Red Dead Redemption

Greene Acre Chapter 2

Black Belle, Ashley Gallagher

Ashley had been with Belle only a few days, and she hadn't realized how exhausting it was riding horses all day. She ached in places she didn't think could ache, her legs sore from spending all day in the saddle, but she had quickly picked up on Belle's routine.

When they stopped to make camp at night, Ashley would set up a small camp fire, just large enough to cook the nights dinner, and the next morning's coffee. Belle was insistent that she set up her own bed roll, but she reluctantly allowed Ashley brush down her horse every night before taking care of her own horse. Ashley did the hunting, usually trapping small rodents or birds for their supper. The two women sat alone apart from each other until they fell asleep.

Five days after leaving Greene Acre, Ashley and Black Belle had stopped in a small grove of old trees, creaking in the wind.

"This looks like as good a place as any to set up camp," Belle said, pulling her horse to a stop. Ashley nodded silently and quickly began setting up camp. She gathered rocks to form a small fire pit, walking into the surrounding woods to gather sticks for the fire. When she got back to the camp, Belle had already set up her bedroll and was unsaddling her horse.

"I could have done that for you Ms. Belle," Ashley said, setting the stack of wood by the fire pit.

"You could have, but sometimes, I like to care for 'ol Jake myself." She dropped her saddle on the ground and pulled a brush from her saddle bags. "It helps to take my mind off things." Ashley sighed and began building the fire.

"After I get this fire going, I'm gonna go see if I can't find some fresh meat." Belle hummed in understanding, leaving Ashley to go hunting for something to eat. Ashley grabbed a small length of string and a hunting knife the Belle had given her. She walked into the woods and and began searching for any sign of small game in the area. She found some small tracks of what she figured was a squirrel or maybe a small rabbit.

She followed the tracks a short way, setting up a trap in an area where there seemed to be a lot of activity. She trailed a lead back from the trap and waited for anything to move over the trap. After only a few minutes, Ashley spotted a rabbit sniffing at the trap. She smiled as the rabbit stepped into the trap, and she pulled it closed, cinching the rabbits back feet into the string.

"Sorry little thing," she said,wringing it's neck with a quick jerk, exactly like her mother taught her. She slung the rabbit over her shoulder and quickly made her way back to the temporary camp. On her way back to the camp fire, she found a small bush of berries they could have after their supper. When Ashley walked back into camp, a small bag of berries in one hand, the rabbit in the other, she found Belle sat with her back against a tree, her eyes scanning over pages of a book as she scratched Duke behind the ears.

"I caught a rabbit," Ashley announced, setting the bag of berries down next to the fire pit before moving to the edge of camp to skin the rabbit.

"Save the skin," Belle said, not looking up from her book, "we can sell it when we get to town." Ashley nodded and began skinning the rabbit, making sure the save the skin to sell. She laid the skin out to dry and took the rabbit over to the fire. She put the rabbit on a spit and let it cook.

While their dinner cooked, Ashley took her saddle off of her horse, setting it behind Belle's. She began brushing her horse, whispering sweet calming things to it, feeding it little treats. She brushed the horse until she could hear the sizzling of the rabbit on the fire. She tossed the brush back into the saddlebag and went to pull the rabbit off the fire, moving the spit so it wasn't directly over the fire.

"Smells good kid," Belle said, setting her book aside.

"Well," Ashley said, using her hunting knife to pull some meat from the body, "it's falling off the bones." Belle chuckled and grabbed the plates, bringing them over so the two could split the meat from the hare. After they had picked the bones clean, they sat back and relaxed. Ashley set up her bedroll and lay on her back, looking up at the branches above her.

"What made you go on the run," she asked, turning to look at Belle. The question had been burning in the back of her mind for days, but she had only just worked up the nerve to ask. The older woman looked up from her book and smiled.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Ashley propped herself up on her elbows and thought about it for a moment.

"Yes ma'am," Ashley said, sitting up all the way. "Was it a mistake?" Belle laughed and set her book aside.

"No, it wasn't. I robbed a stagecoach in Rhodes," she said, her fingers brushing down the material of her black skirts. Ashley leaned forward to listen to Belle tell the story. "My family, once a well to-do group from Missouri, were on the down and out after the war, ended up in Lemoyne. We needed the money, and I heard a had the ability to get it." Ashley hung on Belle's every word, staring at the older woman as she recounted her first robbery.

After the tale was over, Ashley was yawning, trying not to fall asleep. The fire had died down so it was barely embers, just enough to keep the two if them warm. Belle chuckled softly to herself, watching the younger girl struggle not to fall asleep.

"You must have lead a charmed life," Ashley joked, yawning as she repositioned herself on her bedding.

"Go to bed kid," she said, laying down on her own bedroll with a chuckle.

"I'm sorry about your family," Ashley yawned, curling up in her bedroll, closing her eyes. "But I'm glad you made it out alive." Belle smiled at the girl's sincerity, pulling her blanket over herself. 

"That's alright kid," Belle said, closing her own eyes, "just don't go dying on me, alright?" But Ashley was already asleep, so Maybelle Elizabeth Colter's words went unheard, floating up into the night along with the campfire smoke until it was drowned out by the crickets chirping in the darkness.