"Ah, Miss Peters," Grace hears the snake like voice call out to her. Grace dismounts at the camp with Arthur, the two of them hitching their horses.
"Have fun," Arthur muttered to Grace as Micah approached them. His snake eyes stuck of Arthur as Arthur walked away, a look of hatred in his eyes. Micah turned his attention back to Grace.
"How did your horse robbery go?" Micah asked. His attempt of trying to sound interested was slack.
"What do you want, Micah?" Grace questioned with a sigh. Micah chuckled lightly, finding Grace humorous.
"You've always been one of jokes, ain't you?" Micah stated. Grace shifted her weight from one leg to the other, growing sick of Micah's company. "You've always been interestin' to me."
"What are you getting at?" Grace snapped, growing agitated. Micah took a step towards Grace, Grace holding her breath slightly. Micah's eyes looked her up and down, causing Grace to feel sick.
"You ain't like the others. You're a real woman," Micah kept his voice low. Grace glared at him. "You can handle yourself, Miss. That makes me feel something," Micah continued. Grace froze as she felt Micah's hand grip her hand. Grace's jaw tightened as she stared at him before with her free hand she slapped him across the face. Micah chuckled as he let go, rubbing the side of his face that was red. "Hard to get, aye?" Micah hissed. Grace marched away, leaving him. The blonde man chuckled to himself before slipping away to somewhere, Grace couldn't care to where he was off to. Grace walked around to the back of Dutch's tent, halfing her share and putting half into the box. Grace closed the box and turned, jumping as Molly stood next to her.
"Jesus, Molly!" Grace gasped, calming herself. Molly stood with Grace, her small pocket mirror in her hand by her side.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to frighten ya," Molly's strong Irish accent apologised.
"It's fine. Is something wrong?" Grace questioned, noticing Molly had a look of concern on her face. Molly looked hesitate to speak before she finally gave in.
"It's Dutch. He just don't seem to want me around anymore," Molly explained, sounding upset. Grace sighed, resting a hand on the barrel the box was on. "I love him, I do. But he... am I doing something wrong?" Molly continued quickly, trying to keep Grace interested.
"What do you mean?" Grace asked, wanting Molly to evaluate more on how she could possibly be doing something wrong.
"Well... he just seems more interested in Miss Gaskill. He knows I love him but why... why is he doing this to me?" Molly explained further. Grace shook her head, removing her hand from the barrel.
"I'm sorry but I'm not the one to talk to about love," Grace explained, trying to sound as nice as possible. Molly frowned slightly.
"What do you mean?" Molly question. Grace, growing confused placed her hands on her hips as she looked at the red-haired lady.
"What do you mean?" Grace questioned. Molly's face reddened slightly, growing flustered.
"Well... I thought you and Arthur..."
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah. I thought you two had something goin' on! You are always with him, a lot more lately than usual. I saw him leave your tent the other night so I just assumed-"
"Look, nothing is happening with Arthur and I," Grace assured. Molly stood their quietly, not knowing what else to say since she had made things awkward. "Go talk to Abigail, she'll know more than me," Grace insisted. Molly nodded before hesitating, not wanting to leave Grace.
"Do you think she'll want to talk to me?" Molly asked, her voice soft and small. Grace tilted her head slightly, placing a hand on Molly's shoulder.
"Of course! Abigail likes to support all us women," Grace explained. Molly nodded, taking a deep breath before walking past Grace towards the main camp fire. Grace took a deep breath before walking towards her tent. Grace ran a hand over her face when she stood in her tent, removing her coat and hat. She sat down in the wooden chair at the end of her cot. If Molly though that her and Arthur were a thing, did everyone else? Did Arthur care about her more than what he makes out? Grace sat by herself for a while, overthinking about what Molly had said about her and Arthur. She couldn't help but imagine if Arthur had maybe said something to someone. Grace sighed, shaking her head slowly to herself. She knew she shouldn't be getting herself worked up over this. Like Molly said, she assumed. Assumptions are nothing. Grace reached under her cot, pulling out towards her a chest. She opened it and grabbed a flask, unscrewing the lid before pouring the liquid down her throat. He nose screwed up as she swallowed, the strong liquid getting to her. She closed the flask and placed it back in the chest before pushing the chest back under her cot. She pushed herself out of her chair with a sigh and left her tent, feeling slightly refreshed after having a sip of alcohol.
She stood out into the camp which was buzzing alive. Grace saw Susan, Pearson, Strauss and Arthur at the poker table, playing a game. From the outside of her tent she watched as Arthur flicked his hand, placing it on the table with a sly grin before taking the chips from the pot. Grace grinned to herself, he didn't smile much but when he did, it was generally happy. Sure he laughed although half the time it was because of annoyance. Especially with Micah. Just the thought of Micah's name made her feel sick. She looked away from the poker table, spotting Molly talking to Abigail by her and Jack's tent near the fire. Molly didn't look too happy with Abigail and Grace knew why. Abigail would've told Molly exactly what Grace wanted to, Dutch doesn't love her. Grace felt sorry for Miss O'Shea because she was madly and deeply in love with him but everyone knew he didn't love her, not the way she wanted to be loved anyway.
"You don't understand!" Molly cried out, refusing what Abigail was telling her. Grace saw Abigail say something else to Molly which cause Molly to look away, she looked heartbroken. "Well...well...well you don't!" Molly cried out again before marching off in a hurry, towards the lake. Grace sighed to herself as Abigail watched Molly with sorry eyes. Grace approached the poker table, standing on Arthur's left before placing a hand gently down on his shoulder. He looked up before giving her a small grin, showing her his hand.
"I bet I've got this again," Arthur boasted. Grace looked down at his hand, looking at the two cards which totalled a possible win.
"Looks like it, although don't get so cocky," Grace joked. Arthur turned away from her before checking. "When you're done, could we talk?" Grace asked. Arthur nodded.
"Everything okay?" He asked. Grace nodded and he turned back to his game, Grace standing as she watched the game play out in front of her. Before she knew it they were revealing their cards, Arthur placing his cards down to show. Grace watched as a grin crept onto Miss Grimshaw's face before she showed her cards, winning. "Shit," Arthur muttered to himself.
"There's always next time, Arthur," Pearson reminded. Arthur watched in shame as Susan scooped up the pot, guiding it towards her. Arthur got out of his seat while informing the others he was done for the evening. Grace led Arthur towards the lake so they could talk in privacy.
"Is it Micah?" Arthur asked once they stopped by the lake. Grace watched as he bent down to pick up a pebble. "Ignore him, he isn't worth even thinking about," Arthur grunted as he tossed the pebble towards the lake, the pebble skimming over the surface.
"No, it's not. Although I did slap him," Grace muttered. She hoped she was quiet enough that he didn't hear but Arthur heard. He stopped, looking at her.
"You what?" Arthur chuckled before shaking his head and pointing at her for a second before throwing another pebble. "He won't ever forget that and he'll for sure annoy you about it."
"Well if he is lucky, next time it might be a bullet," Grace scoffed as she picked up a pebble by her boot, joining Arthur in throwing pebbles. "I actually wanted to talk to you about something Molly said," Grace started. Arthur stopped, looking at her once again. Grace looked down at the pebble that she wiggled in her fingers. "She assumed that we are together."
"Does everyone think that?" Arthur questioned, hitching his breath. Grace shrugged before finally feeling confident. Grace turned to face Arthur, staring at the man.
"Arthur, do you have feelings for me? You've just been acting strange towards me lately. A bit more friendly than usual and the other day you said-"
"I know what I said," Arthur cut her off, stopping her from explaining why she thought that. Arthur threw the pebble in his hand before turning to face her as well. "And I don't know how I feel, if I'm honest."
"What do you mean?"
Arthur hesitated before taking a step closer to Grace, his eyes piercing into hers.
"You're wild. You're different to every women I've ever known and there is something about that that makes me speechless at times. But you deserve better than me, we both know that," Arthur started. "You're an amazing person and so beautifully dangerous. Everything a man could want but I would feel so guilty if you were mine because you deserve someone better."
Grace stood there silently, still staring at him. Arthur didn't say another word before walking away, leaving Grace standing by the edge of the water alone.
I tried to use a picture that looks similar to Molly ♡