ever since your family was killed by a gang of outlaws, you've lived your life on the run. you had to learn to survive on your own and protect yourself.
never staying in one place for long lead you up into the Grizzlies where you got stuck in a snow...
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It has been a few days since we got to the new camp. This time we are in a house. The place is called Shady Belle. It's decent, but it's muggy as hell here. I was able to talk to Dutch about what happened. I apologized because I knew he did what he had to for Jack. Dutch and Arthur have been working on finding Angelo Bronte, the man that apparently has Jack. We need to get that boy back.
Today's my birthday. No one knows. It's my least favorite day of the year. My parents used to make me a big meal, which didn't happen often since we had no money, and my dad would play music for me as we sat by the fire. It used to be my favorite day, I just felt happy. But without them, the day just brings back painful memories.
• • •
"What you writing about?"
You jumped at the voice that suddenly appeared behind you. You slammed your journal shut and put it in your lap. You turn your head to see Dutch standing behind you, a cigar in hand.
"Jesus Christ, give me a warning next time." You said, your heart still racing. He pulled up a chair to sit next to you. "Didn't mean to scare ya darlin."
"Sure you didn't." You said sarcastically. He laughed. "So what were you writing about?" Dutch asked again.
"Just about all the stuff going on, I have to remember it somehow." You explained to him.
"Hmm interesting." He said, his eyes starting to scan the camp to see everyone's whereabouts. "I like this place, I think it will be good."
"We just need Jack. John and Abigail look so worried." You said to him with a sigh.
"We are all worried. But I will make sure that boy comes back unharmed, no matter what I have to do." He said sternly.
Your eyes went soft. "That's why your such a good leader. You watch out for your people." You said to him.
"I would do anything for any of you." He said looking at you.
"Boss." You heard a voice from behind you. "Y/n..." the voice continued. You turned to see Micah making his way over to you. "You know y/n, you have Javier wrapped around your finger, he doesn't shut his trap about you, but you can do better. Don't you want a real man?" He said to you.
You looked at him with disgusted. "Micah, what do you want." Dutch said clenching his jaw.
"I wanna talk about some scores I heard about." He said not taking his eyes off you. Dutch grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. "Well let's go then." Dutch looked back to you, "y/n, could you possibly go into town and buy a frame for a photo?"
"Yeah sure, but why do you need one?" You asked him.
"I have a photo, that I'd like to frame." He said sarcastically.
"Shut up." You rolled your eyes. "Yeah I'll go out now, I want to get out for a bit anyways."
"Perfect. Now let's go Micah." Dutch said turning around. Micah shot a quick wink at you before turning around following Dutch. Your body shivered with disgust.
You made your way over to Anastasia. Kieran was there bushing his horse. You haven't spoken much to him recently, but you always thought he was a decent guy.
"Hello Miss l/n." He greeted you. You smiled at him. "Please Kieran, just call me y/n." He nodded as a response and went back to tending to the horses.
You slowly made your way out of camp. You had yet to explore Saint Denis so that's where you were headed. You made your way into the town and we're shocked by all of the civilization. People were dressed in expensive clothing and looked very high society. You felt like you didn't belong.
You rode around until you found the general store. You hitched Anastasia and made your way in. You walked up to the clerk and asked if he had any picture frames. He bent down and pulled out a small oval shaped frame. It was silver and looked like it was a little old, but it was still very nice.
"I hope this is what he's looking for, I'll take it." You said smiling to the clerk. You payed for the frame and put it in your satchel. You thanked the man before walking out and getting on your horse. You slowly made your way back to camp. You weren't in any rush because there had been no plans of anything for the gang to do yet.
You rode into camp and scanned the area. It was completely empty, but all the horses were there. You swallowed uneasy and slowly got off of Anastasia.
"Look out for any unwanted visitors." You said to her while quickly feeding her an apple.
You made your way into camp, checking for any sign of movement. You made your way towards the house. Your hand hovered over your gun, getting prepared for any unwanted attacks. You slowly opened to door, not seeing anyone.
"Dutch?" You called out. It remained silent for a few seconds before you saw everyone jump out from behind the furniture and doorways.
"Happy Birthday!" Everyone yelled.
You jumped back and held your chest. Your heart rate slowed down and you raised an eyebrow. "How did you guys know?" You asked.
Dutch walked out from behind the group of people. "Don't kill me, but I was reading over your shoulder." He said.
You looked up at him with an "of course you did" look. "I really appreciate this, but I don't really like to celebrate my birthday."
"We know we aren't the same as your parents, but we are your new family, and we want to celebrate with you. Arthur and Charles went out and got a few deer and Pearson made a big meal out of them. And Javier has some songs lined up for us." Dutch explained.
You looked up to him and but your lip. You wanted to kiss him right there and thank him for everything. But you couldn't, not yet. "Thank you." You said to him.
He smiled at you. "Let's go celebrate!" He said turning to the group and walking out of the house. Everyone walked by you wishing you a happy birthday as they passed. Arthur walked up and threw his arm over your shoulder, leading you outside. "No doubt about it, he's in love with ya." He said laughing.
"I love him too." You said.
"Ah, save the sappiness for later" he laughed. His laugh quickly turned into a cough. "That doesn't sound nice, are you okay?" You asked him.
"Just a little cough, I'll be good in a few days. But don't worry about me, let's eat." Arthur said rubbing your head before walking over to Pearson. You watched as everyone laughed and chatted while getting food. You smiled and took in the sight. You loved this group of people more than you could ever put into words, and loved Dutch just the same.
