Chapter Text
“C’mon!” Charles yelled at the slightly older boy behind him from his horse. The rain started to pick up, causing the horses to freak the hell out over the deafening thunder.
“Im tryin’ im tryin’!” The dirty blonde shouted, his voice was dry and he was seriously dehydrated. Charles bit his lip in frustration, quickly picking up the reins of his horse yelling for her to go faster. The other boy tried his best to keep up but his horse was much smaller and not as fast as Charles.
“Quick, turn this corner!” The dirty blond nodded and took a sharp turn around a mountain. There was a huge rock they quickly hid behind. Charles hopped off his horse which made the other do the same.
The dirty blond grabbed a peppermint out of his pocket and fed it to his horse, guiding her to lay down to remain out of sight, “Easy girl..” he whispered with a gentle tone to his horse.
Charles watched as the horse actually laid down beside them. He quickly did the same, whistling quietly for his horse to lay—which she did.
They both lowered their heads at hearing loud and desperate footsteps.
“God—DAMNIT!” The yelling was quieted out from the thunder cracking in the sky, the sound of something being thrown into the mud—probably a hat was also heard. It was close enough to make the blonds horse flinch at the sound but he quietly started to pet her, calming her.
“Did’cha lose ‘em???” Another man shouted further away, “Wadda think, ya idiot? That’m screamin’ for no god-damn reason???” He hissed, Charles could hear the whistle between his teeth.
“You sure they came this way?”
The other man grumbled, “’pose they..might’ve kept headin’ straight up the mountain.”
The other man, now closer to the other laughed, “And cornered themselves? Whadda pair a fools.”
The two men got on their horses and started to run up hill, but not before yelling something that caught the blond’s attention,
“If we’re lucky it’d be one of Van der linde’s pets.” That got a laugh out of the other man. Their snickers faded out by the heavy rain and continuous thunder looming the valley.
Charles let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, clutching his chest.
“What—who..the hell were they?” Charles huffed out, like he hadn’t breathed air for years.
“Bad men.”
“And what about you?” Are you bad?” Charles tensed up his muscles, suddenly on guard. It was hard for Charles to read him while his hat was covering his face, the rain and setting sun didn’t help either.
“Not like those men, theyre—“ He tried to find the right word to describe the kind of rotten they were.
“—cruel. They dont mind all the blood they shed, as long as they was alive.” Charles’s expression softened slightly, the other could tell.
Charles nodded and stood up, lifting himself back up and onto his horse.
“You got a place we can go? The rain’s gonna just keep on and with that wound..it wont get any better.” The blond seemed to not understand since he tilted his head slightly, squinting his eyes in confusion.
“Your uh—chin.” Charles pointed to his own chin. The other boy brought his hand up to his face, slightly touching the wound with a wince,
“I—I didn’t even-“ He stumbled over his words. He was apparently unaware of it till Charles said something it seemed.
“C’mon, before they realize we aint up the mountain like they thought.” The other nodded and quickly got up, guiding his horse to stand with another peppermint.
˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗
Charles rode behind the other, letting him lead the way to a safe place they could lie low for a little. Charles took this time to observe the guy in front of him, he wore a black gambler hat with rope tied around it. It seemed like an older hat but maybe it was just the rain that made it seem that way.
His hair was barely visible but the parts Charles could see was only slightly lower then his ears. It was a dirty blond, almost could mistake it for brunette. He wore this dark red long sleeve, seemingly a little big on him. The sleeves were rolled back into a messy cuff so they didn’t go over his hands.
“Mind uh—telling me yur’ name?” The boy in front of Charles spoke with a nervousness in his voice. Like he could feel Charles’ eyes on him.
“Charles, yours?”
He hesitated, Charles could tell.
“..Arthur.”
“Nice to meet you Arthur, wanna tell me why you were being choked out by those men?” Arthur sighed, he knew he’d have to explain himself eventually.
“Those bad men I told you bout? Well they uh—dont like me or my folk to much.” He kept his voice low to reduce the strain he had on it. Charles smirked, riding next to him now.
“Is that so?” Arthur hummed in response, he coughed from the dryness of his throat.
“Thanks for savin’ me back there.”
“Its really no problem, you don’t have to keep thankin’ me.” Charles smiled softly at the newly acquainted stranger he had saved from deaths hands. He was lucky Charles had to stop in town for some supplies, this was one of the few towns he could stop in without getting strange looks or his life being threatened with a knife to his throat.
A few years back he had stopped a women from being robbed in one of the alley ways. Turns out, that women was the wife of the sheriff in town. Whenever he strolls through he makes sure Charles isnt messed with—but its not like anyone does anyway.
This particular day Charles had stopped to get some carrots for his horse, then go find some shelter from the storm. He had seen Arthur sitting outside a saloon with a book in his hands and a cigarette pressed between his lips. Charles didn’t pay much attention to him though, he couldn’t when he needed to hurry up and prepare for the storm.
He had gotten off his horse, hitching it to a post snd entering a store. He was greeted with kind words which was a normalcy he wasn’t yet used to. He grabbed the carrots and some other things he thought he was going to need. He set the stuff on the counter but before the clerk could even say the price of the items, he heard yelling.
Charles couldn’t ignore someone in trouble, that just wasn’t who he was. He gave the clerk a look and he nodded in response. He hurried outside to check the commotion. It wasn’t unusual for bar fights to occur in this town but that happened to not be the case. Charles focused his eyes on a pair of two men standing closely to Arthur. They were saying something but Charles was too far away to pick up on anything.
He knew it wasn’t anything good as they backed him up to a wall and punched him in his stomach. He yelled, quickly trying to steady his breathing again. Before he could even try to breathe the other man tried to punch him square in the face, Arthur moved his head, trying his best to dodge in his winded state. The fist still hit him though, just not as fatally as it would have been. Arthur didn’t feel the new wound on his chin, the blood from it dripped down and onto his red shirt.
Arthur snarled, kicking one of the men to the ground. He tried to pull something—most likely a knife—out of his pocket, but was kicked by the other man and shoved onto the ground. The same man grabbed Arthurs neck and squeezed. Charles had seen enough of this.
Charles kicked the man choking Arthur, sending him into the dirt. Charles lent a hand out for Arthur to grab and he quickly took it. Finally standing up he held his neck and breathed heavily. Charles saw the two men starting to get up and grabbed Arthurs hand and ran towards where the horses were. Hopping onto his own horse and Arthur onto his.
“T—Thank you-“ Arthur’s voice was rough, you could barely see it but his neck started to bruise. Charles turned around to look at the boy behind him, “Dont thank me yet!” The men who beat Arthur started to get on their own horses and chase after the pair.
˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗
Arthur slowed his horse down when they reached a clearing in the forest, Charles slowing down behind him. The adrenaline rush ended, causing Arthur to now feel the pain in his chin and the bruises forming on his neck. He shook away the pain and hopped off his horse. Charles noticed the way he held his stomach and still pulled out a peppermint for his horse, it made him smile. Charles got off his own horse and spoke, “Your horse must like peppermints a whole lot.”
“I’d like to think so. She hasn’t protested yet.” Arthur took the reins of his horse and led her into a path through the forest. Charles did the same and followed.
“Is your stomach okay?” Charles spoke, trying to tune out the silence.
“Been through worse.” Arthur admitted, “Still..kinda hurts though.” Footsteps rushed over to the new voices.
“Arthur?” A familiar voice said through the rain, one Charles definitely didn’t know. A black haired man with rings all over his fingers hugged Arthur tightly.
“Dutch—what the hell-“ Arthur’s voice still rough but it softened ever so slightly at the sight of Dutch. He let go of the reins of his horse and wrapped his arms around Dutch gently, returning the hug. Another man came up behind Dutch. He had blond hair with little white streaks and looked slightly older than Dutch.
“Arthur where the heck were ya? You had us worried sick.” Hosea nudged his shoulder, causing Arthur to wince. Dutch let go of Arthur, “You okay son?”
“Long story short, O’Driscoll blood was in town and this kind fella helped me out.” Arthur pointed his head at Charles who waved awkwardly. Hosea shook his head in disbelief.
“We leave the boy alone for a moment and he’s been givin’ hell by O’Driscoll! I knew this was a bad idea Dutch.” Hosea crossed his arms, observing Arthur’s wounds though it was hard to make them out in the dark and rain.
“C’mon old girl. Give the boy a break, it’s not like he knew scum would be walking through town. Plus! Looks like he made a friend.” Dutch looked over at Charles and gave him a simple nod.
“Whats yur’ name boy?” Hosea asked, looking over at Charles.
“Charles, Charles Smith.” He spoke with gentleness, trying to show he was not here to cause harm or start trouble.
Hosea nodded and smiled. “You don’t seem bad, Charles Smith. Say, how old are you?”
“17, sir. I turn 18 next month.” Arthur looked at him with this look he couldn’t explain.
“Arthur here is 18, bet he didn’t feel the need to mention it.” Dutch added, they were acting like proud parents that their kid finally made a friend his age.
“It wasn’t like that.” Arthur pulled his hat down, hiding the pink he had plastered over his face from embarrassment. Hosea snickered, putting a hand on Dutch’s shoulder.
A light came from out behind Dutch and Hosea, it was an older woman. She wore a red dress and her hair was in a bun. The light shined onto Arthur’s face which made the wound on his chin more obvious.
“Jesus me! Arthur we gotta get that patched up!” The woman gasped taking his face into her hand, making his hat fall off and into the mud. Charles could see Arthur’s face more now. His eyes were a nice blue and in the light his hair was a nice shade of blond. His side profile was—handsome, to say the least.
“Susan..” Arthur grumbled. Hosea and Dutch both crowded Arthur, observing him and the bruise around his neck that couldn’t be seen without the light from the lantern Ms. Grimshaw held close.
Charles knew he had to get going, he was sure the rain was just gonna get worse and he needed to find somewhere to sleep for the night. He walked up to his horse and looked as if he was ready to jump on.
Arthur turned his head away from Ms. Grimshaw, “Ya haf’ta get goin’ now Charles?” Arthur asked, walking up to him with a sad expression and tone.
“The storm ain’t gonna let up any time soon. I need to go find somewhere to stay.” He turned his head towards Arthurs, his eyes so pretty—even in the dark.
“Stay here for the night?” It was a request disguised as a question.
Charles thought of all the excuses he could say but something about the way Arthur looked at him made him cave in
“Sure, if it ain’t too much of trouble.” Arthur smiled and looked behind him towards the adults for confirmation. Hosea smiled and nodded and Dutch just let out a snort. Susan Grimshaw grabbed Arthurs arm, “Stop yur’ flirting and let’s get you stitched.” Arthur’s face turning a shade of pink.
Charles smiled and grabbed the reins of his horse and followed the group into their camp.
“You can hitch’er right here.” Hosea pointed towards a post. Charles patted his horses neck and followed the older men, Hosea and Dutch. Arthur was seated on a chair in an open tent, wincing as the women—Ms. Grimshaw, cleaned his chin with a small rag. Dried blood now soaking the cloth she put it in a bowl with water, “i’ll be right back.”
With that she hurried off to go get something—most likely a needle and thread. Arthur tried his best to remain calm but under all that toughness he tried to present was a worried and scared expression.
“You not a fan of needles?” Charles asked softly with that same tone of voice that soothed Arthur’s ears. Before Arthur even had the chance to speak, another voice spoke up instead,
“You should’a seen him the first time we had’a get out a needle! He looked like he was ready to bolt half way up a tree!-“
“Is that necessary, Hosea?” Arthur smiled awkwardly, that same pretty pink on his face from embarrassment.
“Oh yes my boy, our new friend must know allll about our dear Arthur Morgan.” Dutch added in, his tone playful.
Arthur Morgan. The name flooded Charles’ mind. It had a nice feel to it, it definitely suited him.
“No, he doesn’t. At least tell him something that wont—“ Arthur cut himself off, focusing his eyes on Ms. Grimshaw coming back with a needle and thread. How exciting was that. Arthur was just beaming with joy.
“Ya ready Arthur? I ain’t gonna chase you around like a mad woman this time.” Charles held in his laughter at the thought of Arthur who tried so hard to seem tough running away from a needle.
“Just-get it over ‘wit.” Just like that the older lady started to stitch up Arthur’s chin. You could tell it hurt like hell by the way Arthur dug his fingers into his pants. He couldn’t move his mouth due to the stitch being on his chin and couldn’t afford messing it up by moving ever so slightly.
Before Arthur knew it, it was over with. He opened his eyes and went to touch the stitch but was immediately smacked on his hand.
“Dont even think’a bout it.” The women hissed and walked over to the other men who just watched in amusement.
“Goodnight gentlemen.” With that she walked off and into a tent. Charles watched Arthur’s eyes as they closed in relief, he held his stomach.
“Stomach still an issue?” Arthur nodded at Dutch, “I’m sure I have some painkillers in my tent somewhere.” Dutch left to go check his tent for medicine that Arthur looked like he needed.
The rain was still coming but it seemed to calm down in the forest, the trees were catching all the water after all. Hosea looked at Arthur and Charles, starting to try and make conversation.
“You from ‘round here?” He directed at Charles.
“No sir.”
“Why you out here all alone? Not safe for a kid like ‘yous to be out here by yur’ self.” Hosea questioned.
“A kid like me?” Charles’ tensed up, suddenly feeling like he was in enemy territory once more.
Hosea added without really noticing Charles body language, “Young’n all.” Charles immediately relaxed, realizing he didn’t need to feel so threatened.
“Arthur here was by himself too, not that long’go.” Hosea felt like mentioning.
Charles didn’t want to tell these people he had just met about his life leading up to this point. At least, not now. Charles remained fixated on the dirt that slowly and gradually turned to mud. Hosea got the message and sighed with a smile.
“Dont worry kid. You dont gotta tell us an’thing you aint wanna share.” The older man reassured the younger man.
“It’s late and you boys should get some rest. Im sure Arthur won’t mind sharing his tent for the night.” Arthur slowly got up and nodded, confirming he in fact did not mind.
“Good. Dutch’ll bring ya’ the medicine soon, Arthur.” With that, Hosea walked off. Arthur groaned as he stood up fully, holding his stomach like usual.
“Sorry’ bout em. Hosea means well. I hope he didn’t scare ya’ with all them questions, I saw how you uhm..tensed.”
“It’s alright. When you’re the son of an African man and a Native woman, its hard to find trustable uh—“
“White men?”
“Yeah.” Charles smiled, he didn’t think Arthur would say that so bluntly. Yet, he did.
“Ain’t gonna pretend like I know what yous been through but—yur’ welcome here whenever.” Arthur spoke gently, his accent being very clear in the way he talked. He walked over to where his hat had fallen and picked it up. It was covered in mud and was soaked by the rain. He sighed and held it by his side, walking back over to Charles.
“C’mon, I bet yur’ soaked. I bet I have some clothes that’ll fit ‘ya.” Charles smiled softly and nodded, following Arthur into his tent. It wasn’t a big tent by any means but it could definitely hold the pair.
Arthur gave Charles some clothes that seemed too big for Arthur, like the shirt he already had on. They both changed into much dryer clothes, Charles scrunching his longer hair outside the tent to rid of the water that soaked it.
Arthur grabbed a sleeping bag that was in a crate and laid it beside his own.
“Here, it ain’t the most comfortable in the world but definitely better than any’ cave.” Arthur expressed which made Charles laugh a little.
Arthur slipped into his sleeping bag, setting his dirtied hat on the desk beside the two. Charles sat on his sleeping bag for a moment, thinking.
He thought about how things could have gone differently. If Charles hadn’t been in town when Arthur got attacked..Arthur picked up on Charles staring at nothing,
“You alright?” He asked, turning his head towards Charles.
“Yep, just been quite a day I suppose.”
“Didn’t expect to have’ta save anyone from a pair of men?”
“Cant say I did.” Charles laid down now, facing Arthur. Strands of black hair fell into his view.
“Rooky’ mistake.” They both laughed shortly before Arthur had closed his eyelids, causing Charles to do the same.