Unshaken

43

DISCLAIMER: Drinking while pregnant is bad. Don't do it. That being said, back in the time period that red dead was set, that wasn't a known fact.

_______________________

I had lost my fight. I allowed them to drag me back to camp and I sat silently, staring at the space I shared with Arthur as they loaded one of the wagons.

"Cleet." Micah called. "Go on over there and get the lady's trunk."

Cleet nodded as he obeyed. 

Once the wagon was loaded up, Micah's hand wrapped around my forearm, jerking me from the place I was seated. "Time to go." He tossed me into the back of the wagon. "Joe, you sit back there. Make sure she don't try to make a run for it."

I was numb. I sat in the back in silence as Micah sang songs and we made our way to some new spot far away from Beaver Hollow. 

By the time we found a place Micah was pleased enough with, it was growing dark. 

"There she is, boys. Mount Shann." Micah chuckled. "Isn't that a sight, Florence?"

"It's a damn mountain." I growled.

"It's gonna be your view for the foreseeable future, so you'd better learn to appreciate it." He looked to Cleet, who was driving the wagon. "We're goin' over there, to Hawks Eye Creek. Just find somewhere that looks like we'd be able to see someone comin' and we'll set up there."

The wagon came to a stop next to the creek and I was once again dragged from my seat.

A box was dropped on the ground and I was placed, roughly, on top of it.

"Here." Micah pulled a bottle of whiskey from the wagon and thrust it into my hand. "Get to drinkin'."

"What?"

"We had a deal remember? Once Morgan's dead and you're good and drunk..." He chuckled lowly, sending a shiver of disgust crawling through me. "You ain't gettin' out of it." He sat on a box opposite me and watched as I pulled the cork from the bottle and turned it up, snarling at the burn as I drank it down. 

"I'll join." He grabbed his own bottle. "A victory drink." He drained a good portion of the bottle with a smile.

I had to keep my head. I wouldn't give myself to him, no matter what I'd said in the past.

Each time he would turn his bottle up, I would pour some of mine on the ground as discreetly as possible.

He finished one bottle and went for another, swaying in the seat as he reached.

"Been some time since I been with someone that looked like you." He slurred. "I'm really gonna enjoy this."

"Shut up and keep drinkin'." I rolled my eyes and took another small sip, making it appear as though I took more than I did.

Cleet and Joe set up the tents and took to their own bottles, pacing themselves to avoid getting into Micah's position.

His eyes drooped and he stood from his spot, almost falling over as he did. "Let's go. I'm tired of waitin'." He demanded as he grabbed me and pulled me towards his tent.

It was obvious he wasn't going to stay awake for the experience, assuming there would be one.

He laid on his cot, kicking off his boots and folding his hands behind his head as he relaxed. "Get undressed." He ordered and watched me, barely keeping himself awake.

I let Arthur's jacket fall from my shoulders and onto the ground and I heard him hum, low and slow. His eyes slid closed and his chest began to rise and fall in a steady pace.