Author's note: This chapter's song is "In Case You Didn't Know" by Brett Young. I'll link it above. Also sorry for the crappy German translations. Enjoy!
Arthur and Adeline were sat around the fire eating some stew Pearson had made earlier because neither of the two had been in camp for dinner. Almost as soon as they took their first bite, Dutch had come over and interrupted them. "Arthur, I need you and Charles to go ahead and scope out a new camp location near Dewberry Creek. Micah told us about the location," Dutch said.
Arthur sighed quietly and put down his bowl. "Of course he did," He grumbled. "I'll get Charles and get ready to mount up."
Adeline looked from him to Dutch, "Can I come too?"
Dutch looked at her with confusion, "You've gotta be exhausted. You were in a shoot out and jumped off a cliff into a freezing river." Arthur nodded in agreement.
"Pshhhh, I basically do that stuff every day, it's nothing- really." Adeline said.
Arthur and Dutch looked to each other and back to her again. It was like they were silently communicating. "It's fine with me," Arthur said.
"It's settled then." Dutch said. "Arthur, you get to the campsite early and make sure it's empty and we will follow you shortly."
Arthur nodded. "I'll go get Charles," He said. Dutch nodded and went back to packing his tent. Arthur went to fond Charles and Adeline finished her stew.
~~~
The three had been riding South for what felt like ages now. Dutch didn't seem like the down south man but he was a man on the run so anywhere where the law wasn't would be fine for him.The land slowly became less hilly and more flat. They occasionally ran into marshes and bogs that produced humid air. At long last, Arthur spoke up, "this is it."
"It seems like somebody got here before us," Charles said, pointing at the dead body face down in the dried up creek.
As they rounded the corner, a small camp with wagons and tents came into view. It looked abandoned. "We should check it out," Arthur said. The three approached the tents and wagons to find it empty and abandoned. There were plates of half eaten food left out, clothes strewn about, and guns on tables.
"Whoever was here first must have left in a hurry," Adeline said, picking up an open book from a table.
Arthur and Charles were quiet. The concentrated on something Adeline couldn't understand. "Do you hear that?" Charles asked.
Once she really concentrated, she could hear it. It was a faint shaking and whimpering noise. Arthur and Charles were already on their way over to the wagon where the noise was coming from. Adeline followed closely behind them. She didn't have a gun so if whatever was hear was threatening, she would have to rely on Charles and Arthur for protection. They moved a plank of wood from in front of the wagon to find a mother and her two children. They were trembling in fear as they desperately held a shot gun in front of them.
"Well what do we have here?" Arthur asked. They trembled more.
"We won't hurt you," Charles said.
The woman looked confused. "Sprechen Sie Deutsch?"
Adeline was thankful, for once, that her grandparents paid for her to have the best private tutor money could buy. She knew how to speak German almost fluently. "No, this is Amer-" Arthur began.
"Ja, Ich spreche Deutsch," Adeline exclaimed as she shoved her way through Arthur and Charles. From her peripherals, Adeline could see Arthur and Charles share a surprised look.
"Sie haben unseren Vater mitgenommen!" The young girl cried out.
"Wer hat deinen Vater mitgennomen?" Adeline asked.
"Die Gruselingen Männer." The mother answered.
Adeline turned back to Charles and Arthur. "They said their father has been taken by scary men."
"Wirst du uns helfen?" The woman asked. They finally started edging out from under the wagon.
"She wants to know if we will help her," Adeline said.
Arthur sighed. "We don't have time for that. And besides, it's none of our business."
Adeline and Charles glared at him. "We aren't heartless," Charles said. "Tell her we will."
Adeline turned back to the family. "Wir werden Ihnen helfen. In welche Richtung gingen sie?"
The woman pointed to the direction they took her husband in. Adeline turned back to the others. "She said they took her husband in that direction," she pointed where the woman pointed.
"Arthur and I will see if we can find any tracks. Will you stay here with them to keep them company? Since you can actually speak their language." Charles asked.
"Of course," Adeline smiled at her friends and then at the German family. "Be safe, you two."
Charles and Arthur smiled back at her before mounting their horses and riding in the direction the woman pointed. Adeline stayed and talked to the family in German to calm them down.
~~~
What felt like several hours later, Arthur returned with a man on the back of his horse. Adeline rushed up to him as he slowed his horse down. "Where's Charles?" She asked.
"We found a better camp location. He's leading the others there now." Arthur explained. He helped the man off the back of his horse and the man ran to his wife and kids. They hugged and Adeline's heart melted. What she wouldn't give for something like that.
After hugging his wife and kids, the man turned back to Arthur. Sie haben diese, Bitte." The man said, holding out two gold bars. Arthur gladly accepted them.
"Get outta here. It's dangerous," He shouted at the family. Adeline thought that was kind of harsh for somebody who was just reunited with his family but that was Arthur for you. The family looked at him in confusion, not understanding English.
"Sie sollen gehen. Es is nicht sicher hier." Adeline translated. The family nodded and scurried off.
Arthur turned to Adeline. "I didn't know you spoke German." He said.
She smiled at him. "There's a lot you don't know about me, Mr. Morgan." Adeline teased.
"Oh? Like what?" He asked. The two walked over to their horses and mounted them. Arthur led the way to the new camp.
"I used to collect buttons when I was little," She said.
"What else?" He asked.
"I speak French and some Italian too," Adeline said.
Arthur laughed. "That's what growing up in the high society does to you."
'I am kind of head over heels for you,' Adeline thought, though she would never say it out loud. Though she really wanted to, she could never bring herself to tell him.
"You said there's a lot. You've only told me two things I don't know about you. You had a button collection and you speak some shitty languages," He said.
Adeline laughed. "What makes them shitty?"
"They aren't English," Arthur said.
Adeline scoffed at his brashness. "You only say that because you have no culture and you are jealous that you can barely speak English," she fired back. As they joked and teased, the scenery around them changed. They left dried up Dewberry Creek for lush forests of pine trees and full lakes.
"You might be right," Arthur confessed. It was too late for Adeline to fire back because they emerged into a clearing filled with wagons, tents, and people bustling around. "We're here," Arthur said.
"How picturesque. I love the lake in the background." Adeline said. "It's quite beautiful," She said.
'So are you,' Arthur thought, though he wouldn't say it out loud.
"Addie," Mary Beth called out to her. "Mind giving us a hand with the tent?"
"I'll be right there!" Adeline called to her friend. She turned back to Arthur. "Thank you, Arthur."
"For what?" He asked.
She chuckled. "For today. For everything." Adeline said with a smile. "Just, thank you." She dismounted her horse and led him into camp where she could tether him to the post.She went over to Mary-Beth and helped her with the tent.
As she walked away, Arthur watched her with a smile. She really did take his breath away.