Under The Eyes of The Wolf (an rdr2 Arthur Morgan x oc story)

5-Know When To Walk Away. Know When To Run

"Since I'm not the type that approves of executing a man I'm gonna have to insist we take this to the street. Sir, if you would so kindly escort this man to the road for me it would be greatly appreciated." She politely asks looking to Arthur, smiling at him. He nodded and grabbed hold of the man's collar while directing him out of the front door.

"Come on mister." Arthur coaxed as the crowd parted to let all three of them exit the saloon to head into the street, Kay taking up the rear.

"Please mister, let me go, I got a family! A wife and two kids at home, they won't be able to survive and pay the bills without me." The man pleaded as Arthur pushed him into position in the road in front of the store.

"Well, I guess you shoulda thought of that before gambling off all your money. They'll probably be better off without you around losing it all." Arthur reasons with him. "Now pull yerself together fella, stand up straight an be a man." Arthur straightens the man up, positions him correctly and pulls off his jacket. "I'll take this. Yer gonna wanna reach yer pistol without it gettin' in the way."

"You about ready player?" She shouted. Arthur, Javier, Charles and Bill stood alongside the road between the saloon and the store.

"That's her, isn't it?" Charles questions Arthur in a hushed tone.

"Yeah. That's her."

As the crowd all stood in silence looking on, the trembling man collapsed on the ground sobbing.

"My name is Walter Higgins, I shovel sheep shit at the auction yard for a living, I've got a wife and two kids at home, my two girls. We barely keep the debt collectors off of our backs with my income. I just hoped to win enough to get the banks foot off of our neck but I couldn't even accomplish that and now I lost all of our money...you're right sir." He says, gesturing towards Arthur. "My family probably will be better off without me around, so just shoot me miss." He sobbed pathetically.

Murmurs broke out across the crowd as they all looked over to the woman. Arthur could see her shoulders and head drop as she deflated. She slightly shook her head as she looked to the side, hands on her hips. After a moment she started walking forward, closing the gap between herself and Walter. She stood over him and he flinched slightly when she kicked his boot. She reaches in her coat and pulls out a wad of cash, counted out what looked to be at least $100 and threw it down to the man.

"Here. Here's your money back and then some. Take it and get the hell home to your family. I swear if I find you or even catch wind of you stepping foot in this saloon or any other place that there's so much as a game of dominoes going on where gambling is involved I'll put a bullet in you, do I make myself perfectly clear?!" She asks loudly, holding eye contact with the trembling man.

"Yes! Crystal clear!" He stuttered as he scooped up the money and scrambled to his feet. "Thank you! Thank you!" He kept repeating as he ran off and clambered up onto a scroungy looking old nag that had to be well past its prime then coaxed her down the road headed out of town.

"You forgot yer jacket!" Arthur yelled.

"KEEP IT!!" He hollered back as he rounded the corner out of sight. The crowd started talking again as it dispersed out into various parts of Valentine.

"Well, how very...anticlimactic." Javier sighed.

Arthur kept his eye on Kay as she headed down the side of the saloon on the path leading out behind it.

"Excuse me fellas, I gotta go check on somethin'. I'll catch up with y'all later." He trailed off as he quickly followed around behind the saloon. He half expected not to find her, like some fairytale creature that magically just vanished into thin air but as he rounded the building there she was, tightening up and checking the straps on her saddle. Her long red hair ran freely down her back. He approached her, clearing his throat to let his presence be known.

"Mr. Morgan, hello again." She greeted him with a smile. "Thank you for having my back in there. That was fun. Well, until it wasn't. That whole little break down at the end kind of ruined it."

"No doubt. It always puts a damper on things when the other fella can't keep his composure. I didn't think I'd ever see you again. I never even got yer last name, miss..."

She looked at him for a second. "Sinclair. Kay Sinclair." She replied with a smile, deciding it would be safe to tell him.

"Okay. Miss Sinclair. You never told me what you were doing way up there all alone neither after I told you why I was there."

"Did you though? Mister Morgan? If I recall you told me you were simply out hunting. You left out the part that you and your gang that was also up there were hiding out from the law after that botched job in Blackwater." She said with a smirk.

Arthur's face dropped and he went pale.

"Whoa! Easy there big guy! Breathe. I was just messin' with ya. Your secret's safe with me. I'm in no position to judge. If I said my past rap sheet was spotless I'd be lyin', so you're good cowboy."

Arthur breathes a sigh of relief. "Had me goin' for a minute there." He chuckled.

"I, however, was simply up there hunting. Well, fishing more so. Salmon fishing in that area is excellent."

"Fishing. Why the hell didn't I think of that when we were all starving up there and game was so scarce." He shook his head questioning himself.

"I don't know Mr. Morgan because they make for some fantastic eatin'. Put some butter in a pan and....." As she went on explaining the trick to perfect pan fried salmon with a smile on her face Arthur found himself entranced by her silver gray eyes and the way the sun reflected off of them and made them sparkle. She was only a few inches shorter than he was, at least 5'9". She wasn't some fragile, delicate woman by any means. She had strong legs that went on for days. She wore a leather vest under her coat that fit her snuggly, hugging her form. The vest V-necked and it appeared she had nothing on under it causing Arthur to blush when he saw her cleavage. Thankfully she didn't seem to notice. Any extra body fat on this woman she carried in all the right places from what Arthur could tell. "....which is what's most important anyways, right?" She asked in summary of the conversation that Arthur had been far too distracted to be paying attention to.

"Uuhhh, right, exactly." He responded, attempting to play it off.

"So tell me Mr. Morgan, what brings you and, I assume, the rest of your 'family' down around Valentine?"

"Once again I could ask you the same thing." Arthur replies.

Kay laughs then nods in agreement. "Okay, okay. So after my fishing venture I decided to sell some of my haul and as far as I know Valentine is the first stop on the way back down from the mountains that has a butcher. That, and there's always a poker game I can clean up at in the saloon. Top it off with a nice hot bath at the hotel, and well I decided Valentine sounded like my best bet."

"You stayin' at the hotel then?"

"Actually I've got myself a little campsite set up not too far out of town."

"Just you? Isn't it a bit dangerous for a lady to be traveling all alone out in nature?"

"Well I do know how to handle my firearms. Pretty well in fact. Not to mention I'm not really alone. I've always got my friend nearby watching my back better than any person could." She side smiled.

"Of course, I almost forgot. Where is yer large furry friend anyways?" Arthur asked uneasily as he casually looked around.

"He's not far. He won't follow me into town but he'll hang around the outskirts somewhere close." Her horse snorted and pawed at the ground, growing impatient.

"Relax buddy, we'll go in a minute. Sorry, he's a pretty high strung horse with very limited patience." She commented while petting the horses strong neck. "I should probably get going."

"Could I interest you in a drink first? We could go to that little saloon over just passed the gunsmith's. Little less busy over there." Arthur asked before she could mount up. He had more he wanted to know and he wasn't ready for their conversation to be over yet. She looked at him for a moment, her piercing eyes looking as if they were scanning Arthur's deepest darkest secrets just through eye contact.

"Sure, okay. Why not?" She finally replied with a half smile.