A Life Of 'Shine - Lem Fike

25

Getting caught in a fictional net with a gang of outlaws notorious in this part of the country wasn't the most foolish thing Nora had done, no becoming an outlaw herself was the most foolish; but unlike most she had called it quits long ago and tried her best to avoid that life she had once before.

When she befriended Dutch Van Der Linde and a few, if not all of his associates she had never expected for the lead enforcer of the infamous gang to knock her out on a train and then take her back to the camp as if nothing had happened.

When Nora opened her eyes a few hours after the incident, the sun barely painting the sky in the gentle colour of that light blue, she was far from amused. She would have shouted if not for the headache she currently had that prevented her from doing so.

When she had opened her eyes, the first face she saw was that of Sean. Worried and sleep deprived, had he not slept in weeks? Had he slept at all since the near death experience? Nora knew he was bad in gun fights, so how he even survived that day was beyond her. Perhaps her being there was enough to save the boy, not that she would care to admit how things could have turned out differently with or without her presence.

He offered her a kind smile when she finally came too, now aware of where she was and remembering perfectly well what had happened. Oh how she couldn't wait to smack Arthur upside the head with her own revolver when presented the chance.

"Mornin'." Sean cracked a toothy grin, his voice gentle which was a stark contrast to the Sean she had last spoken too, did the gang finally be rid of him late one night and replace him with a man who looked and sounded like her friend?

"Where's Arthur, I wanna hit him in return?" She wished she was joking, but she was deadly serious. This amused Sean, he let out that chuckle she loved to hate. It was the same irishman, not some doppelganger.

"Out huntin' with Charles I believe, he carried ya here last night was was real sorry for what had happened. Said he didn't want the law to find out you were friendly with us and so he knocked ya out, weren't thinking he was."

"No shit. How long you been sitting there? Watching me sleep."

"Not long. Javier and Sadie were watching before me, Grimshaw tasked us with lookout after she told Arthur to put you in here."

Nora finally looked around where she was, taking in the old derelict room of the ruined plantation house. The room had windows but she could see perfectly well through the walls, the skeleton of the house also being on show. Usually, this house would be far from ideal for people wishing to live there but for a gang consistently moving. It was perfect.

"Right, okay."

"How are ya feelin'? Need Grimshaw or anyone else or is my company alright for ya?"

"I'm okay, I've had worse. S'pose I would like to go home and see Lem and my brother, or to Saint Denis for some business I needed to attend."

"Ah, no can do and Saint Denis may be possible."

What did he mean 'no can do?' Nora looked towards him, confused and annoyed at his answer. She slowly sat up in the bed once she felt stable enough to do so, turning to face him with a scowl.

"Why can't I go see them?"

"You can, just not home. Arthur went an explained the situation and brought 'em here, figured you'd like to see them without makin' the journey back. So they're here, outside. Harry's just as I remember, drunk."

"He said he wouldn't drink while I was out."

"He tried, but Bill managed to convince him. As did I."

"You're an arse." This forced a humorous chuckle from Sean, now moving to talk about something Nora barely cared about. She had managed to drown him out, instead focusing on the muffled chatter of the gang members outside. She heard Mary-Beth talking about Kieran, expressing concern, had he not returned?

Nora never expected her next visit to the gang to be filled with so many questions, ones she didn't need answered or ones she didn't want answered for her. She kept them to herself which only made the stay a riddle, one she kept getting stuck on.

"Mr. MacGuire, I do enjoy your company but being stuck in a room is getting boring. I'd rather go fishing, or outside. Outside sounds good, am I allowed out there?"

"Don't need to ask, ain't your mother. Come on, let's go." Sean helped her to her feet, being courteous as he extended an arm for her to hold onto for stability. She only eyed it suspiciously before smacking it away, instead using the walls and old railings to balance as she walked out of the old house.

"Ah, Miss Morgan you're awake!" Dutch's falce cheery tone snapped the veil of silence she had, now all sounds merging together in the background to create an annoying buzz which only aggravated her injured head further.

"Barely, where's your lead enforcer anyway? Just want to treat him to his own medicine shall I say." Dutch laughed at her response, patting her shoulder with a large hand before pushing her to sit on an old bench outside of the house. She obligated, sitting next to him like he wanted.

"Arthur's still out but deeply sorry. He helped Grimshaw with your head before he had to go out. He aint the smartest of men I'm afraid and so this was the best response, leaving you on the train would have been easier if you ask me."

"No I see why he did it. Either I get tasked with saving people while trying not to hurt my friends because everyone saw I was brave enough to stand up to the intruders, or they visibly see the robbers communicate with the moonshiner and figure we're friends. I don't know about you, but this place being traced to the moonshine shack and then to me isn't ideal. It's a flawed idea, but it happens."

"The law works in strange ways."

"The law is also looking for the girl kidnapped off of her train last night, the same girl who spent the last scraping of her money on a ticket that barely took her to her destination."

Dutch chuckled, why was he laughing at her loss of money?
Seeing him laugh irritated her further but she didn't want to piss anyone else off, especially not while surrounding by armed men who she knew weren't above murder.

"Nora, I heard you were awake." Oh thank god, her knight in shining armor. Lem was here as Sean said and was the only thing that made Nora offer an genuine smile, never had she felt so happy to see someone.

"Barely. Just barely."

"That's a nasty bump on your head, looks painful."

"It is quite horrible. But I've been to Sisika and the guards there were far more insufferable, this is nothing." She smiled before standing up, turning to look at Dutch who had watched the conversation unfold between the two.

"If it's okay with you, it may be wise for me to stay here for a while. Me that is, don't want to disappear off of a train and then reappear almost instantly. I know the law and they'll give up in a couple of days. I don't mean to be a bother, I can find someplace else to disappear."

"It is not a problem at all, Nora. You and your guests are welcome here. Stay for as long as you need, there's no trouble."

She gave one last smile before linking arms with Lem, walking away with him to the back of the house where she hoped to find a little more security, even privacy. She liked the people here, but right now she just needed some time to calm down her head and talk with someone she felt more than joyful to be around. Right now, like most cases, that person was Lem.