𝗖𝗨𝗣𝗜𝗗𝗜𝗧𝗬 ➳ 𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝟮

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟒.

"It's small," Charles pointed out as the three of them arrived at the small farmhouse on the abandoned farm. Eleanor looked out at the crops, slowly dying away. Whoever left or died, it happened not too long ago. Possibly a couple of weeks.

Lemoyne was in a drought, the Grays plantation suffered dearly with their tobacco fields. Eleanor didn't like them or the Braithwaites so their problems didn't matter to her, nor could she care about them. "But it's something safer."

"Let's hope so," Eleanor responded as she hopped out of the saddle, hitching Seyfret to the hitching post. "What happened here?" She asked curiously. Charles shrugged truthfully before dismounting his horse himself. 

"Ain't sure, I found this place a few days ago when scavenging for supplies. That was before we broke you free of course," Charles explained as he heaved some of her equipment off of his horse. Eleanor looked over at Hosea who rested against the horn of his saddle, watching the two of them. "But it seems abandoned enough to tell me no one's coming back." Eleanor could see there was more to it just from his body language but she didn't push, she guessed whatever happened here it was bad.

"Fair enough," Eleanor sighed. She retreated her saddle bag from behind her saddle and slung it over her shoulder, following Charles into the farmhouse. As a precaution, the man drew his sawed off shotgun before opening the door slowly and quietly. The man aimed his shotgun in the door way before sticking his head in. She watched patiently as he looked around before pushing the door open and walking in. Eleanor followed him as she watched him place down her things on the table. Eleanor did the same, turning around to find Hosea still sitting in his saddle. She frowned, Charles looking at the man too. 

"Hosea, you coming in?" Charles called out. Hosea scratched his chin before clearing his throat. Eleanor could see the man was visibly uneasy about something. 

"There was someone following us," Hosea muttered quietly. He tilted his head slightly, indicating where they possibly were. Eleanor and Charles looked at each other before looking at the old man again. "They stopped by that big red building when they saw us riding off of the road and squeezing through the gap in the broken fence."

"So you're just goin' to sit out there?" Eleanor asked, frowning in confusion. Hosea sighed, letting out a groan as he dismounted. He walked over to the farmhouse, joining the two of them inside. He closed the door before scowling at the both of them. 

"Now watch that door open any damn second!" He hissed at the two of them. "Whoever was following us weren't going to come any closer with me in the way," Hosea pointed out before sighing. He looked at Eleanor. "Who have you pissed off lately?" Eleanor chuckled, shrugging. 

"That's a question with a lot of different answers," Eleanor responded earning an eye roll from Hosea. Charles folded his arms across his chest as he looked out the window, keeping an eye out. "Well, recently it's been Tatum's wife since I killed Charlie, The Lemoyne Raiders since I robbed their train, the whole of Valentine and David. Oh and Micah," Eleanor listed. "That's just been the past few weeks." Charles shook his head as he listened, unsure of what to say. 

"Seems like you're good at making friends," Hosea chuckled. Eleanor snorted, he was right. When it came to making friends Eleanor was no good. Instead, she made enemies which she seemed to be too good at. 

"You got any binoculars?" Charles asked. Eleanor nodded, reaching into her saddle bag and grabbing them out for him. She passed them to Charles which he thanked her with a nod as he took them from her. The man peered through them while Eleanor sat down at the table, making herself comfortable. She couldn't help but notice the floorboards were blood stained. Hopefully whoever killed whoever was here wasn't coming back for round two.