Mister Quaid: 1800s: I Will Always Find You... (WLW)

Part One, 1873: Chapter Four

August 26th, 1873, Madison County, Montana

"Why ain't we just eating it? It ain't goin' to last long on its own out here anyway." Alice listened as Jonathan piped in. She glanced up and caught him peeking over Hany's shoulder to see her handy work. Hany glanced back at him with a smile, completely unaware of what he'd just said. He returned the smile, but as soon as her head was turned back, his gaze turned into something else as he ran his eyes over her kinky curls held up in a bun atop her head. He gulped, his eyebrows somewhat strained as a blush crept across his cheeks, and leaned in a bit further. Alice knew it wouldn't go unnoticed by Pete. Jonathan cleared his throat and said with a raspy voice, "Well, I just don't get the point in patchin' her up if she's been stranded."

Pete moved behind Hany and shoved himself in between them, sending Jonathan a rather grumpy face that made Alice giggle. How like a child he is! He is like a protective brother! Her opinion of Pete had somewhat changed overnight as she was reminded of just how his character was when anything involved Hany. Pete shot his frown over at her and she fell silent, but couldn't wipe the grin from her face. His features slowly softened and it looked as though he may smile, but he jerked his head back down before he could.

Alice hated that he had been so detached from having any pleasant reactions toward her, but she'd grown to accept it since last night. When he left her in her bedroll without a word, it had been comforting, but she'd been woken up by the small pup whining as it snuggled up to Pete in the night. She hadn't gotten back to sleep since. The longer she lay in silence, the longer she was left to think of darker things. It was lethargically sewing a seed of spite and indignation within herself which she couldn't explain. At least she could enjoy everyone's odd behaviour this morning and it was a beautiful day at the moment. She would just focus on that.

Jonathan moved to the fire and stomped it out with some earth as Alice stared into the small billows of smoke. They reminded her of her family's barn and murky scenes of their last day together cascaded through her mind. How could she allow herself to smile, to be distracted by scenery or people at a time like this...?

She was still in her black mourning attire and ran her hands along the legs of her skirt. Her knickers that stuck out a bit from the base of her skirt were pelted with grass from when she'd slipped out of her bedroll in the night. Suddenly, the images of that fateful evening were blurred out by pictures of Pete hovering over her, tucking her back into her bed and caressing her arm. Heat shot through her body. Pete had been so gentle with her and only shown comfort right when she needed it most instead of making her talk like Jeremiah or Walt would have done.

She couldn't blame them for it. While she was usually quite the chatty person, she'd clammed up rather tightly after... Well, after it happened. They'd both urged her to talk to them and her brother appeared scared of her silence more than anything else. Still, she just needed the time to process it all, just by herself. That was the main reason why Walt had agreed to let her go with the others.

He was definitely happy to have someone keep Pete and Jonathan true to their word, but Alice also knew that the glint in his eyes meant he was doing it more for her, rather than himself. Even as a small boy, younger than her by just over a year, Walt had been fiercely protective of her and let her get away with anything when it came to him. Maybe this is his way of keeping with tradition. She smiled fondly as memories of their life together flooded her mind, but then her papa, mama and Albert came to the forefront. Alice shook her head, not wanting to dwell on the events of that day.

Move forward. That's the only way to go. Just... Just keep moving and do not think too much.

Alice lifted her gaze from her knickers and found Pete glowering at her. He blinked a few times, then moved around Hany, leaving her with a pat on her shoulder. He said nothing and squatted down in front of Alice, glancing over her skirt, then shook his head. Without warning, he took out his Bowie and reached for her skirt.