Chapter Text
Why had she volunteered to go grab Pearson’s ladle from his prep area near the stables? It was far too cold up in these mountains, especially now that the sun had gone down. A biting wind tugged at Mary-Beth’s long wool skirt as she pulled her shawl tighter, her steps quickening. Always being too nice for her own good, apparently.
As she stopped to search for it, having only a flicker of light from her lantern to aid her, she heard a sound that made her freeze. It certainly wasn’t the horses that were put away for the night; the soft sobbing and sniffling was all too human. Her mind worked furiously as she tried to figure out who had been missing from dinner, and she couldn’t come up with a one. Curiosity was one of Mary-Beth’s best and worst traits, so once she found what she was looking for, she tip-toed to the door and slid it open just a crack.
It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness inside; she didn’t dare wave around her lantern for fear of intruding where she shouldn’t be. The silhouettes of the gang’s various horses were expected, but there was also someone sitting on the ground near one of the posts, and they were shaking as they continued to weep with their head bowed. Even without seeing their face, the sound of it alone broke her bleeding heart.
She opened the door a little further and held out her lantern, no longer afraid of revealing herself. “Hello? Who’s there? Are you all right?”
His head snapped up in surprise, revealing puffy red eyes and tear streaks down his dirty face that lead into an unkempt beard. As soon as he realized Mary-Beth was standing there, he did his best to rein in his sobs and eke out a few words, his panic upon seeing her evident. “M-M-Miss? What-What are ya doin’ here? Y-Y-Ya gotta run!”
“Run? From what?” Instead of obeying, she did the exact opposite as she approached him.
“V-V-Van der Lindes!” At the name, he pulled uselessly against the ropes holding him.
A realization dawned on Mary-Beth. She’d heard the boys bragging about capturing an O’Driscoll to interrogate, so this must be the one. Though…as she looked him over, she couldn’t help but feel skeptical that this was even an O’Driscoll. All the stories she’d heard were of them being ruthless killers and treacherous vipers, but this one was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. “Say, are you the one Arthur captured?”
“A-Arthur? Who’s that?”
“Big fella, golden hair, lots of scruff on his face and he never smiles.”
Clearly the description rang a bell, because he trembled even more. “Y-You mean you’re…w-with them?” His obvious disbelief at her Van der Linde affiliation must have matched hers at his O’Driscoll affiliation.
“Well yeah. They’re not horrible people.”
“He said he was gonna do all kinds o’ horrible things to me…” the boy squeezed his eyes shut. “He wants me to talk, but I don’t know much o’ anythin’!”
“Oh, I see.” Mary-Beth bit her lip in thought. “Well, what did they say to you exactly?”
“The boss is gonna start by starvin’ me out. I don’t know what else they plan on doin’, but if they’re anythin’ like Colm…”
“They aren’t!” Mary-Beth interrupted quickly. “They want to protect the gang, and they will do anything to that end, but they aren’t butchers like O’Driscoll. You really…” She inhaled, debating whether or not to say her next words, and ultimately decided it would be worth it if it would calm him down. “…don’t need to panic. If they can get what they want, they won’t do anything real bad to you. I’ve been a part of the gang for three years, I know.”
“You have? A girl like you, runnin’ with the Van der Lindes?” The idea was apparently a struggle to grasp.
Mary-Beth put her hands on her hips. “And what does that mean?”
“I…that is, you…I mean…Colm never had any women runnin’ with his gang unless they were whores.”
“Well, I can assure you I’m NOT one of those,” Mary-Beth sniffed.
“I didn’t think you were!” he insisted, trying to lick his dry lips to no avail. His mouth felt like it was full of cotton. He hadn’t had a drink since that morning, and crying had definitely not helped his situation. Damn it, why had he cried so much?
Mary-Beth noticed. “Starving you out, huh? Tell you what, I’ll be back later. I think it’s safe to assume you won’t be going anywhere.”
“Is it okay for you to even be here?” Why he worried for her when he was obviously so worried for himself boggled her mind.
“They won’t know.” Before he could argue, she retreated through the door and slid it shut, leaving him alone in the dark once more.
How long passed, he couldn’t say. It felt like an eternity, but probably only because there was the promise of that nice girl coming back. Maybe, judging by the faint hint of moonlight from the cracks in the stable walls, a few hours had passed. Finally, the door slid open again without preamble, revealing the Van der Linde girl holding a flask in her hand. The moon had moved just so, illuminating her from behind and giving her a soft, ethereal glow. Her next words, spoken soft and low, convinced him she was an angel. “Here, I snuck you some water.”
“Y-you did? But w-won’t you…”
She shushed him as she carefully walked over to where he was seated. “If Arthur said he was going to starve you, then he should have been more specific. I’m just giving you a drink is all.” She unscrewed the cap to the flask and held it to his mouth. There were no more protests from him. It was a bit embarrassing as he lost some of the water out the corners of his mouth in his haste, but ultimately he was just so grateful for the relief that he didn’t think too long on it.
When he’d had his fill, he sighed in relief. “You’re too nice to be in a gang, miss.”
Mary-Beth shrugged as she put the cap back on. “You don’t always get a choice where you end up. Sometimes, all you can think about is food, a place to sleep, and someone who cares that you are alive. I’ve got that here. And believe you and me…” She flashed a mischievous grin that made his heart beat a little faster. “I’ve got my jobs that I do very well. How else do you think I snuck out here with a flask of water?”
“I’ll keep that in mind, miss.”
“Mary-Beth.”
“Your name?”
“Yes. And if I may, I think you’re the one who doesn’t seem like they should be running with a gang. You’re way too polite.”
The boy managed a weak smile and shrugged his shoulders. “It’s like you said, Miss Mary-Beth, you don’t always get a choice, not when you’re tryin’ to survive.”
“What’s your name?”
“Kieran.”
“Look, Kieran, if you want this to go well, just tell them what they want. Unless you are loyal to Colm…” Mary-Beth’s eyes glistened with a hint of danger, ready to pierce him and rip him to shreds.
“Hell no, miss! I can’t stand that bastard!”
“Good. Then this will be easy.”
“But I can’t talk,” he continued uneasily.
Mary-Beth cocked her head in confusion. “Why not?”
“You’ve never seen what he does to people who talk…” Kieran seemed to curl into himself at the very memory. “It’s the stuff of nightmares.”
She hummed in thought. “I can’t help you with that decision. You can take your chances with O’Driscoll or with Arthur, but you’re going to have to choose. Nothing I say will change his mind where an O’Driscoll member is concerned. Believe you and me, they are going to go for the gelding tongs, for sure.”
Kieran blinked in horror. “Gelding tongs?”
“Only if you won’t cooperate. But hey, at least you should be able to sleep now; you aren’t in any danger here, okay?” That had to be an improvement from when she found him. She turned to go. “I’ve been gone a while. I’d better not push my luck.”
“Wait, Miss Mary-Beth!” Kieran whispered urgently. When she looked back, he continued with a wide-eyed “thank you”. Yes, he was far too soft to be a dangerous O’Driscoll. There was no way he had known his crying would be heard, no way it could have been an act, and now she figured he had been genuinely terrified by his position, not knowing any different than Colm’s ways.
“I’ll be back tomorrow night if I can.”
For the first time, he gave a real smile. The fear that had gripped him so tightly when Arthur’s lasso had snagged him was finally fading. Surely no gang that had Mary-Beth could be a cruel one.