A Life Of 'Shine - Lem Fike

34

Nora acted a lot more happier around camp, even though she wanted to curl up in a ball and cry for hours at a time. How she wished the earth would just open up and allow her entirely, even if it sounded pathetic.

"Harry wrote to me, explained what you guys knew." Mary-Beth, after hearing the news of Lem's running away, dragged Karen out of the safety of the camp to provide comfort for her friend, explained.

Nora nodded, raising her beer to her lips to drink some more of the liquid. "Didn't know you two wrote one another."

"We didn't. He visited your house and found my letters."

"Shit." Nora knew she had forgotten something when she left that house, she could never remember it to be the letters from a good friend. "Sorry, Mary-Beth I,, there's not really an excuse." She sighed.

Her friend placed a hand on Nora's own, gently running her thumb along the flesh.

"It'll get better Miss Morgan and you always got me and Karen if you need us."

"Right!" Karen called from across the fire, a gentle smile on her face as Nora looked over at her.

Nora nodded at the support, grateful too have such wonderful friends in her life who cared for her just as much as she cared for them.

"May I ask how your writing is goin', Mary-Beth?" Nora asked, turning towards her friend who looked sheepishly down at the ground as if embarrassed. Which she probably was, for a nonsensical reason.

"I don't know. Sometimes I think of these wonderful that only come out in jumbled nonsense when I write them down."

"You'll get there, I'm sure if it." Mary-Beth shook her head, but smiled at the kind words.

"That's wishful thinking."

"Nonsense!" Karen had called out, standing up to help herself to another bottle of Whiskey Cripps had brought it while out on 'business'.

"Well, I got one character picked out anyway; sorta inspired by someone I really miss." Mary-Beth let out a sigh, moving her hands to her lap, Nora took to comfort the female now swapping roles as she wrapped her arm around her shoulder.

"I ain't thought of a last name yet, got the name Kyle but that's it. Might leave it as that, makes it all mysterious." She let out a chuckle although it sounded forced, a coping mechanism she picked up.

They sat in silence for a while, Mary-Beth's breathing becoming more ragged as she fought back tears, focusing on counting in her hand to distract her from thinking about Kieran whom she missed greatly.

"It's okay, he's.. I'm sure everything is fine." Karen softly spoke from across the fire, moving over to sit next to her friend who only nodded in response.

"Tell's ya what, why don't we go out again? Like too Saint Denis, got some fine picking there which is actually quite useful; but is up to you." She smiled, earning a genuine laugh from Mary-Beth which she suppressed almost as soon as she let it out.

"I'd like that." The aspiring author replied, looking over with a smile as she wrapped her arms around Nora in a hug.

The action was unexpected and Nora was at first taken back by the gesture but she soon warmed into returning the hug, adding a pat on the back for good measure.

"Guess we're here for eachother." Mary-Beth chuckled once pulling away, grasping hold of Karen's and Nora's hands. The other girls held back, Nora giving the other's hand a squeeze before letting go herself.

The girls remained at Nora's camp for longer than planned, they had told Miss Grimshaw they'd be out for a little while and hadn't specified exactly how long they planned but earlier that day they hadn't expected to stay out for as long as they did

"We should really be headin' back, Grimshaw will be far from happy with how long we stayed out." Mary-Beth had stood up, brushing out the creases in her skirt as she excused herself. Karen had reluctantly sighed, standing to join the young female with a sad smile.

"I don't want you to leave but at the same time I don't want you getting in trouble. Have a safe journey, please." Nora smiled, walking the girls over to the hitching posts where they had left their horses. Karen had brought Old Belle of course while Mary-Beth was fortunate enough to borrow Ennis from Sean.

"We'll see you soon, Nora Morgan." Mary-Beth said before kicking the horse into a gallop, Karen following closely behind her. Nora stood still, waving at them until they were no longer able to be seen.

"Was rather fond of their company." Cripps spoke for the first time since the girls arrived, being quiet that long was something Nora thought he was incapable of doing.

"They're lovely." She added, walking back over to join Cripps. He was at his usual spot near the wagon, right next to the crate of alcohol. She had dragged over a cheer from the fire to sit near him.

"How'd you meet them anyway?"

To this Nora could only give a shrug, not wanting to expose the secrets of the Van Der Linde gang just yet. "Met 'em in Valentine."

"You were in Valentine?"

Nora raised an eyebrow, looking at the male. "I used to live there."

"Right... Yeah sorry, my old brain isn't as sharp as it once was."

"It's okay. We met near the river actually, they were walking back into town for some errands and Lem and I were fishing." She smiled, coming up with this fake tale as she went along with it. She wasn't sure why it was so easy to lie and it kind of worried her.

"That's a,, a nice tale." Cripps smiled, standing up from his chair to excuse himself.

Nora, with a gentle slap on her thigh, stood up from the chair before retreating back to her own tent for the night. She didn't plan on sleeping yet, maybe read a book or two for time to pass by before she considered sleep.

"Don't stay up too late now, ya here!" Cripps joked, laying down in his bedroll as he turned in for the night.

Nora smiled, pulling out a book Mary-Beth had gifted her just before Kieran's disappearance, opening it up on the page she left it at too continue reading.

The night was pretty uneventful, aside from the occasional animal that ran past. She was about ready to turn in before she heard rustling from the bushes behind her, she shrugged it off at first, thinking it to be an animal but when a strained voice from behind her called her name was when she pulled her gun; dropping the weapon in shock when she realised just who it was that had stumbled upon her camp.

"Kieran!"