Opportunity (Micah Bell x OC)

Chapter 4

"Now you only need to steal from Micah and that would be you final test" Hosea joked. They were both sitting at a table drinking some coffee when the heard a horse galloping into camp.

"They got Micah! Dutch" a clearly distressed Lenny shouted while climbing down his horse.

"What's going on?" Dutch asked. Everyone was now looking at the men.

"They got Micah! He, he's been arrested for murder. He was in Strawberry and" Lenny said while moving his arm frantically in the air.

"It's okay son, breath..." Dutch tried to calm Lenny. Arthur and Molly were with him, listening to the poor boy.

"They nearly lynched me. They... they got Micah in the sheriff's in Strawberry... and there's talk of hanging him" Lenny explained, still trying to catch his breath. Dutch was then trying to convince Arthur to go and rescue Micah, but Arthur seemed more than reticent at the idea.

Elizabeth looked at Hosea with a worried expression. He smile at her and took her hand.

"Don't worry, Arthur's gonna go help him" Hosea said as he squeezed Elizabeth's hand.

She noticed during those days at the camp that people all seemed to not really like Micah. They all seemed more worried about Lenny's absence than Micah's. And now Arthur too, who was normally ready to help anyone. She was not sure why everyone except Dutch seemed to dislike him that much.

***

A few days passed since Arthur went to saved Micah. When they both came back to camp on a late afternoon, Elizabeth was down at the river cleaning some clothes with other girls. They came back to camp when it was getting to dark, talking and laughing. The moment Elizabeth saw the blond outlaw, sitting alone at the campfire, she stopped for a moment. "He's back" she though. She excused herself and headed toward him.

"Mind if I join you?" Elizabeth asked quietly. Micah only shrugged, not taking his eyes from the fire. Elizabeth sat beside him, not too close. She looked at him and saw his face, full of bruises and cuts, with still some dry blood.

"You should clean your wounds to avoid infection" Elizabeth said a bit hesitantly. No answer.

"Micah?" she said a bit louder.

"Why do you even care? I don't need you pity!" Micah said harshly, still not looking at her.

Elizabeth was surprised by his question, and also by the anger behind his tone. She sighted discretely.

"Why wouldn't I? You've already helped me so much. It's only normal that I want to help you too" She said softly with a small smile.

Micah looked at her for the first time since he came back from Strawberry. He was confused, not used of people genuinely caring for him. And her smile. What did he do to deserve such a warm smile?

"Alright" he sighted, looking down at his lap.

Elizabeth's smile grew a bit as she stood up quickly to go and gather some materials. She came back and kneeled in front of him.

"Can I?" she asked while raising her hands near Micah's with hat. He simply nodded, still looking at his lap.

She took his hat of and put it on a crate next to them. She then took a bit of cloth that she dipped in water before carefully rubbing it on Micah's face to remove any blood, dust or mud. Micah finally dared to look at her. She had a serious expression on her face, her brows slightly furrowed. She was also biting her lips a bit. Micah's gaze stayed a few seconds on her pink lips.

"It might sting a little" she said as she poured alcohol on a clean rag. Micah closed his eyes when Elizabeth patted the rag on his wound. When she was done, she cleaned her hand before putting everything aside.