A Life Of 'Shine - Lem Fike

1

She can still remember the day she first met him. Maggie tasked her with intercepting a prison transfer, showing up unannounced one day and taking Lem Fike from the law to help with Fike's return.

The task wasn't easy, a couple wounds and bloody clothes later and she was finished with rescuing the man who would only bring confusion later on in life.

Nora never saw herself being so captivated with anybody ever. As the eldest child of the Morgan children, she always saw herself as the caretaker for her younger brothers. There wasn't any room for someone else, just her and the boys it would seem.

But Lem Fike was so different. As soon as she got to know him better, he was someone entirely new to her and she wanted to spend every moment with him. He was her best friend, someone she could trust with her life and he always thought of her as an equal in the business, despite her working with them for a few months in contrast to his experience of a few years and jail time.

"Nora. You still with us?" She blinked her eyes a couple of times, coming back down to earth from her daydreaming. A horrid scowl right in her face, Maggie's harsh stare in her eyes. She bit her tongue, waiting for the telling off she was about to recieve but Maggie only shook her head.

"Sorry, I-" Her excuse slipped her mind once she saw Lem from across the room shake his head; any words she could to defend her lack of punctuality as well as professionalism went straight through the window at the apologetic yet warning gaze Lem gave her. "Just, sorry."

"You need to stop falling asleep during work girl. Your eyes weren't closed but your head was no where near here. Asleep you was." Maggie scolded, despite the breathing and Maggie's words of annoyance, the room was left quiet apart from the harsh tap of the cane the elder Fike woman used to help walk.

Nora's expression saddened, nodding along to the harsh words Maggie threw towards her. "If I didn't like you, I would've thrown you out long ago. But you've proved your worth at the end of the day."

"Rescued Marcel, Stole equipment, Rescued dopey over there." Maggie faltered in her list as she waved a bandaged hand over towards Lem, who opened his mouth in response to the insult, but he already knew better than to speak over his aunt when she was in this state.

"Killed Hixon and helped me scare Danny-Lee. If it weren't for you I doubt I would be anywhere near where I am at this current moment."

"But your daydreaming needs to come to a halt, you're blacking out at every damn moment. The stupid Saloon owner of in Van Horn told me about you nearly driving that shine straight into that murky water. Not only would you have cost our moonshine, but you would have damn near drowned."

"You're lucky that Lem sees potential in you. Says he knows you're dedicated, just don't show it." Nora nodded, sneaking a quick glance up towards Lem before the table infront caught her eye once more.

"I'm sorry, don't know why I've been so distracted as of late." A strangled sob came from her before she suppressed any more sobs, crying infront of her colleagues being far more unprofessional than simply daydreaming.

"Well try to stop it." Maggie had since returned to her desk in the corner of the room, the paperwork on her desk once again far too important to leave. Since her telling off was over, Nora left the living space and walked into the basement with Lem following.

"How are you ma chérie?" Lem was cheery as usual, his arms flailing around in a show of joy. It was enough for Nora to forcefully smile up at him before dropping the false face of happiness.

"Oh, what is the matter? Madame Fike tell you off again?" The small nod was all she gave to answer, sighing loudly before a glass of moonshine was forced into her grip. She looked up to see Lem smiling down at her with his own glass, sitting down next to her on the mountain of empty crates they needed to clear out.

"You're 24, no? You shouldn't be sulking because you got told off, drink up and forget those harsh words, go out with Lem. I'm sure he can show you a good time, take your mind right off of it." Marcel teased the last part, his voice smug at the redness of his friends faces. Neither noticed eachother but the uncomfortable atmosphere around them was unbearable.

"How about I take you home? You've worked enough today." Nora was about to say yes, but the look she noticed Marcel give them from her eye forced her into a shy nod.

The two left the basement, Marcel laughing loudly once they were out of his space only added to the awkwardness the two always found themselves in.

Nora's camp was a little walk down the hill from the moonshine shack, the flag Cripps had set up being seen from a couple windows from indoors. The close proximity of her home a reason for her to walk to work much like most people who couldn't even afford a horse in their daily lives.

She didn't mind the camp, but sometimes she wished she took the offer two of her friends gave her when they were more than happy to offer her a place in their homes, or the time Trelawny said he didn't mind her staying with him in his caravan- until she had enough money too buy her own home of course.

The camp always held a special place in her heart though and she struggled even thinking of somewhere else to live. Not while she had something beautiful to come home too.

The camp manager, Cripps, although a usual grumpy fellow of sorts and always having bad things to say about her dog, was almost like a father or an uncle to Nora. She never knew her own parents, having died when she was quite young and when she met Cripps a few years back it he quickly filled in that role.

When she was arrested and sentenced for a crime she so wrongfully showed up for, well, she thought that would be the end of her run with Cripps as well as her own brothers. It was by luck that Jessica LeClerk found the murderer of her husband to not be the bystander Nora truly was in that situation, of course, being rescued from execution meant that Nora was to help Jessica and Horley in their own revenge game. It was something Nora didn't take to keen too, killing people she had not known before, but she had to do it.

Then again, her current work situation meant for her to kill Hixon who she hadn't known previously before rescuing Lem.

Lem would occasionally walk Nora back to the camp, claiming he worried for her when she left this late at night. But really, he only wanted an excuse to spend a little extra time with Miss Morgan before he had to reluctantly return home, wherever that was.

"Lem. I need to ask, where is it you stay? When you're not at Maggie's that is." She gave him a curious look as they came to a halt just before her camp, no doubt close enough for Cripps to hear their conversation with one another.

"I- It's a small house near valentine. Nothin' fancy. I plan on better house somewhere else, less depressing and muddy that is. It does it for now, why?"

"I've known you for the best part of three months now and I ain't ever seen you return to a home. Was starting to think you slept in the dirt outside the house."

Despite being an open word, potentially meaning any house in the entire region of the heartlands but the two between them knew that they meant the moonshine shack better than most individuals around them.

"Well, most think that I guess. Anyway, I best be going." Lem gave Nora a small smile before walking off himself, keeping all of his attention on the dirt path instead of on her or the camp like he used too. She didn't mind, when he wasn't focused on going home he would always trip or stumble over something which would always end up in laughter from her.

"You should have invited him to stay the night." Cripps called from behind the wagon, his harmonica playing starting over once more as a sign for him to not be interrupted. Nora, however, didn't pay him any attention as she walked over to her tent. Using a match to light one of the many candles in the space for some light.

It was still fairly early but she was tired,  not bothering to change into more comfy clothes as she crawled into the cot that provided most of the furniture in her tent. The harmonica was still playing, providing a soft tune that gently pulled Nora into a deep sleep.