His Name Was Isaac (Completed)

10. The Deal

THE NEXT MORNING

OWANJILA DAM, WEST ELIZABETH

Gazing out at the enormous lake, Dutch sat alone on the edge of the dam as he lost himself in the marvelous view laid out before him, letting his mind wander freely with the sounds of water trickling and birds chirping.

The mountains on the horizon formed a majestic, jagged border that separated the lake from the sky, and for as far as the naked eye could see, Dutch found nothing but a colony of lush trees dominating the landscape as the water beneath mirrored their reflection.

There were animals of all sorts gallivanting through the wilderness and disturbing the overall peace of the foliage, scuttering away from the people that traveled the roads.

The environment sang vigorously with life around Dutch, and yet, despite the serene state of the world surrounding him, the man himself could not have felt more hopeless on the inside.

Arthur... was gone.

He was actually gone.

After thirty years of riding together side-by-side and raising that man as a son, Arthur had finally turned his back on the gang. And now, Dutch was all alone.

Just like in the beginning.

Reaching into his coat, Dutch fumbled through his pockets for a bit before pulling out Arthur's journal and delicately opening it, curious to skim through its mysterious contents.

Ever since Arthur was just a boy, he always found solace between the pages of a blank book, but never allowed anyone else to see his drawings. They were the "sacred texts," so to speak.

Anytime someone tried to catch even a glimpse of his sketches, Arthur would always snatch the thing away and hide it somewhere safe from prying eyes. It was one of the few things he valued more than money, and as the years went by, everyone eventually learned to just leave it be.

That was, until now.

The clumsy man dropped the damned thing when he made a run for it back in Tall Trees. The flap on his satchel came loose sometime during the fight, and within a moment's notice, it just... slipped out. Of course, there was no time to return the journal to its rightful owner, but Dutch didn't have the heart to leave it lying in the mud either.

So, with a heavy heart, he decided to take the journal back to camp and keep it as a memento of what their family once was. Strangely enough though, instead of the comfort Dutch expected the item to bring, it offered nothing but a sense of loneliness.

Every time he flipped through its worn pages, he'd only be reminded of everything he'd lost over the years, and the son he loved dearly who abandoned him just like the rest of the gang.

It made Dutch's blood boil to think about Arthur's betrayal. He sacrificed life and limb to keep that boy safe, and within the span of a few weeks, the man had turned traitor and run off with a kid he hardly even knew.

Meanwhile, his family of thirty years got left behind in the dust during their time of need, and remained forgotten alongside their distant memories.

Dutch may have been old, and he may have been living on borrowed time, but before all this was over, he swore to himself that he would get closure.

Their gang had a code these days, and no one went against it without paying the price.

Not even Arthur.

"Boss?" Someone said, tearing Dutch from his thoughts. The man looked over his shoulder.

"Micah," he said with relief, "you're back. Got any news for me? How'd things go in Strawberry?"