Unshaken

Fleeting Joy

The days came and went slowly. Sadie told Liam about a man who she was looking into about his hot air balloon. Liam hoped they could get John in time. Charles did scouting up North in Roanoke Ridge. He told them that it would most likely be where they head next. He warned them of weird folk up there. He also had cut most of his hair off, leaving the top untouched. He, Sadie, Liam and Karen kept the gang fed, but just barely.

After another week passed, Liam was sitting on the dock when it started to rain early that morning. Mostly everyone went inside the cabin. He was starting to think the gang had gotten lost at sea, or worse, died. The door to the shack busted open. Liam and Sadie grabbed their guns, it was Micah. "Did ya miss me?" He asked. Nobody said anything. "Where's everybody else?" Liam asked. "They're coming, have some patience." Micah told him condescendingly. Liam rolled his eyes, but was relieved they were okay.

Around thirty minutes later, the door opened again and it was Sean and Javier. "Boy, am I glad to be here with you bastards." Sean joked. Karen rushed past everyone and almost took him down hugging him. "Glad you're okay." Liam told him. "Ah, couldn't forget Little English." Sean told him rubbing his knuckles into Liam's skull. "Cut it out." Liam said pushing his hand away, laughing.

Liam sat near Micah who was sharpening his knife. Micah was rambling about Guarma. "Was it anything like Tahiti?" Liam sarcastically asked. "No, but I wouldn't think too much about Tahiti anymore." Micah told him. Liam was about to ask why when he heard Mr. Pearson yelling that Arthur had arrived. "Your daddy's home." Micah taunted. Liam gave him a look, but didn't care too much about what he'd said. Arthur walked in. Like the rest of them who went to Gaurma, he was sunburnt. Relief washed over Liam to see Arthur again. He came in and hugged Liam and Charles, and shook Uncle awake.

"Hey Arthur, they got John." Abigail told him nervously. "Yeah, he got arrested." Sadie said. "He ain't hung yet?" Arthur asked. "Not yet. They moved him to Sisika. He's been working on a chain gang." Sadie informed him as Abigail brought him a bowl of stew. They sat and rested for the remainder of the day until it started to get dark. Liam sat and started to drift off asleep when the door opened again.

A sunburnt Dutch walked in. His hair was unkempt and he looked exhausted. Liam laughed with contentment. He felt like everything was coming together again. Dutch was met with greetings from everyone. Abigail ran up to him and informed him about John. "How'd you folks find each other? What happened? Can, can someone get me a cup of coffee or something?" Dutch asked, pleasantly surprised. Tilly got up and retrieved a cup of coffee for him. "It was Mrs. Adler and Mr. Parker who saved us, Dutch. After the robbery in Saint Denis, they got us away from the camp before the Pinkertons turned up. Then, Mrs. Adler, Mr. Parker, Mr. Smith and Miss Jones drove away the degenerates who were living here." Strauss said, happy. "Mrs. Adler, Mr. Parker, we owe you." Dutch said. Sadie waved it off respectively, as did Liam. "Just glad everyone's here." Liam said. "Thank you." Dutch told them.

"It's been real hard, Dutch. We... we been surviving, but only just. What we gonna do?" Tilly asked. Everyone was wondering the same thing. "Things have been tough, there ain't no doubt about that. Trust me, I am gonna get us outta here. This ain't over." Dutch told them. Micah walked into the crowd. "Ain't none of you folks interested in our adventures?" Micah obnoxiously asked. "Guess we're more interested in escaping the hangmen on our tail." Abigail responded. "Cheerful nymph of the prairie, wasn't you Abigail?" Micah asked. She walked and poured a cup of coffee. "Oh sure, my fair heart jumps for joy when I set eyes on you, Micah." Abigail sarcastically told him. She walked back up to Dutch.

"We buried Hosea and Lenny, Dutch. Charles and I stole their bodies from the law one night and gave them a proper burial. It was real nice." Abigail said solemnly. It hurt Liam everytime he thought about it. They sat in silence for a moment before Bill busted through the door, angrier than he should've been. Liam's hand instinctively went towards his revolver, but he stopped once he realized who it was. "Well here you is! Well I asked everyone I could find and eventually someone knew. Said you fools were out here. Shit... get me a drink or something!" He yelled rudely at Sadie. "Get your own damn drink!" She yelled back. "In our absence, Mrs. Adler here has been looking after things. Now sit down." Dutch commanded Bill. Liam was content watching Dutch shut him down.