Lonesome | Arthur Morgan

Chapter 13

"Well, this is your last job of the day right? Before dinner?" Lilian nodded to Mary-Beth as she folded the shirt after finishing the sewing. "Well me, Karen and Tilly are going out for a swim if you want to? The boys and Sadie are going out so there will be no disturbances and the water in the lake is still warm. I mean there is Kieran left here but he won't rat on us or Karen will have his balls served up for dinner tomorrow. " There was a large lake that was at the bottom of the hill the camp was set up on. It was usually free from other peoples usage so was relatively safe for the girls to mess about in. The group usually used it for fishing, but once or twice the girls had used it to bathe.

As Mary-Beth looked at her with a cheeky grin, Lilian looked around with a perturbed expression. "But... I don't know." She looked down at her lap and fiddled with the needle and cotton in her hand.

"It may take your mind off of the silly old cowboy..." Mary-Beth gave a small, comforting smile, obviously wanting to tread lightly on the subject of Arthur. Lilian looked over to the back of Arthur where he left in laughter with the men toward the horses. The sight of seeing Arthur caused her face to screw into a scowl then soon turn to soft frown.

"Fine lets go!" Lilian stood quickly, holding her head high. She needed to let go for a bit, leg go of thoughts and go numb for a short while. Mary-Beth giggles with excitement, running to Karen and Tilly who were excited also to have some free reckless time. Lilian dropped Charles's shirts outside his tent before following the girls down the path to the lake. Abigail and Miss Grimshaw had saw the girls heading away, making them both roll their eyes but chuckle as they knew how nice it was when the men had left even if it was for a short while. "They'll be back in two hours we guess, so hurry and don't let them catch you." Miss Grimshaw calls to them which the girls blatantly ignore as they get lost in conversation. Molly never took part in the girls shenanigans as she was too concerned about Dutch or it was because her and Karen had another disagreement.

When the girls had reached the lake, Karen made sure they were at a closed off part of the dirt that was close to camp and hidden by trees so passers wouldn't notice them even though it was soon to go dark. "Right girls, lets get out of these dingy things. Make the most of these two hours before the half-witted thirteen get back." Karen jokes, earning a giggle from each girl. They all begin to undress, Lilian being slower as she was cautious and shy about the whole experience. She had barely had close friends before never mind swimming naked with a few girls she had known for less than a few weeks.

"Half-witted? Don't be too kind, Karen." Tilly titters, soon entering the lake with the others. The girls dresses and underwear were hung over a near branch that kept away from the lake so they weren't in risk of being ruined and covered in dirt.

As Lilian entered the water cautiously, she felt the warmth begin to engulf her body. Whilst the other three girls were bathing and in conversation, Lilian was inattentive at most times as she looked out over the lake and up to the hills that surrounded them, revelling at the the small sense of freedom she felt as she unloaded a heavy sigh. Those gentle blue eyes closed slowly as Lilian fell backwards effortlessly into the water where her body rocked softly against the ripples of the lake.

After an hour, although the girls thought they were to remain in a calm space for awhile, the girls session was about to end shorter than planned unfortunately due to to the close and unexpected arrival of the men and Sadie being back from the business they had to take care of. Grimshaw and Abigail were busy tending to chores before they saw Jack running quickly from his post by his and Abigail's tent to tug at his mothers shawl. "Mama, didn't you say Miss Lilian, Miss Karen, Miss Tilly and Miss Mary-Beth weren't aloud to be caught by that lot?" Jack spoke as he pointed towards the trees where he could hear laugh and chatter in between the sound of horse hooves galloping towards camp. Abigail nor Miss Grimshaw could get to the girls quick enough to warn them as they watched the men emerge through the trees.