A Life Of 'Shine - Lem Fike

39

"We need to move camp, far away." Nora's voice was panicked, fast spoken as she began packing away the items in her tent in a matter of seconds. Cripps rushed to her side to see what the worry was over, noticing the look of distress on the women's face.

"What is it?" He asked, gently grabbing her wrist to pause the activity.

She looked at him and then around as if paranoid about being watched, drawing out a long and tired sigh.

"Look, I can't explain not now anyway. We just gotta go."

"But why?"

By now Kieran had walked over to see what the commotion was all about, concern written across his soft features visible once he stepped into the light.

"Some friends of mine were killed, Pinkertons and I just helped their entire gang move. I don't want any of you involved and I most certainly don't want to be traced back to them."

"W-Who died?" Kieran asked, piecing together what little clues she gave away to realise that she was talking about the Van Der Linde gang, the very people he had stayed with for a brief period of time, while most of them were cruel others he had grown to trust and the same trusted him.

"Hosea and Lenny." She whispered, shaking her head in disbelief. Of all members she hadn't expected Lenny to die so young, barely even twenty as she had heard from idle chatter with the others and Hosea, well he was a kind man she trusted.

"Shit." He whispered, shaking is head in disbelief before walking away. Cripps was still clueless about the ordeal but chose not to pry for further information, knowing that Nora wouldn't give it to him regardless.

"Let's pack away then."

Nora offered the man a kind smile, turning to her tent to resume the task she had started. Packing away all the clutter and junk she had stored away, making sure that all her belongings were tucked neatly away in the old crates she had been carrying with her since last year.

"Where we headin'?" Kieran asked. He had let himself into Nora's own tent to help with packing away, since he had no proper tent or belongings he made his use by helping everyone else pack away their items.

"I don't know, west maybe far away from where the gang is or maybe we'll head closer to the gang itself." Hearing this made Kieran quickly shake his head, to which Nora could only give him a sympathetic look.

"Sorry, I forget sometimes-"

"Not to worry, Miss."

Nora nodded, forcing all of her clothes into a seperate container before walking over to Cripps' wagon to store it on there. Kieran following behind her with a few other crates.

How they managed to squeeze all items in the two wagons was a mystery, tents, benches and many crates filled with personal belongings squeezed into the little spaces they had on offer.

"Everything i-is ready, M-Miss Morgan." Kieran informed the female, leading Beanz over to her as she finished placing the last chair from their table in the wagon. She looked behind, and offered the male a small nod.

"I have an errand I need to run, you guys find a spot to move okay?" Nora waved goodbye to both Kieran and Cripps as they began their journey west, finding a new place to camp before her involvement with the Van Der Linde gang could fall into the Pinkertons hands.

She waited until she could no longer see them, leaning forward on the saddle as she watched them ride away, the convoy disappearing in the distance until it was nothing but a distant memory now.

The errand she needed to run was one last visit to the moonshine shack, the place she would love returning too each day, the place where she began her life of manufacturing 'shine. It used to be a not-so secret, secret escape where she would go if she ever needed time away from the usual faces, those being her brothers.