RUNNING WILD [JOHN MARSTON]

2: horseshoe overlook

A quick side note - I will also be posting this fic to my tumblr which is @ young-gun-marston 🙂❤️

colter, the grizzlies
Rosalie's body had sunken slightly into the thick sheets of snow that carpeted the mountain's floor. She stared out towards the horizon, taking in every detail - the spiky trees that had been dusted with white frosting, the winding stream that had frozen over and even the little deer that were leaping around in the snow. Rosalie looked back down towards her sketch pad and drew in the little deer, finishing her drawing off by writing Colter, The Grizzlies in the bottom-right corner.

Rosalie found that sketching soothed her. She was still reeling from her argument with Micah a few days before. The siblings disagreed over most things, apart from getting revenge it seemed. Sadie was right - Rosalie was a hothead, with a reckless mind but she had a heart. Her brother didn't even seem to have that.

"Miss Bell."

Rosalie jumped slightly as she heard a voice behind her. She turned her head, slipping her sketchbook into her bag. "Oh hello Arthur."

"You over your temper yet?" Arthur asked her as he came and stood next to her. The pair of them chuckled.

"Just about." Rosalie sighed. "I just - I feel so badly for poor Mrs Adler. Micah don't understand that she's a good woman. He just made everything worse for her. Like he always does." She spat at the end.

"I know. Honestly, I can't imagine being related to the man." Arthur laughed. "By god, I can't stand being around him for five god damn minutes!"
Arthur had sat down next to Rosalie now, and she rested her head on his shoulder. She was worn out, tired of running through these mountains.
"Anyway." Arthur spoke again. "We headed out to Colm's camp yesterday."

"Without me?" Rosalie smiled up at Arthur. "Coulda taken my anger out on one of them bastards."

"I didn't think of that. Sorry, thought you wouldn't have felt up to it. Dutch thinks it's time for the train, though."

"The train? How'd do you know when it's comin' through?"

"Stole the plans from the O'Driscolls. You coming with?" Arthur could barely finish his question before Rosalie had stood up.

"Of course I'm comin' with you." Rosalie was already walking towards the horses.

——
Rosalie's horse trotted slowly back towards the snow covered cabins, just as the group had started packing up things onto wagons, and preparing horses.
"Heard the train robbery was a bumpy one, Miss Rosalie?" Hosea smiled slightly at her, not knowing whether to find it funny or not.

Rosalie sighed, thinking back to the robbery. For some reason, Bill's dynamite never went off. Leaping into a train from above hadn't been part of Rosalie's plans. "We got there in the end. Got some bonds, and some odd bits of money. Arthur should be back any minute, he dealt with the train."
Hosea nodded at her before heading towards a wagon near the back of the line. Rosalie's horse walked along the side of the line as she scanned the wagons. If they were moving like this, she normally rode alone at the back on her own horse. However, her eyes spotted some of the boys lifting John into the back of a wagon. Abigail was fussing around him.

He was so much weaker than usual. As soon as Rosalie started running with Dutch, she knew John was one of the stronger ones - always in on jobs, not afraid of anything. But right now, he could hardly even sit up by himself.
"Mr Marston!" She exclaimed with a hint of mockery at his injuries in her voice. She bought her horse to a stop and jumped off, as Charles approached her and offered to take him. "Hello, Abigail." She flashed a fake smile at her.
"Miss Bell." Abigail shot her a look before huffing slightly and stalking off.

"She don't like you very much." John chuckled.

"The woman never speaks to me." Rosalie rolled her eyes. Not that she cared - she didn't particularly like Abigail herself. "She sure likes you though." Rosalie winked at John as she jumped into the wagon beside him. John shook his head at her, silently agreeing.
Rosalie and John didn't have much of a friendship - they rarely spoke to each other on most occasions. They'd been in on jobs together, but for the few months that Rosalie had been with the gang, their paths hadn't crossed much.
"You're gonna have a nasty scar there." Rosalie tilted her head in the direction of John's head bandage, which was blood stained and covering one eye.
"Not many men can say they survived a wolf attack. I can."
"That's very true." Rosalie laughed. "Sit tight, I think we're headin' out now."

horseshoe overlook, the heartlands
The scorching sun pierced through the few trees that dotted the edges of Horseshoe Overlook. John was perched on a small rock on the outskirts of camp, looking out at the vast horizon while he cleaned his gun. The sun was hot, but it was preferable to the harsh snow that the gang experienced on the Grizzlies.

Behind him, John heard a rustle in the trees. He craned his head to see Arthur walking past.
"Arthur!" He whispered loudly to him. Arthur stopped and looked to John.
"What do you want?" Arthur huffed at him. The rift between the pair was still slightly evident ever since John had come back - Arthur was struggling to forgive him, but they'd always be family.

John pulled out papers, and showed them to Arthur.
"This train. One that Mary-Beth was talkin' 'bout."
Arthur was shaking his head and throwing his hands up. "Oh, I ain't even sure about doing that!" He exclaimed.
"Wealthy folk! At night, it's perfect." John tried to persuade him. He'd recovered from his wounds, all that was left now was the harsh scars on his face. He'd missed being part of robberies and shoot outs.
"Yeah, but getting a train to stop? It's a pain in the ass." Arthur complained.

John shook his head. "What if, we force it to stop? Somethin' flammable, like an oil wagon."
"You clearly been thinkin' about this, haven't you? Might be the first time you ever had a real idea." Arthur laughed. "I think we need another man. Like Charles."
John nodded at him. "I'll get him."

"You boys plannin' on robbin' a train? And you didn't even think to ask me?"
Arthur jumped slightly, his back facing the voice behind him. John's green eyes flickered towards the figure that had appeared from behind a wagon. Rosalie strutted forward, puffing on a cigarette. She stopped her body next to Arthur and flicked her chin upwards to look at John. She was slightly shorter than the two men, with a slim but athletic build. John's eyes grazed over her, studying her. He took in her baby blue shirt and suspenders, matched with dark denim trousers that were slim to her legs. Rosalie was always wearing a hat, pulled low over her eyes and sitting atop of her loosely plaited hair which was flung over one shoulder. Mainly, his stare focused on the rig that hugged her lower waist, holding her two golden Schofield revolvers and a hunting knife.

She oozed confidence and the men knew it. In the life of an outlaw, nothing seemed to scare Rosalie.
"Hey!" She suddenly shouted, snapping John out of his trance. "What's the plan?" She smirked at him, excited for another opportunity to go robbing. John raised his eyebrows before Arthur began to laugh.

"We shoulda known you'd be listening somewhere." He sighed at her. He snatched the worn plans out of John's hands and pushed them towards Rosalie. He didn't have to speak for her to understand that everything she wanted to know was on those papers.
"I'm goin' to steal a god-damned oil wagon." Arthur shouted behind himself as he walked away from the pair.

Rosalie shot John a smile. It was an achieving look - Miss Bell had gotten exactly what she wanted once again.
"You sure you wanna come on this?" John looked at her. Rosalie giggled.
"Don't you know me at all, John Marston?"