Hell or Blackwater (A RDR2 Fanfiction)

One

Elizabeth sat quietly, letting her body sway with the movement of the train. Her eyes were fixed upon the box in front of her. Everyday of the trip she had read the letters over again and again. So much time, so much life, and so much of her family was in the box before her. Her trip was a one way ticket to Blackwater in West Elizabeth. That was where the last letter had been sent from and she hoped that her family would still be there. The last letter had come from a person she least expected it to. Dutch Van Der Linde had sent that last letter. The letter came from a place of pity and shame. 

                       Dear Elizabeth

              I deeply regret never writing to you in all of the years that you have been gone. I fear that you may never forgive me for what I have done to you and to your family. Your father has come a long way since your mother's death. I understand why you have never responded to any of the letters, although your mother never did. She did blame me up until the day she died for you never coming back to us. I wish you had written to at least your mother, she craved your love, begged for it. She almost sent one of us to New York just to find you a few times. Your father also said it was a bad idea. Arthur considered it a few times. He did miss his partner in crime, especially after John left too. I do hope someday you will come to visit us. Even I find myself missing you some days. This letter also serves as an apology. You have probably long figured out the reason your parents sent you far away from the rest of us. I did play some hand in that decision. I will spare you the details until I can tell you face to face, but I do apologize for forcing you out of this gang, of this family, when you clearly and truly belonged here.

                     With all due respect,

                      Dutch Van Der Linde. 

Elizabeth had read that letter in particular the most. She had no idea that Dutch played any part in her parents sending her away to the East. Her parents had forced her into the idea of leaving the gang and heading to the East to go to school. They had always hoped she would grow into a woman. They hoped she would become a woman of high class, one that married into a wealthy family, one that never would have to use a gun to survive. What her parents did not know was that even though she had gone to the East, she had continued to practice her showmanship. She had gone hunting with her husband a few times in the Dakota territory, as many Eastern gentleman had done before they had. Many times, especially on those hunting excursions, Elizabeth had fallen back into her roots, showing the cowpokes and cowhands how to ride a horse and shoot a gun while being chased, how to lasso a person and swiftly hog tie them. Some had been impressed, many were confused.

Elizabeth smiled, she often looked back on those times fondly. That was the only time she had felt like she belonged for a long time. She looked up from the box and out the train window. The sun was rising as dawn ascended onto the land. She saw one of the conductors of the train walking up and down the aisle, looming over the sleeping passengers. When he came to her seat, he gave her a smile and tipped his hat.

"I must ask, how much further until Blackwater?" She spoke, her voice low as to not disrupt the other passengers.

"We will be there around noon. Right on time." The man smiled again before tipping his hat a second time to her and moving past her seat. She let out a deep breath and continued her gaze out the window. Only a few hours left in the train before she would hopefully come to a fuller understanding on everything that the last fifteen years had kept from her. 

She began to think about her late husband. A tinge of pain began to dig into her heart. Her husband was a good man and he had taken care of her. They were more companions than lovers, they had never had children because they did not sleep in the same bed or even in the same room. On their wedding night, they made a pact and a promise to one another to never become romantically involved with one another, and it had worked out just fine. Both of them loved others, of course, Elizabeth had a love for someone whom was no longer in her life, and Richard's love was considered to be a sin. Yet, they still found common ground in their marriage and got along just fine.