The Morgan Clan || A Red Dead Story

Chapter 7; Under the Mountain

Soon enough Ghost skidded to a stop in front of the boulders. Arthur eased himself off the horse and then helped Albert from the saddle. Once he set the other man against the boulder, he hurried back to his horse to get some supplies. He set the lantern down on the ground next to Albert and put the rolled blanket behind his head. Then he pulled out a tonic from his med-kit.

"Albert- Albert drink this." Arthur uncorked the bottle and handed it to Albert, who loosely took it and chugged it down.

"Arthur-"

"Sssh, you'll be fine."
"Arthur-"

"Albert you need to stop talkin'."

"Are the horses okay?" That pulled a chuckle from deep inside Arthur's chest. His eyes lifted from inspecting Albert's wounds to the photographer's face.

"Yeah, they're fine. Neither Shadow's Cast nor Ghost got hurt. And the herd I found while the bear went after you is fine too, just spooked." Albert gave him a weak smile.

"Good... Good. How- how do I look," he asked.

"Better than I woulda thought. Looks like only one of these is deep enough for stitches. The rest just need to be cleaned and bandaged," Arthur took another look at his partner, "You're gonna be fine."

"Hmm. With you protecting me. I'd say I'm invincible from death." The photographer gave a laugh, but almost immediately stopped and hissed in pain. "Ow."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say the same thing," Arthur chuckled before beginning to treat Albert's wounds. "This'll probably hurt like shit." He took out a bottle of whiskey from his satchel and undid the bandana around his neck. Then he doused it in the liquid.

"Ready," he asked.

"As I'll ever be," Albert replied weakly. With that Arthur nodded and pressed the cloth to one of the gashes, resulting in a scream.

"You're okay. That one's done now. Got two more." And again, Arthur pressed the cloth to a gash, resulting in a second scream. And the same result the third time.

"Done...?" Albert's breathing was labored and his fists were clenched into the grass next to him.

"Almost. Gotta stitch you up now."

"Oh God..." Arthur chuckled.

"You're doin' good so far, Albert." The photographer gave him a weak smile.

"Doesn't feel good," he replied. Again Arthur let out a laugh. Then he took out a needle and thread from the med-kit.

"Now, I'm not the best sewer, so this ain't gonna look pretty, but it'll do the job," he said before beginning to sew Albert up.

It was a long process, taking at least until Shadow's Cast came back to finished. Albert still shouted and screamed, but at the end of it, everything was fine.

"How do you feel," Arthur asked as he passed his partner his flask of water and finished wrapping the photographer's wounds.

"Terrible, but thank you." Albert reached forward to pat his cowboy's thigh.

"Hmm. Once you're done with that we gotta head out. Shadow's Cast found a place for us to camp."

"Alright," Albert replied as he gave the flask back. He then tried to sit up, only resulting in a pained cry and him collapsing back onto the blanket.

"I'll carry you, don't worry about it." Arthur pat his photographer on the leg before getting up and putting everything back on Ghost. Then he went to Albert and picked him up.

"You wanna try ridin' on your own? Or would you rather ride with me," he asked.

"You, please." Arthur nodded and helped his partner up onto Ghost before climbing up himself.

"Alright, girl. Follow Shadow's Cast," he told her. She whinnied and trotted off towards the mountain.

~

Just as darkness set in around the land, the small group made it to the place Shadow's Cast had found. It was a clearing surrounded by trees, with a boulder on one side. There were enough rocks to make a campfire and enough space for their tent.

"Good job, girl," Arthur complimented as he patted the horse on the neck. Shadow's Cast huffed at him and pawed the ground, evidently proud of herself. The cowboy smiled and got off his horse, then eased Albert off as well. The photographer gave a pained hiss and gripped Arthur's shoulders.

"God... This is-is terrible." Arthur frowned.

"Yeah. I wish I'd gotten to you sooner," he said, and Albert scowled at him.

"Don't you dare blame yourself for this or I will have half a mind to kick you out of the tent." That got a laugh in response. "I'm serious! I would!"

"Mhmm. I doubt that very much," Arthur replied as he placed Albert against the boulder. "I'm gonna start settin' up camp. We've still got a couple cans o' beans. We can cook those. You think you'll be alright?"

"I'll be fine, Arthur. I have the two best horses in the world to keep me company," he pointed over to Ghost and Shadow's Cast, who both looked over and gave whinnies at the compliment. The two men chuckled.

"Alright," he said before setting to work on building the firepit and setting up the tent. Once he finished those he walked back over to Albert and sat down to rest.

"How are you feeling," Albert asked.

"I'm the one who should be askin' you that." Arthur glanced at him before leaning his head back to look at the night sky.

"I'm fine, Arthur. You're the one who had to witness me getting mauled."

"And you're the one who got mauled," the cowboy retorted.

"Fair, but still. Your mental wellbeing is just as important as my physical health." The photographer looked at him, eyes trying their best to lock onto his own. Arthur sighed.

"It scared me. I knew you'd be fine, but it scared me," he paused to look his partner in the eyes, "after that wolf pack all those years ago. I just- It's hard seein' that again. Even if it ain't me."

"So that's why you were so distant last year when I got attacked my those dogs. And here I thought it was because Ghost had gotten sick," Albert huffed a small laugh.

"Well that was part of it, but seein' you hurt makes me hurt... Especially when it's somethin' like that." He pointed to his partner's front. A hand came up to clasp his own.

"What matters is that we're safe, Arthur. I'm safe, you're safe. That bear is dead." Albert squeezed his hand and Arthur huffed, pulling away.

"I'm gonna go get some firewood. You stay-" Something crunched behind the treeline and Arthur swivelled towards the noise.

"What is it?"

"I don't know," he replied. Taking out his pistol, he walked closer to the edge of trees. Something growled. Arthur took a step closer and whatever it was ran away. Still, something compelled him forward, and he took a step into the trees, then another.

"Arthur, what is it?"

"There's somethin' on the ground here. A-a blanket, I think." Arthur took another step forward. Whatever it was was under this clump of bushes. He knelt down and pushed the branches away.

Oh.

"Arthur? Arthur, what did you find?"

"It's- it's-"

"What is it?"

"It's a baby."