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The whole camp was silent. There was no music, no one screaming around. The girls were whispering in low voices, while most men were looking back and forth between Dutch's and Arthur's tent. Arthur had returned this evening, half dead and almost unconcious, but still somehow managing to stay on his horse. Everyone had been reliefed and worried alike. Miss Grimshaw and the Reverend haven't left Arthur's side and from the looks of it, they didn't intend to do so for a while. Good. Because as soon as Arthur was back on his feet again, Dutch would start to seek for reasons. For someone he could blame. And there were only three people for that.
Pearson, of course, who had convinced Micah to go to Dutch and tell him about Colm's supposed peace offering. But Pearson was unlikely to have set this up. He hasn't spoken a word since Dutch and Micah returned without Arthur. And Micah was currently standing next to Dutch, talking to him in a low voice, calming him down a little, or trying to.
And then there was you. Currently, you were leaning against a tree, a bit outside of camp, watching over everything like a hawk. You had to fight back a grin. No, more like a vulture waiting to eat the deceasing corpses of this gang. You were the one who deescalated the situation with the O‘Driscoll and Pearson. If it hadn‘t been for you, Pearson would‘ve taken his knife and chopped up those boys, before they could even open their mouths. If it hadn‘t been for you, and your constant pushing for Dutch to take Arthur with him for safety, Arthur wouldn‘t have been captured.
You heard a twig snap behind you and when you turned your head, you saw Hosea coming closer. He smiled at you, before his smile dissapeared again and he stopped next to you. The old man didn‘t say a word and neither did you. You still leaned against the tree with you arms crossed, and directed your attention back to Arthur‘s tent. No one in this gang knew you well enough to know that the remorse on your face was far from real. And neither did Hosea.
“It‘s not your fault, son.”, he said, looking back over to you. You bit your tongue and nodded. “I know.”
“He‘s still alive.”
“Yeah.” You didn‘t know if the bitterness in your voice could be interpreted as dissapointment, but from the way.Hosea looked at you for a few seconds, you guessed he did.
Quickly, you let your head hang low and sighed. You could hear Hosea next to you sigh as well, before he laid a hand on your shoulder. He patted it twice, before he went on his way, walking over to Dutch as to not let him alone with Micah for too long.
You looked back up again, clenching your jaw. It wouldn‘t take long until Hosea would find out. That man is smart, he saw it in your eyes, you knew it. The last time you felt any real remorse was the last time you dissapointed Colm. This was supposed to be the last big deal, before the gang could move on. Hand the whole Van der Linde gang over to the Pinkertons and get away before they could grab the O‘Driscolls. Now you needed to find out what to do next. You should propably seek out Colm and ask him.
It was his idea for you to infiltrate Dutch‘s gang and give him informations about Dutch and his plans after all. But now your facade began to crumble. It wouldn‘t take long until Dutch would figure your little act out and while he might not be as cruel with traiters as Colm was, he for sure wouldn‘t spare you some torture to find out where Colm was. You needed to get out and back to Colm.
When the moon stood high that night, you moved. Without making a sound, you grapped your already packed satchel from your bedroll. In your time with the Van der Linde gang you had made sure to always move with as little package as possible in case you needed to make a fast escape like now. You strolled through the darkness. Most people were asleep except from the usual candidates: Bill at the poker table and Micah at the camp fire. Bill was too drunk to even notice you and Micah didn‘t give a shit about the world around him as long as he was taking care of his guns. You continued on your way to your horse. It‘s dark fur was great for dissapearing into the night and like all of your things, the saddlebags were always full with stuff you‘d need in case of a sudden runaway.
But then you stopped. On the ground, near the horses laid a familiar figure. Kieran Duffy, the traitor. You almost got a heart attack the first time you saw him. He hasn‘t been riding long with the O‘Driscolls before Colm sent you out to become a member of the Van der Linde gang, but possibly long enough to remember your face. Luckily, no one in camp took him serious anyways. They all thought he was just a lying O‘Driscoll and so he didn‘t even try to tell Dutch or anyone who you really were. Not like he would dare anyways, you had some nice “talks” with him, after he got released from that tree. He never even said a word after that. Only that Mary-Beth girl was looking at you weirdly from time to time, but you made sure to always wear a broad smile on your lips whenever she did.
For the past couple of weeks, you couldn‘t harm Kieran, although you were sure, most people in camp wouldn‘t care. He was a traitor and you saw first hand how he sold Colm out to Dutch. And the order Colm gave you, was clear. As soon as you returned to him, you‘d kill Kieran.
And so you took your knife from your belt, walking closer and closer to Kieran‘s sleeping form. You wish you could torture him like a traitor deserved, but there was no time for that and you didn‘t know when you‘d get the chance to get him again. It needed to be done now. You kneeled next to Kieran, one hand holding your knife already near his throat, while you clamped the other over Kieran‘s mouth. The man got startled awake instantly, screaming into the palm of your hand. But before you could do anything, you felt some cold metal being pressed into the back of your head.
“That‘s interestin‘” Micah‘s voice was taunting, mocking you for underestimating him. Raising your hands, you glanced down at Kieran.
“Micah.”, you growled, “Get that gun away from me. Trust me, you‘re gonna regret it if you shoot me.”
You could practically hear micah raising an eyebrow in amusement. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”, you said as you rose to your feet. Micah let you. You turned around and locked eyes with him. “That O‘Driscoll, he set us up!”, you hissed.
“W-what?”, Kieran beneath you stuttered.
“I saw him sneak out of camp a few days earlier. Propably to meet with Colm. I didn‘t think much at first, but I‘m sure, Micah. You gotta believe me!”
“Can‘t say I like him neither, but that feller is no threat.” Micah laughed. “He‘s lucky he had that courage to kill that one guy to safe Morgan. But you…” He didn‘t buy your acting. The blue of his eyes was cold. Micah was absolutely ready to kill you right here and then. Behind Micah you could see Dutch coming out of his tent and looking over to you.
Suddenly, Micah pointed the gun to your satchel. “All ready to sneak out of camp, mh? Wanted to kill Duffy here for telling on your bunch and then run off to Colm, that‘s what you were gonna do!”
Dutch came closer, shouting to both you and Micah what you were doing. Micah got distracted by him for only half a second. Long enough for you to grap his wrist holding the gun and ram your knife into it. An animalistic scream escaped Micah and now Dutch was reaching for his gun as well. Before he could do that, however, you punched Micah straight in the face, sending him to the ground while still having your knife in his wrist. With both hands free, you drew your own gun and shot at Dutch.
You don‘t know if you got him, however, because as you were shooting, Kieran suddenly threw himself on top of you, trying to wrestle the gun out of your hands. You rammed your elbow into his face, but he wouldn‘t let go of you. Seeing as how more and more people came running out of their tents, some of them being armed men, you hit Kieran again, harder this time. He let go and stumpled back against the rock he was sleeping against.
You instantly took the chance and ran off to your horse. All of the horses were spooked by the sudden fighting and shooting, but it took only one whistle for your horse to come running back to you. In the blink of an eye, you‘ve pulled yourself into the saddle and took off. There were shots fired after you, one of them hitting you somewhere on your right side. A burning pain spread over your back but somehow you were able to hold yoursel in the saddle. Before another shot could hit you, the little forest surrounding Clemens Point gave you cover.
As you spurred your horse on further and further, you wondered if your shot hit Dutch in the chest. You hoped so. It would mean that there wouldn‘t be as many people following you. But even if they would try and follow you, the only real threat among them would be Charles, since both Arthur and Micah were now unable to ride. And Charles couldn‘t shoot his damn bow in the darkness of the night.
You rode throughout the whole night. No breaks, not for you and not for the horse. The pain in your back began to become duller and duller, until all you could feel was the need to reach Colm. Eventually, when the morning sun rose again, you finally reached the current O‘Driscoll camp. The men pointed their guns at you until they recognized you. Instantly, they greeted you and you could make out some familiar faces in the crowd.
“Where‘s Colm?”
“You don‘t look to good, my friend.”, Tommy said, ignoring your previous question, “Is that a gunshot? I‘ll get someone to patch you up first-”
“No.”, you hissed, “Get… get me to Colm!”
“It won‘t help us if you pass out before-”
“Colm. Where.”
Tommy got startled by the expression on your face. He was startled by your whole appearance. Normally you were well dressed and at least kept yourself clean. However, now you were sweating as if you had some high fever. Your face was terribly pale and you were panting like a dog. There was blood all over your shirt. Only your eyes seemed to still be clear. But he couldn‘t just bring you to Colm. Hell, he wasn‘t even sure, if you could get off your horse and stand still without blacking out.
“Fine.”, he huffed. Tommy pointed to one of the larger tents in the middle of camp. Colm‘s, you guessed. “This one right there.”
You nodded and lifted yourself out of your saddle. Your horse was panting just as much as you were. Hopefully, someone would give it a few sugar cubes for the long ride.
As you feet touched the ground, they almost instantly gave out beneath you. Tommy, who predicted something like this to happen, was by your side quick enough to catch you. Without saying another word, he took your arm and helped you over to the tent. Your vision began to become blurry, but you needed to stay awake. You had to tell Colm what happened. That Arthur was back. That you have been figured out. That Duffy was still alive. A low groan escaped you, when the pulsing on your back got stronger again.
Finally, you reached the tent. You blinked and shook our head, trying to wake yourself up again. Tommy entered with you, but Colm wasn‘t inside the tent. There only was a man you never cared to learn the name of. From what you knew, he was an immigrant who couldn‘t work as a doctor in america and decided to join the O‘Driscolls. You wanted to ask Tommy, where Colm was, but your throat was too tight to let you speak.
“He got shot at. Seems like one bullet got him in the back, you think you can patch him up, Will?”, Tommy asked. You looked at him with a mix of anger and betrayal. You needed to inform Colm! There was no time for this! But again, as you opened your mouth, the only sounds that came out of it were some pathetic groans.
Tommy was a big man. He completely ignored your futile attempts to free yourself from his grip as he walked with you through the tent and forced you to lay down on one of the cots. Even though you tried to fight off both Tommy and the rising nausea in you, you eventually lost to both. Laying on your stomach so that the doctor could inspect your back you only felt the world starting to spin around you, making your vision blurry yet again.
During the treatment of your shoulder, you blacked out a few times. The few minutes you were awake in between, you felt nothing but pain. The doctor wanted to offer you some whiskey for the pain, but you were never awake long enough for that.
When you blinked your eyes open the next time, the doctor was gone. Some fresh sunlight shone into the tent, making you think it was a new morning already. Shit, how long have you been out?
You wanted to sit up, but quickly regretted that, when you felt the pain in your back coming back together with a rising dizziness. Groaning, you let yourself fall back onto the cot. When you looked down, you saw that your shirt had been removed. Instead, there were now bandages covering your upper body. While you were busy inspecting the bandages, some footsteps came closer. You turned your head and saw Colm walking through the tent‘s entrance, a humorless smile on his lips. “And here I was, thinking ya were one of my best men. Now ya not only come back empty handed, but also wounded.”
He may be smiling, but his eyes were cold as ice. He sat down on the cot next to yours, grapping both your cheeks in one hand and forcing you, to maintain eye contact with him.
“Colm, I-”
“Where‘s Morgan? He back with Dutch already?”
“Yes… arrived yesterday.” Colm huffed in annoyance. He let go of your face and instead scratched the stubbles on his face.
“And what‘s that? Ya got caught?” He pointed to your back. You grit your teeth to sit up at least a little bit, propping yourself up on one elbow.
“Y-yes, I wanted to tell you about Morga-”
“Ya at least killed Duffy?”, Colm asked without much interest in anything you had to say. Your heart was racing and you couldn‘t look your boss in the eye.
“N-no…”
You didn‘t need to look at Colm to know that his face twisted in annoyance. He clicked dismissively with his tongue and you saw from the corner of your eye, how his leg began tapping the ground. It was silent in the tent for a few seconds. Then Colm spoke again.
“Ya at least got any useful information?”
“T-their camp, Clemens Point. They travel with a lot of women and a child, so it‘s gonna take some time until they can move. I‘m sure, if you‘re quick enough, you can-”
“Don‘t you dare tell me what to do boy.”, he suddenly hissed, his tone demanding respect and authority, “Besides, you‘ve been out for a day already. A day and a night is more than enough for old Dutch to move camps.”
Colm let out an annoyed groan. “Fuckin‘ Morgan…”
Your mouth has turned dry and your heart was racing. If you have learned one thing while riding with the O‘Driscolls, then it was that you never wanted to be on Colm‘s bad side. And from what it looked like, he was already stressed because Arthur managed to escape. A sly smile spread on your lips. Luckily for you, you had another idea. Only this time, you needed to propose it right.
“There‘s another option.”, you spoke, your voice almost cracking again. Colm looked back down at you. “What?”
“Dutch… he wanted to rob two families in Rhodes. You‘ve heard of them, Braithwaites, Grays…” Slowly, you dared to look up again. The ice in Colm‘s eyes has been replaced by a spark of interest. “Up to now those families have been too busy dealing with one another, they haven‘t realized who Dutch really is…”
This time, you just gave Colm the information, not the solution. That was the trick to not anger Colm. Any idea of yours had to sound like it was his. And from how his eyebrows raised, you could tell that it worked. Colm chuckled, the sound of it filling the tent.
“Well, ain‘t that interestin‘…” One of his hands found your hair and almost tenderly, he brushed through it with his fingers. His eyes focused on something straight ahead.
”Would be a shame… if someone told them who he really was, wouldn‘t it?”
“Dutch wouldn‘t see it coming, boss.”
“No, of course not. He‘s too high up on his horse to think that anyone could ever figure his great scheming out.” Now he smiled. It was a dirty grin, but you knew him long enough to know that this was a real one. Colm‘s thumb brushed some strands of your hair away from your forehead, his gaze was now concentraded back on you.
“So ya haven‘t been completely useless. Good.”
His smile didn‘t fade when he suddenly grapped a fistful of your hair, yanking your head up by it. The harsh tug felt as if he was intending to rip off your skin from your scalp and you had to bite your tongue hard in order to not scream out in pain. Colm pulled you by your hair until your face was right infront of his. You could feel his hot breath against your cheeks.
“Ya fucked up big this time by gettin‘ caught.” His expression was still the same, only his eyes got a reflection of something in them. “You‘re lucky, you got a pretty face, sugar.”
He let go of your hair and with that, your head fell back down on the cot with a dull sound. A sharp headache began to rise and you could feel everything getting dizzy for a moment again. Shortly, before you passed out again, you felt some rough fingers brush over your back, avoiding the bandages.
“Well, now you‘re back here. I‘ll get one of them boys to go tell the Grays about Dutch and then we‘ll see about that. You rest now, I‘ll come see ya this evening again.”
You barely registered the last of Colm‘s words, before the ringing in your ears became too loud and the light in the tent too bright. You closed your eyes and with that, you were gone again, still feeling Colm‘s touch linger on you. The man actually stayed for a few moments longer, looking over the bandages the doctor has wrapped around your torso. For a second he glanced back at your face. Exhausted and tired as you were, you still looked peaceful like this. You would have to spend a few more days in this tent, Colm decided, before he made his way out again. He had to send a man to the Gray family in Rhodes after all.
If you hadn‘t been so exhausted, you might‘ve been awake when Colm visited you again a few hours later. Without your knowledge, he sat down at the cot again, placing a small package with some medication from the doctor in Valentine. There were some sweets in there as well but if you‘d ask Colm about it, he‘d say he doesn‘t have a clue how those got in there. He watched your sleeping figure for longer than he propably should. Eventually, you blinked your eyes open again. When you asked Colm how long he had been sitting there, the corners of his mouth twitched.
“Jus‘ a few minutes. How‘s tha back doin‘, you‘re gonna ride again soon?”