Ella Matthews - A RDR2 Fanfiction

Chapter Three: Clifftop Memories

Two hours later, we set off for the cliff. It's in Grizzlies East, almost in Roanoke Ridge. We talk the entire way, yet when we get to the mountain, we're in silence. I grab his hand and lead him up the mountain. "How do you even know about this place, Ella?" Javier asks.

"Dad told me about it. He brought me and Mom here some time ago. They came here when I was one, and then again when I was seven. He said this was the best place to watch the sun rise. Apparently, I'd ask to come here all the time after I'd been here once," I smile at the memory of the first time I saw the sun rise here.

"How much longer, Dad?" I ask, bored and cold.

"Not much longer, Ella. Don't you worry," Dad responds with a smile. He and Mom exchange a look. They must have some memories, wherever we're going.

But I'm not here for memories. I have no interest in the past. We've travelled for the past week to get here. What could possibly be so beautiful and wonderful that we travelled non-stop for a week?

We arrive at a mountain.

A mountain? You must be joking.

"Alright, down you get," Dad says, lifting me off the horse. I stand while he helps Mom off the horse. She doesn't need it. I wonder why he did that?

"Come on, Ella. Up the mountain we go!" Mom says in her warm voice. She holds my hand and we wander up the mountain: me, Mom and Dad.

We don't walk the whole way up, just to a cliff with poppies and a dead tree. Mom holds my hand tight. "Don't fall, okay? Stay close to me," she murmurs, squeezing my hand. Dad holds her other hand.

We curve around to the left and set a blanket down. The cliff is slightly sheltered by what I've heard called an overhang or something. I guess so. It hangs over the part we're on. "You can nap for a few hours now, Ella. If you want," Dad says.

"I'm seven. I'm a big girl now. I don't need to nap..." I say, before promptly falling asleep, resting on him.

"Hey. Ella. Wake up! Look at this," Mom says, voice drifting through my dreams. I wake up because I trust her. She's my mom.

"What is it?" I ask, opening my eyes.

The sun almost blinding. "Ouch," I say, shielding my eyes. Mom laughs a little. Dad smiles at her laughter. "Look, Ella. Isn't it lovely?" Mom says, shielding my eyes for me so that I can properly look.

She's right. It is beautiful.

The sky is streaked with red and gold, clouds catching the colours and framing the sun. Dad takes a photo of it, and then one of me and Mom.

"I want to take a photo," I say.

"Okay then, Ella. Be careful, don't drop the camera. It's expensive," Dad says, passing the camera to me. I look through it, staring at the sun. It's absolutely wonderful. Radiant. Then I hear a laugh. I turn around to see Mom and Dad holding hands, with their faces very close. It makes me smile, even more than the sunrise. I decide to take a photo of them instead. Them being happy makes me happier than the sun does. I decide to look at the sunrise for as long as I can before it turns into daytime. The sky turns to light blue fast, but the memory is still there. Mom and Dad are still talking and laughing as I stare at the sky. Their love will last forever. I'm sure of it.

Another memory hits fast.

"Is Mom okay?" I ask. Over the past few days, she's looked awful. She's been tired and had this nasty cough, but she's sworn up and down that she's fine. She went to bed after Dad insisted. Arthur took me out hunting. I've known how to ride a horse and shoot for a while, but nobody's ever taken me hunting. Or robbing. But eventually, Arthur said he'd take me hunting, so he did. I only got a rabbit. He assured me that that's plenty for a thirteen-year-old girl and then he taught me how to skin it. Now we're back home, and by the sounds of things, Mom isn't any better. I'm scared she's really, properly ill. "I-no," John says. He's sixteen. It's only three years older than me, but he seems like a proper adult, although he's still a lot shorter than Arthur. I tease him about it a lot.