. I'm sorry. I had no idea." Liam pursed his lips and turned back to him. "I'm fine. Ain't nothing gonna kill me." Arthur assured him. Arthur put his hands on Liam's shoulders, without the tight grip that came before. "You just keep on saving me, don't ya, son?" Arthur said as they walked to their horses.

"What exactly does uh, tuberculosis do?" Arthur asked on their way back to camp. "Bad business. You practically cough until your lungs are gone. It destroys them. A slow and painful death, it is." Liam said. "You think I got it?" Arthur asked, sort of worried. He didn't quite understand the disease yet. "As long as he didn't cough directly on you, you'll be fine." Liam reassured him. This relieved Arthur because Downes didn't cough until Liam tackled him. He then felt bad for beating the sick man. But he was beyond thankful that Liam stopped it. Any longer and Downes would've coughed right in his face and infected him.

"Strauss also owes you an apology, Arthur." Liam said. "Why? I'm sure he didn't know." Arthur said. "I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, but he needs to be more mindful when he loans shit to people." Liam said annoyed. "That, I can agree to." Arthur replied. Arthur thought of what would've happened if Liam hadn't shown up in that last second. Downes would've coughed and Arthur's life would slowly come to an end. He didn't know why Liam had come into his life, but he was forever in the kid's debt.

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