Unshaken

Back To Square One: Colter

The gang started to prepare to head for New Austin as the days went by. Liam could see the fire in Arthur's eyes again. Everybody was filled with hope. Food was easy to find, and nobody had been around for miles to spot them.

As they were making travel arrangements for the caravan, Tilly rode back into camp hastily. She quickly jumped off of her horse. "Arthur!" She yelled running up to the group. "Yes, Miss Jackson?" Arthur asked. "There-there's Pinkertons! Everywhere!" She got out, trying to catch her breath. Liam could see the panic start to rise in everyone's faces. "Calm down, Tilly. What you mean?" He asked. "They're all over Valentine. Someone said they saw one of us around these parts. The Pinkertons are gonna start looking all around here. There ain't no way we're gonna be able to leave." Tilly said between breaths.

"Thank you. Those goddamn bastards." Arthur grunted. "So we're staying here for now?" John asked. "No. If they're searching the area, they're bound to find us holed up here." Arthur said. "Then where do we go?" Abigail asked. Arthur let out a sigh. "Colter." He said.

Liam looked around to see the pain in everyone's faces. "Where's that?" Liam asked. "Up North, far into the Grizzlies." Charles said, walking up. "Everybody get your stuff together and your warm clothes on. We're going back to where we started." Arthur said as the group dispersed to start packing their things.

"Make sure they never knew we were here." Arthur said as everyone climbed on the wagons and horses. "Everything's good." Susan assured him. "Alright, roll out!" Arthur yelled as they rode out of Chez Porter. Liam didn't want to leave. He looked back at the homestead they'd made into a home. He hoped the next place they stayed wouldn't be too harsh.

As they rode north, Arthur didn't speak much. The ground started to turn white with snow. Liam had never seen more than the few flakes that had fallen at the last camp. The frosty air started to blow. Liam shivered despite having a jacket on. "Here, you're gonna need more than that." Arthur said handing him his ram skin coat from the back of the wagon. "Thanks." Liam said as he slid it on. "Put your bandana on too, keeps the cold air outta your face." Arthur said, Liam following his instructions.

They rode into the bitter cold mountainside. They made a turn and rode past a lake made of ice. It was something Liam had never seen before. "Make sure not to step on those, you slip faster than an eel in an oil slick." Arthur said. "Point taken." Liam said, admiring the nature around him. He couldn't get over the cold, shivering constantly. Everyone else had seemed to adapt to it easier. He knew it was because he'd lived in the hottest climate there was most of his life.

They rode on the mountainside a while longer before crossing a creek to find an old mining town. The gang pulled up to the houses. Arthur climbed off and the rest of the gang followed. "Weather seems pretty calm, better than the last time we were up here." Arthur told everybody. They all agreed. Liam had no idea they'd stayed up here, and it seemed Sean hadn't either. The group unloaded everything and brought their things inside. "We ain't gonna be here too long. Just gotta wait for things to cool down with Agent Ross and his bed of snakes." Arthur said, putting a crate down.

All Liam could think of was the warmth of a fire as he helped unload all of their things. Pearson started a pot of boiling water to make a stew. The men carried the heavy stuff, the women organizing it in the main house. "I think we should all sleep in here and keep it as warm as possible." Arthur said. The Reverend pulled out his bible and started reading verses to the gang. Liam had been back and forth on the belief is God was real or not. But knew it wasn't the time to ponder his religious beliefs. "Charles, go out and catch some deer like last time, would ya?" Pearson asked. "Of course. Arthur, you wanna tag along again?" Charles asked. "Sure." Arthur said grabbing his bow and walking out the door.

The group settled in and brought chairs and benches from the other houses to the main one. Blankets and pallets were laid out in the house for everyone to sit on. The house had warmed up to everyone's liking. Liam watched Sadie look at him and walk out the door. He followed her out. "Where you headed?" He asked, shuffling in the snow. "Somewhere I probably shouldn't be." Sadie said. "You need someone to ride with you?" He asked. "Yeah, you mind?" She asked. "Not at all." He said whistling for Colter. He'd just realized his horse had the same name as the camp they were staying at. He smiled to himself as he followed Sadie into the snowy wilderness.

He tightened his jacket as they rode over a ridge in the snow. Cold was something that left as fast as it came in Lemoyne. He was now in the Grizzlies. He wiped the ice from his horse's mane as they tracked through the snow. After a while of quiet riding, he saw the remains of a ranch up ahead. They rode down the hill to the land. The two rode up to the remains of the house. Sadie stopped for a moment. "This was your place?" Liam asked. "Yep. Me and my Jake." Sadie said. "I'm real sorry, Mrs. Adler." Liam told her. "Don't be. Ain't nothing you coulda done about it." Sadie told him as they climbed off their horses into the deep snow.

They climbed over the fallen structures of the burnt remains of the house. "All my life all I ever wanted was to be here with him." She said as she looked around. Liam saw something shine in the light of the sun. He walked up and pulled a lock box out from under a fallen log. He stuck his knife in and opened it. "Hey Sadie, come look at this." He said, pulling a chain and locket with a picture of Sadie and her late husband inside. "That was our wedding day." She said, looking at the picture, tears in her eyes. Liam didn't say anything. He didn't quite know what to say, so he hugged her. She cried in his arms for a bit before pushing away, composing herself.

"I'm sorry, I just miss him. It ain't like me to be acting like this." She said. "I understand." He told her. She then looked to her left and froze. He looked over in the same direction. On one of the fallen logs, "DEATH IS SILENCE" was carved across it. He had no words. "I- I don't know how that got there." She said. "Must just be one of them things you can't explain." He said, trying to understand the message. They looked around to see if anyone else had been lurking, but the ranch was deserted.

"We should probably get back to camp. I'm sure they're looking for us." Liam told her. "Yeah, let's go." She said as they climbed on their horses and rode out.

The house everyone stayed in was warmer on the inside than expected. They all sat around the hearth, not knowing what was to come in the future. Arthur's face was orange in the glow of the crackling fire. "I ain't one for talking, but I know things is different now. That mess back with Dutch and Micah is over. And I know we ain't said much about it, but I'm sorry y'all went through that. It should've never gotten to that. I still find myself missing the old Dutch, Hosea, Lenny, the Callander boys, Jenny, and all others who fell. We're doing this for them, and ourselves. Y'all got more to live for." Arthur said.

John looked up. "I mean, the fact that we were able to get out of that alive, is... is just unbelievable, really. In retrospect, we should all be dead, but somehow we ain't. And that's something I can't explain." John said. "It may feel like we're a hundred steps back at the moment, but we're a lot better off than we should be." Charles said from the back. Everybody nodded their heads in agreement. "We stay here for a while until it's safe to leave." Arthur said. Everybody went off to sleep on their cots and pallets for the night.