A Life Of 'Shine - Lem Fike

19

"It's like he was never shot at. Gone back to same old Sean, which is good I suppose." Nora nodded, passing the cigarette back over to Arthur after she had used it. He smiled in thanks as he raised it to his lips, holding it in place with his fingers as he inhaled the smoke.

Arthur had recently returned from a job and immediately Abigail had approached him asking about her son, the boy having gone missing after the assault that happened in Rhodes. Nora frowned when she heard the news, apologising towards Abigail in an act of sympathy. Dutch had quickly ordered everyone to pack up around camp shortly after Pinkertons had arrived with a threat directed towards the gang leader and now everyone was in a state of needing to quickly move while also planning on going to Braithwaite Manor to find the boy.

Nora asked Dutch if she could stay at camp while most of the boys were to leave, she trusted that they could all stay guard in their absence but seeing as Micah was to also stay behind she thought that an additional gun wouldn't hurt and Dutch was happy to let her stay and guard camp, with help from Sadie, of course.

"Let's go Arthur." Dutch's voice sounded strained as if he had been shouting for extended periods of time, he looked more tired and stressed than usual, possibly the burden of looking after and making sure people, his people remained alive and safe. That responsibility could easily kill a man if one was not careful.

Arthur said goodbye, joining the large group of men that were to be riding out tonight to find Jack. That is, if the boy was still at Braithwaite manor.

"You make sure to keep close to Kieran, I got the path and Karen has said she's going to keep watch near the lake. If anyone does ambush us we should be set, especially with the amount of people left here." After the men had left Sadie had approached Nora with her own plan, one should thought to be a lot better than the original Dutch supplied. That being, "stay near the path." Nora nodded, walking over to join Kieran in the spot Sadie had told them to stand guard in.

••

Hours had passed before the men returned, a thundering sound of the horses' hooves as they travelled the dirt path into camp. Abigail was fast, rising from the table and over to the returning members as she looked for Jack. Her voice frantic as she tried looking for the boy.

"Where's my son?" Nora and Kieran looked over to where Abigail had raised her voice, both having saddened looks as the gang had returned without the boy. Nora could sense the hurt, worry and fear in her voice, she could see how Abigail had fought to hold back tears.

"We gotta move camp, then we'll get Jack. That Braithwaite woman said her son's gave him too some rich bastard in Saint Denis. We will get your boy back, I promise you." Dutch explained, moving to walk past Abigail and to his own tent. Arthur looked on sympathetically, trying to calm the mother as well as he could.

"Poor Abigail." Nora frowned, moving so her rifle was now resting on her shoulder. Kieran could only nod beside her, walking back over to join the camp members as they conversed. No longer feeling needed, Nora walked straight for the horses where her own was hitched and waiting- smiling towards the animal as she began to pat his kneck to calm him down from the commotion.

"Leaving so soon?" Hosea sounded calm and gentle as he stood beside Nora, leaning against the post as he watched her movements. She never really spoke with the elder man but he was always welcoming and kind to her, something she returned to him. She looked on with a sad smile, mounting Beanz in one smooth motion without so much as speaking a word to Hosea.

"I don't think I'm needed anymore, Mister." She smiled, getting ready to spur the horse forward and down the path. Unfortunately, Hosea had other plans, walking around to feed the horse an animal to stop her from leaving sooner than what she had too.

"I think we'd be a lot safer with you around. If you don't mind staying until we move camp. I-I know you got a family or whatever to return too, but I would appreciate the extra gun and I'd pay you handsomely for the protection." Nora looked down at the wise men, knowing he wouldn't have asked her to stay if he was confident in the gangs own safety, while she did need to return to Lem and the others soon she thought that a couple more days wouldn't hurt. These people needed help and she was never one to abandon people in times of need.

"Very well then." She smiled, dismounting Beanz. Hosea had a brief moment of glee cross his face, the emotion breaking the worry he carried. Seeing it made her confident in the decision, it also made her feel as if she was doing good by helping fellow outlaws.

"Thank you, Miss."

••

The next couple of days were stressful, everyone running around to pack up camp as quickly as they could. During the cleanup, a few Pinkertons had joined them at the camp with the intention of asking Dutch to hand himself over and allowing everyone else to leave free, it was a flawed plan with the loyal followers Dutch had earned over the years and Agent Milton soon learned that the idea was not so great when several members had all raised their weapons to defend their glorious leader. They soon left but not before threatening to return with an army.

Shortly after their departure Dutch had asked for someone, or two people to go and watch the roads to make sure no agents stuck around to follow them. Then Arthur and John were tasked with heading to an old plantation house to scope out for their next camp location. Everything was a mess during this time, everyone was erratic as they ran to get everything sorted but soon Clemens point was nothing but burned ground and empty spaces.

"Miss Morgan, you'll ride with Molly and Kieran please." Dutch instructed as he approached the count. With the wagons ready to go, all that was left was for them to move and what was stopping them was Nora standing at the old camp location like she didn't want to go.

"I must be leaving Dutch. I promised to stay up until now, I got to get back to my own family. I'm sorry." She looked saddened but didn't want to say anything more as she mounted Beanz, now leaving without anything preventing her from doing so.

"But I'll be around if you ever need me, I promise you all that much." Nora smiled down at the Van Der Linde gang members, especially Sean who looked more disappointed in the female's departure. But she couldn't stay, there was no need for it. She wasn't a gang member nor did she want to be one. With one final goodbye she spurred the horse into a gallop as she left the camp, not wanting to go too slow incase the others decided to follow and attempt to change her mind. But even when she was not around she would try to protect the gang members, she would watch them from a far and she wouldn't let anyone die if she could help it.