Cowboys and Angels

Chapter Fifteen

Author's note: this chapter's song is "the Gambler" by Kenny Rogers. I'll link it above.

Over the next few days, Adeline was finally getting used to camp. She especially enjoyed Abigail, Jack, and Hosea's company. Abigail was easy to talk to and she didn't fuss over Adeline. She acted like Adeline was a normal member of this camp and not like she had just lost everything and almost been killed. It was refreshing to not be babied constantly. And Jack, she just adored Jack. He was so sweet. He picked her and Abigail flowers almost everyday and he liked to ask Adeline about New York City. Hosea was a wise old man and Adeline loved listening to his stories. He was an outlaw but you would never have known if he didn't say it because he was so kind. He told her stories of the wild west, the gang's early days, and even Arthur.

There had been no trace of Arthur for days. He and some of the other men were going to rescue another member of named Sean. Mary-Beth had explained to Adeline that Karen and Sean were an on-again off-again type couple. If you could even call them a couple. Mary-Beth was glad that she could now tease Karen about Sean instead of herself always being the one getting made fun of for helping Kieran.

"Did I ever tell you about the time Arthur got bit by a snake and John had to suck out the venom?" Hosea asked Adeline. The two were sitting by the fire that evening eating their dinner. Abigail held a sleeping Jack in her arms next to Hosea and Mary-Beth next to her.

"No, I don't think so," Adeline answered.

"Oh, I've heard this one, alright." Abigail said.

Hosea smiled at her before turning back to Adeline. "Arthur and John got drunk one night and after they drank themselves silly, they fell asleep- both under the same tree. The snake had been there the entire time, they just thought it was a tree root sticking up from the ground." Adeline laughed at the image of a drunk Arthur. It sure seemed accurate. Hosea continued, "It bit Arthur's leg- and after shooting it, he insisted it was a rattlesnake. Drunken John offered to suck out the venom. Dutch and I just happened to walk by and see what was going on. I took one look at the dead snake and knew it wasn't deadly. But I wasn't going to tell Arthur and John that. We let John sit there, sucking at Arthur's leg. When they finally gave up, we eventually told them and boy were they embarrassed."

Adeline laughed at the story. She would have liked to see it happen in person. "That's hilarious. How long did they sit there, trying to suck the venom out?"

"Maybe fifteen minutes," Hosea answered with a laugh. Their fun story was interrupted by Pearson yelling something.

"We're gonna need more food, soon. One of you's is gonna have to go hunting or get us some food from Valentine." He said to their group, the only people that were still awake.

Adeline desperately wanted to prove her worth to the rest of camp. "I'll go," She announced. Pearson nodded his head and left, satisfied with finding somebody to go so easily.

"You can hunt?" Hosea asked.

"No," She began. "Well, I'm sure I could if I tried hard enough but I'll just go to Valentine for some supplies."

"By yourself?" He asked again. "It's awfully dangerous with all the O'Driscolls snooping about." Hosea informed.

"I won't be alone." She said. "Abigail, would you and Jack like to come?"

Abigail smiled. "I would love to, but what if something goes wrong. I can't endanger Jack like that."

"I'll watch over him. You two go and get everything we need. He'll be in good care here." Hosea offered.

Abigail's eyes lit up. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," Hosea answered, looking fondly at the boy.