𝗖𝗨𝗣𝗜𝗗𝗜𝗧𝗬 ➳ 𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝟮

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟖.

The next morning Eleanor was staring at herself in her little pocket mirror. With a gentle finger she pulled her lower lip apart, examining the split. It wasn't too deep, she just needed to keep in clean. It stung badly, she knew dirt must have gotten into it in her sleep. Grabbing the small rag off of the ground beside her, she lent over to the water and dabbed the old cloth into the cool water. Once the rag was soaked she retrieved it before gently dabbing the wound. With the first touch pain erupted, Eleanor flinched in reaction but it got easier with the more she did it. Once she was done and the cloth had run out of water she picked up her pocket mirror again, looking at the wound.

The wound looked clean and the split was not deep at all. If anything it looked like a cut, but it wasn't. She wouldn't need to stitch it, it would heal on it's own. However it might scar. That didn't bother her, Eleanor had plenty of scars. She frowned, catching movement in her pocket mirror behind her. She tilted the mirror slightly, getting a better eye of behind her when she spotted Arthur dismounting his horse. Eleanor closed her eyes in annoyance, slamming the small mirror shut. She tucked it away into her coat pocket calmly, opening her eyes again. As she turned around she unholstered her gun, turning to see him walking towards her. Unlike yesterday, she didn't turn to find herself staring at the barrel of his gun. However that didn't stop her from holding her gun. 

"What are you doing here?" Eleanor demanded. Arthur looked down at her right hand, seeing her gun in her hand. His eyes flicked back up to her.

"I'm not here to hurt you," Arthur explained. Eleanor could see the man was telling the truth. If so, why else was he here then? She pissed Dutch off well and truly yesterday so she knew that Dutch probably despised her, just another name to add to the long list. "I'm here to help." Eleanor laughed, looking down at her holster as she tucked her revolver away before walking towards him. 

"Mister Morgan, I don't need no ones help," Eleanor smirked at him as she walked past him, purposely bumping her shoulder into his. Arthur sighed, turning around to see the woman now sitting down at the camp fire she made. "I've been on the run for years. I'm starting to forget what life was when I lived with my Mother and Brothers." Eleanor frowned as Arthur helped himself to her camp. She watched as the man sat down at the fire, grabbing the coffee kettle next to the fire. She watched as he pulled out his own steel cup from his satchel before pouring the caffeine for himself. Knowing she was annoyed with him, Arthur didn't dare to look at her. 

"I've got information," Arthur muttered as he placed the kettle back down. Eleanor stared at the man as he took a sip. The man licked his lips after. "Information you might find useful," he explained. Their eyes met for a moment as Eleanor stared at him. 

"What is it?" She asked. For once she wasn't snapping at him, or being annoying. She was actually serious. She could see Arthur meant more good to her than bad. He wasn't here to hurt her at all. The man looked across the small flames towards her.

"It's Dutch and Micah. Micah has gotten into his head about how you are a threat to not just our robberies but to the gang itself. And Dutch being the fool he can be has seen eye to eye with him," Arthur explained. Eleanor was already confused, she could tell yesterday that Arthur and Micah weren't on good terms but what was so bad about Micah? She could tell the man sitting across from her had no trust in the blonde man she met yesterday. "Dutch told me that if they see you being an inconvenience to us again that we will kill you on sight." Eleanor was left stunned, unsure of what to say. She knew that if they really saw her as a threat that she wouldn't stand a chance against a gang. She only had herself.

"What's with that Micah guy?" Eleanor asked, curious. Arthur sighed, looking uneasy just at the sound of the man's name. 

"I don't trust him. He shot up a whole town a few weeks back, Dutch made me break him out of jail so I had to follow him," Arthur sounded disgusted in himself. 

"Strawberry?" Eleanor asked. She read about it in the paper. Arthur looked over at her and nodded before taking another sip from his coffee. "He sounds like a dick," Eleanor mumbled.

"He is," Arthur snorted. Eleanor tossed a small fern into the fire still trying to process everything. How was she meant to know what the Van Der Linde gang would be going after? Was she just suppose to gamble with robberies and hope they don't show up? 

"Why are you telling me this?" Eleanor asked suddenly. The man looked over at her. "You're going behind Dutch's back just to tell me. Why?" She could see the man hesitating to speak. 

"I ain't sure," he shrugged. Eleanor could tell he was lying just by the way he wouldn't look at her. She watched as the man finished his coffee before shaking the cup, drying it. "I guess I just don't want to see anyone else die."

"Mister Morgan, you're an outlaw! You're going to see more people die," Eleanor laughed at the man. Arthur hung his head, hiding his grin. He looked back up again, a small smirk on his face. 

"I mean... I don't want to see anyone die over a dispute," Arthur corrected. Eleanor nodded slowly, still confused. Why did he care so much to tell her? It made no sense, she was sure he would have killed plenty of people, people like her. By now killing would feel like nothing to him, so why did her care to tell her if she was seen as an enemy?

Arthur stood up, brushing the dirt off of his pants. Eleanor stood up to, wincing slightly as her ribs ached. "I should get going, before anyone suspects anything," Arthur announced with a nod. Eleanor understood. She watched as the man reached into his satchel before handing her some medicine. Frowning in confusion, she accepted it before he pulled out a bottle of whiskey, handing that to her too.

"What's this for?" Eleanor asked. Arthur looked at her before motioning at her as he closed the flap on his satchel.

"For the pain," Arthur explained. He saw the woman opening her mouth to question him but he quickly jumped in. "I can tell your in pain, the way you've been moving and sitting," he explained. Eleanor blinked at him in disbelief before he walked away. She turned, watching after him as he mounted his horse and galloped away from Ringneck Creek. Standing in disbelief, she looked down at her hands where one held the medicine bottle and the other held a bottle of whiskey. 

Eleanor barely knew Arthur yet he was risking and giving so much for her. Why? Looking at the small medicine bottle, Eleanor turned back to the campfire the placed the bottle of whiskey on the ground before unscrewing the cap with her free hand. She poured about half of the sweet liquid down her throat, leaving the rest for later or another time. Eleanor clambered over to her saddle next to the fire and tucked the medicine bottle away into the saddle bag. Eleanor shortly after sat down beside the bottle of whiskey before retrieving the bottle and popping the cork.