"Hey! Who the hell are you?"
I stopped where I was. I had just picked some Yarrow and some Raspberries. I stared at the man holding a repeater. He stared at me for a few minutes before cocking his head.
"You followin me?" He asked, smirking.
"Excuse me?" I said, placing my hand on the grip of my pistol, "I should be asking you that."
"I was here first."
Cocky.
I stared at the man for a while. I glanced behind him before seeing a bunch of people. There was a couple dozen at least. I spotted the fine dressed man who bumped into me at the saloon. He was walking towards us.
"Arthur, who's this?" He sized me up and down before smiling. "Oh, it's you."
"Who the hell are you people?"
"Well, we can't exactly tell you unless we can trust you." The well dressed man said with a chuckle.
"What? You some kind of outlaws?"
"As I said, we can't tell you."
I raised my eyebrow. "What's your name?" I stared at the man.
He cocked his head before looking to the other man, whom I now knew was Arthur. "Should I tell her?" He said quietly. Arthur nodded his head. The other man turned to me. "I'm gonna tell you my name, but if I hear that you went to the law, we will not hesitate to kill you."
"Noted."
"My name is Dutch Van Der Linde. This here is Arthur Morgan."
"Dutch? As in Dutch's boys?"
He nodded his head. "The one and only."
I chuckled. "There's a high price on your head, Mr. Van Der Linde." I shook my head. "But I ain't after money."
Arthur cocked his head again. He glanced at Dutch before looking back at me. "What are you after then?"
"Revenge."
*****
Dutch invited me to his tent, and Arthur followed. I was given cold glances by an orange haired woman with a heavy Irish accent.
"So what's your name?" Dutch asked as I sat down in a chair.
"Rose." I glanced around the camp. "There's a lot of people here."
"All part of the Van Der Linde gang." He replied with a chuckle. "Except for that boy over there," he pointed to a man tied to a tree. "He's an O'Driscoll."
My heart froze as I heard that name. My face went pale. Arthur noticed my eyes widen. He placed a hand on my knee and I jumped, looking over to him.
"You okay?"
I cleared my throat and nodded. "I'm fine."
"You don't look fine."
I shook my head and rubbed my face. "Really, I'm fine."
He shrugged and looked over to Dutch.
"Now, Miss Rose, you said you were after revenge?" He said, more of a question than a comment.
"Yeah," I rubbed my arm, "for my fathers murder."
His eyes got wide and he looked down at the ground. "Who killed your father?"
"O'Driscolls."
"Well, ain't that just grand," he let out a low sigh, "can we offer any assistance?"
I shook my head. "No." I stood. "I appreciate the offer, but this is something I need to do." I turned on my heel, heading out of the camp. I whistled and Whiskey came trotting out of the grove of trees. I climbed up and began to trot down the path.
It wasn't long before nightfall. I spotted a nice open area and decided to set up camp for the night. After a fire started, I sat down in my tent. I laid on my back, memories of my Pa sparking in my head. They brought tears rolling down my cheeks.
However, my memories were quickly interrupted when I heard horse hooves coming my way. I got out my pistol, loading it up before pulling back the hammer. I then stayed quiet.
"Hold on," I heard a Mexican voice say, "I recognize that horse."
"Aye, don't matter if you recognize it," an Irish man began, "it's free things! Let's just rob the person and get the hell out of here."
"No," I heard Arthur's voice, "we ain't robbing this person."
"Why the hell not?"
"That's Rose's horse."
I rolled my eyes and stepped out. The three men froze.
"Smart choice, boys," I said, holstering my pistol, "I don't take too kind to robbers."
"Dats the girl you been going on about?" The Irish man whistled, "I don't blame ya. She's a beauty."
Arthur punched him in the arm, causing him to wince. The Mexican laughed as Arthur shook his hand.
I smirked. "I think you three should leave."
"Oh, a feisty one," a blonde haired man appeared from the grove of trees.
"Shut up, Micah." Arthur growled.
"So now it's four of ya? How many people does it take to rob a campsite?"
Arthur chuckled and scratched the back of his neck. I shook my head and smiled. "Get the hell outta here."
They all nodded except for Micah and left. I sat down by the fire, stretching my hands out. I let out a sigh and looked up at the stars. It was a really peaceful night and the stars were bright. The moon casted shadows over the land. I tried to make out the constellations, each one that Pa had showed me. I soon became tired and crawled back into my tent.
*****
The next morning showed a bright orange sun, the darkness of night slowly fading away. I stretched out in my tent and stepped out, taking in the morning sun. I adjusted my hat on my head before packing up. I climbed up on Whiskey and began to trot to the next town.
After a few hours of trotting, I heard a man scream. I looked around and spotted a camp. A big man was tied to the post.
"Let me go, you bastards!"
"No," one of the three men said, "we're gonna see how much we can get off of you, Mr. Williamson."
"They won't give you shit!"
I got down from Whiskey, pulling my rifle from his saddle. "Stay," I whispered to him, bringing myself to a crouch. I inched closer to the camp. I hid behind a tree and loaded up my rifle. I aimed at the three men and killed all of them. I chuckled and walked over to the man. "Mr. Williamson, was it?"
"Yeah," he said as I cut his ropes off, "who the hell are you?"
"The woman who just saved your life." I put my knife back in its place, "now, is there somewhere I can take you?"
"I don't need any favors." He bit.
I looked around, seeing no horse in sight. "Well, seeing as you don't have a horse anywhere, I figured you might need a ride," I shrugged my shoulders, "but since you don't need any favors, I'll be on my way."
"Wait," he said, "I recognize you," he stared at me. "You're that woman who came into camp yesterday!" He laughed. "Arthur has been talking nonstop about you!"
"Another member of the Van Der Linde gang I assume?" I leaned into one leg.
"Yeah," he scratched the back of his neck.
I sighed and whistled. Whiskey came trotting over. "Come on then, I'll take you back to camp."
*****
"Bill," Dutch came over to us when we arrived in camp, "where have you been?"
"Some bounty hunters caught up with me."
"Were you followed?" He asked.
"No."
I got down from Whiskey. "This one of your gunmen?"
Dutch nodded. "Where did you come from?"
"Well, I just saved his life-"
"I didn't need saving from some woman."
"Really? B'cause from where I was standing, you were all tied up."
Bill grunted before storming away. I chuckled. Dutch let out a relieved laugh. "Thank you, Miss Rose."
"Anytime," I waved him off before heading towards Whiskey.
"Rose," Dutch caught me before I climbed up, "please, as thank you, why don't you stay with us?"
I looked him up and down to see if he was joking. No sign of that. I smiled before shaking my head. "I couldn't do that."
"Why not?"
"Well, one, I hardly know you any of you, and two, I ride on my own."
"Then at least let us give you a hot meal."
"Dutch-"
"Please," he smiled down at me, "it's the least I can do."
I sighed. "Well, okay." I reluctantly agreed. I followed him over to a small campfire. I noticed the Mexican I saw the day before sharpening his knife. He caught my gaze and waved. I tipped my hat to him. Dutch handed me a bowl of stew and a beer bottle. I took it thankfully and sat down at the small table. I looked around the camp a little bit more.
I felt tiny hands tugging at my pant leg. I looked down to see a little boy. I shifted myself so I was facing him. "Well hello there," I said with a smile, "what's your name?"
"Jack." He said, gleaming.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Jack."
"You're really pretty."
"Well, aren't you just the gentleman," I ruffled his hair, "seems like your father has raised you well."
"Pa's never around," he frowned, "but mama is."
"Oh yeah?" I looked around, "where is your mama?"
"Sewing with Auntie Karen." He pointed in the direction of two wagons. I saw a brown haired woman sitting next to a heavier set blonde woman. They were laughing.
"It was nice meeting you!" He said before walking away.
I smiled and returned to my stew, nursing the beer bottle as I drank.