The Last Love Of Arthur Morgan

May I, Stand Unshaken?

Dutch managed to persuade a boat Captain to take them to Van Horn, then paid him dearly for his troubles, with six golden nuggets. The Captain was ecstatic about the pay and even more so when he realized it was only a three hour journey North. It would've been a lot longer had Arthur not stepped in. Despite everything, Dutch was still set on Tahiti. 

They left Saint Denis around four in the morning, just before all the other boats did. No one spoke to each other, they simply sat in silence in their corner of the boat, stewing over the failed heist and their two fallen brothers. 

Arthur wished he had a cigarette on him, but he smoked his last back in the empty apartment room. He glanced over at Bill and Javier, noting they both shared a mutual look of dread and disgust. Arthur couldn't blame them though, he was quite disgusted himself.

He thought long and hard about Lorna, wondering if she was managing without him. He didn't have to wonder, he knew she was. She was a lot stronger than she made herself out to be. But he did miss her dearly and he missed Lily too. Thankfully he'd see them soon. 

"So what do we do now, Dutch?" Micah questioned.

Dutch glanced over."We'll decide when we get to Van Horn."

"No...I mean, what do we do when we get back to camp. We can't stay in that shithole." 

"We'll regroup and figure out a plan."

Micah snorted."I'm surprised you don't already got one."

"Be quiet you stupid fuck." Javier snarled. 

"Do you even know who you're talkin' to, wetback!?"

"Hey!" 

"Calm the hell down!" Dutch raised his voice."We aren't going to have this now! We have more important things to deal with than fighting amongst ourselves!"

Micah sulked over to the railing, pulling out a cigar he had tucked away in his shirt pocket. Arthur laid his head back against the crate and stared up at the sky, watching as night turned into day. His stomach rumbled, reminding him that he needed to eat, but he had no desire.

Bill announced that he found a deck of cards and invited everyone to play, but only Javier accepted. Dutch stood up and walked over to Micah, leaning against the railing beside him. They passed the cigar back and forth, talking in hushed voices. Arthur was mildly curious, but didn't really care enough to listen. He was sure they were plotting something big. 

Thunder rumbled just overhead, bringing Arthur out of his deep thoughts. He looked to his left and gasped. The morning sky was dark with rage and lightening. Everyone jumped up and ran to the stern of the boat. The water was calm, but the storm was coming up fast. 

"That don't look too good." Micah pointed out.

"Think the Captain knows?" Bill wondered aloud.

Dutch turned around and hurried up to the bridge to alert the Captain, when the water suddenly grew choppy and the boat began to sway. Arthur gripped the railing for support. 

When Dutch came back down from the bridge, he was shouting that they needed to take shelter. Everyone ran for the valley in between the crates, not really sure of how dangerous storms could get out at sea.

The boat began to lean, as the choppy waters turned into swells. Thunder cracked overhead and lightening lit up the morning sky. And as if things couldn't get any worse, it began to pour. 

The Captain yelled out something unintelligible and before they knew what was happening, the bow of the boat was taking a nose dive into a particularly large swell. They quite literally tumbled forward, then fell backward, out from the valley of crates.