Cowboys and Angels

Chapter Twenty-Two

Author's note: This chapter's song is "In Case You Didn't Know"  by Brett Young. I'll link it above. Also sorry for the crappy German translations. Enjoy!

Arthur and Adeline were sat around the fire eating some stew Pearson had made earlier because neither of the two had been in camp for dinner. Almost as soon as they took their first bite, Dutch had come over and interrupted them. "Arthur, I need you and Charles to go ahead and scope out a new camp location near Dewberry Creek. Micah told us about the location," Dutch said.

Arthur sighed quietly and put down his bowl. "Of course he did," He grumbled. "I'll get Charles and get ready to mount up."

Adeline looked from him to Dutch, "Can I come too?"

Dutch looked at her with confusion, "You've gotta be exhausted. You were in a shoot out and jumped off a cliff into a freezing river." Arthur nodded in agreement.

"Pshhhh, I basically do that stuff every day, it's nothing- really." Adeline said.

Arthur and Dutch looked to each other and back to her again. It was like they were silently communicating. "It's fine with me," Arthur said.

"It's settled then." Dutch said. "Arthur, you get to the campsite early and make sure it's empty and we will follow you shortly."

Arthur nodded. "I'll go get Charles," He said. Dutch nodded and went back to packing his tent. Arthur went to fond Charles and Adeline finished her stew.

~~~

The three had been riding South for what felt like ages now. Dutch didn't seem like the down south man but he was a man on the run so anywhere where the law wasn't would be fine for him.The land slowly became less hilly and more flat. They occasionally ran into marshes and bogs that produced humid air. At long last, Arthur spoke up, "this is it."

"It seems like somebody got here before us," Charles said, pointing at the dead body face down in the dried up creek.

As they rounded the corner, a small camp with wagons and tents came into view. It looked abandoned. "We should check it out," Arthur said. The three approached the tents and wagons to find it empty and abandoned. There were plates of half eaten food left out, clothes strewn about, and guns on tables.

"Whoever was here first must have left in a hurry," Adeline said, picking up an open book from a table.

Arthur and Charles were quiet. The concentrated on something Adeline couldn't understand. "Do you hear that?" Charles asked.

Once she really concentrated, she could hear it. It was a faint shaking and whimpering noise. Arthur and Charles were already on their way over to the wagon where the noise was coming from. Adeline followed closely behind them. She didn't have a gun so if whatever was hear was threatening, she would have to rely on Charles and Arthur for protection. They moved a plank of wood from in front of the wagon to find a mother and her two children. They were trembling in fear as they desperately held a shot gun in front of them.

"Well what do we have here?" Arthur asked. They trembled more.

"We won't hurt you," Charles said.

The woman looked confused. "Sprechen Sie Deutsch?"

Adeline was thankful, for once, that her grandparents paid for her to have the best private tutor money could buy. She knew how to speak German almost fluently. "No, this is Amer-" Arthur began.

"Ja, Ich spreche Deutsch," Adeline exclaimed as she shoved her way through Arthur and Charles. From her peripherals, Adeline could see Arthur and Charles share a surprised look.