On their way East, Elizabeth thought about those last few weeks. A lot had happened, a lot of changes too. But she was happier than she has been for months. It was thanks to the all gang, who took her in and taught her new things. But she also felt it was mostly thanks to Micah. Their meeting back in Blackwater, and then again in Valentine, it must have been fate. She always felt different toward Micah. She enjoyed spending time with the other members, she had a lot of fun with them too, but it was simply different with Micah. She could not quite explain why or how, she just knew there was something more.
As she thought of him, her eyes landed on Micah's back. He was riding a bit ahead, talking to Dutch. Yeah, definitely there was something more.
***
When they finally arrived, they were welcomed by Arthur and Charles, who led them to a nice little opening in the forest, by Flat Iron Lake. It was a bit warmer than the Heartland, which was a great change.
Ordered by Miss Grimshaw, everyone got to work to build the tents and arrange the camp. Everything was completed by the late afternoon. Everyone was lazing around, feeling quite tired after this hectic day.
Micah was sitting at a table near the lake with Bill, both of them drinking a beer. Micah looked at the lake and saw Elizabeth, removing her shoes and entering the lake as she held her skirt just above her knees. She simply walked in the water, enjoying the cool water against her skin with a smile. He looked at her a moment before Bill's voice interrupted him.
"She's a sweet thing ain't she?" he asked.
Micha simply hummed, his eyes not leaving her soft form. Bill understood that he will not get more answer from Micah and left to find some other company. As Micah looked at her, he thought about his feelings. It was clear to him that she was different than the other girls he met. Normally he would already have made some rude comment, or heavily flirt with her, because that is how he act with women. But with her, something was different. He did not want her to think of him as a creepy pervert or whatever. He wanted to get closer to her ever since he saw her at this party in Blackwater, but he thought that he will never see her again. He has been shocked when he saw her in Valentine. He knew that it was his chance to do something. And now that he got to know her some more, it was even clearer. She was truly a sweet thing, always smiling and being polite, even toward him. There was really something more with her.
Elizabeth felt that someone was looking at her. When she turned around and realized it was Micah, she gave him her brightest smile. He could not prevent his own smile to appear.
"Come here Micah! The water feels so good!" Elizabeth called Micah, waving her hand in the air.
Micah shook his head, his smile still on his lips. Did she even realize the effect she had on him? Probably not. He stood up and headed toward the lake.
"You like the place?" he asked as he lit up a cigarette.
"Definitely! I was so sad to leave the last one, but now I almost forgot about it already." Elizabeth laughed.
"Glad to hear it then" Micah answered. He saw that she was sad to leave Horseshoe Overlook, so he was more than happy to see her smile now.
"Get out of the water now, the sun's setting, you're gonna get cold" Micah then said as he raised his hand to Elizabeth. She looked at him quickly before taking his hand and looking down to hide her pink cheeks.
"My! Such a gentleman Mister Bell" she said quietly as they both walked toward the camp.
"I wouldn't go that far" Micah laughed. "Hungry?" he then asked her.
"Starving" she answered.
"I'm gonna go fetch us some food, I'll be right back" Micah said before heading toward the stew pot.
Elizabeth sat at the table and held her still warm cheeks in her hands. She could not believe that a few hours ago she was being anxious about having to leave for a new place. And now she was going to eat with Micah in front of a lake. She has already had worst dates than that. The thought of a date with Micah made her cheeks red again. Sure it was not a date, but she would not be against the idea. Maybe one day...
Micah took her out of her dream when he came back with two plates. They ate while talking about unimportant things. When they were done, Micah went to grab two beers, and they talked some more until Javier started to play some guitar.
"Let's go listen to Javier's music. It's so pretty" Elizabeth said as she stood up and grabbed Micah's hand.
Micah was not a fan of music, much less Javier's music, but Elizabeth looked so excited that he did not have the heart to refuse. And the fact she was holding his hand was a great help too. They both approached the main fire and Elizabeth let go of Micah's hand as she sat on a trunk. Micah sat beside her with a small sight. Elizabeth listened to the music for a moment with a smile.
Micah was mostly bored. He was thinking about leaving when he felt Elizabeth got closer to him, their shoulders and arms now touching. He looked at her and saw she was staring at her laps, her cheeks tinted with a blush. A smirk appeared on his lips as he relaxed. He might as well stay a bit longer.
***
A few days passed and the gang had already found new leads. The men have been mingling with two families, supposedly sitting on lots of gold. They were most of the time out of camp, and the girls were bored like never. They wanted to get into town, see if they could play their little tricks, but no one was available to accompany them.
"Please Dutch, we're all going insane, being stuck here. We're just gonna look for some leads, we won't do nothing risky for now but please let us out!" Karen almost begged Dutch.
"She's gone crazy or what?" Micah asked Elizabeth who was waiting a bit further. He heard the commotion and was always ready for some drama.
"No, but that might be the case soon. We've been locked in the camp since we arrived, and none of you can take us out" Elizabeth explained. She was not mad, she understood the men had a lot of things to take care of, but she would love to get some fresh air.
"Alright! Alright! We are gonna leave soon, but Kieran can take you I guess" Dutch gave in. Even if Kieran was a fairly new addition to the gang, he gained Dutch's trust as he saved Arthur's life, and is a hard-working boy.
"You sure about that boss? The O'Driscoll can barely even protect himself!" Micah intervened. He did not like Dutch's choice.
"Not now son. The girls will just take a look, nothing dangerous is gonna happened. It's just a stroll, the boy can handle it" Dutch cut short the debate. He was already exhausted by Karen's shouting, he did not need another blonde one arguing with him.
Micah turned toward Elizabeth, who already looked excited about all that. Way too excited for Micah's liking.
"You'll be carful alright? It's not the same as the drunkards in Valentine" Micah told her.
Elizabeth looked at him a bit surprised. Was it worries in his eyes?
"I'm a big girl Mister Bell, no need to worry" she teased him with a smirk.
"I'm not worried for you! I just don't want you all to create trouble in town, that's all" Micah answered quickly, looking everywhere but her.
"Sure. Well, see you later!" Elizabeth told him with a pat on the shoulder before heading toward the wagon. All the girls and Kieran were already on board.
"Come on Micah! We must leave!" Dutch called Micah, who was watching the wagon disappear behind the trees.
***
Everyone was back at camp at the end of the afternoon, except for Kieran and the girls. It was a quiet late afternoon, people were just lazing around. But the calm was soon interrupted by the loud sound of a wagon. It was Kieran and the girls.
"Dutch! Dutch! They took her! They took her with them! We couldn't do anything!" Mary-Beth shouted as she ran toward Dutch's tent.
Dutch stood up from his chair, looking at Mary-Beth with a confused expression. Micah heard the shouting and came closer to know what was going on.
"Calm down first" Dutch told Mary-Beth, holding her gently by her shoulders. "Now, who was taken by who?" he asked.
"Elizabeth, by the Lemoyne Raiders" she said in one breath.
When he heard that, Micah saw red. He ran toward Kieran and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.
"IT WAS YOUR JOB TO PROTECT HER! WHERE WERE YOU??" Micah roared.
The poor boy was livid, terrified by the man in front of him, and feeling guilty about the situation.
"I... I was at the wagon. They... they told me to stay there, that they would be quick... I'm sorry..." Kieran stammered.
"You fucking useless O'Discroll!" Micah pushed Kieran on the floor. Mary-Beth rushed toward him to help him stand up.
"I saw them heading north of the town" Tilly quickly added.
"Yeah, I think they have camp near Eris Field. Might have run into it the other day" Arthur added.
"Then what are we waiting for?!" Micah shouted, already rushing toward his horse.
Arthur, Javier and Bill all nodded and mounted their horses quickly to follow with Micah who has already left the camp.
He knew it was not a good idea, that he should have went with her in town. But Dutch gave him this stupid mission to do, and said that she would be safe with the O'Driscoll. Bullshit. He would not forgive himself if something serious happened to Elizabeth. He was the one who brought her to this life, he was responsible in some sort. Or was it something else?
He slowed down when he reached Ringneck Creek, the other men joining him just a few minutes after. Micah was observing a little camp with his binocular.
"Do you see her?" Bill asked as he stood beside Micah.
"No. Maybe in one of the tent" Micah would have liked to see Elizabeth to be sure they were at the good place.
"Who cares, let's go" he finally said before taking out his two guns and heading toward the camp. The others, a bit hesitant, followed him anyway.
Elizabeth was in the dark. She had a blindfold, and her hands were tied. Everything happened so fast. She saw this man with a beautiful golden watch, he looked alone, so she taught she could quickly fool him. But turned out he was not alone. When she finally got the watch in hand, another man caught her arm and showed she was stealing. Then the men lead her by force to their horse. She tried to scream, to call for help. She just had time to see Tilly further away before she got hit on the head.
When she was all tied up in the tent, she heard the men talking about selling her to some man on a boat for a pretty amount of money. This could only be bad news for her.
Suddenly, she heard gunshots from everywhere. She was scared and very vulnerable at the moment. She hoped it was the gang, but how to be sure. She just crawled in a ball, hoping no lost bullet would hit her.
As quick as it started, everything was calm again. She heard familiar voices outside and tried to move to show them where she was. The canvas of the tent opened, she saw some light through her blindfold and stopped moving. She tensed a bit when she felt someone rushed toward her and, very gently, removed her blindfold. She felt immensely relieved when she saw Micah in front of her, great concerned in his eyes.
"You came" she said quietly, her throat being rather dry.
"Course I did" Micah answered softly as he cut the rope around her wrists. He then took her hands in his and carefully caressed the red marks on her wrists with his thumbs.
"I'm sorry, should have come with you" he muttered, his head low, staring at their hands.
Elizabeth looked at him in disbelief before slowly removing her hands from his to put them on each side of his face and make him look at her. She has one of her soft smile on her face.
"What are you apologizing for? You're here and I'm fine. That's all that matters" Elizabeth said.
Micah sighed and so slightly leaned in her touch. He was going to add something when Arthur called out.
"You found her?"
"Yeah, she's in here" Micah answered, disappointed to have to cut short to this moment.
"You can stand?" he asked Elizabeth as he stood up and gave her his hand.
"Yes, thanks" she smiled as she took his hand.
On their way back, Elizabeth explained to Micah and the others what happened.
"Yeah, I heard about those boats they send to some islands, to work there. Boats full of slaves" Javier said with a dark tone. It was really bad business.
When they came back to camp, it was dark already and everyone has retreated for the night.
"Your wrists, it hurts?" Micah asked Elizabeth as he helped her down his horse.
"It's a bit sensitive, yeah" Elizabeth answered as she rubbed them slightly.
"Sit, I'll be right back" he told her before heading toward the medicine wagon.
Elizabeth sat near the fire. She was glad to be back here. Micah joined her and sat crouched in front of her.
"Gimme your hand" he asked. She complied and he applied an ointment on her wound. He massaged it softly before wrapping her wrist with a bandage.
She looked at him in silence. His brows were furrowed, but she could tell it was not entirely due to concentration.
"You okay?" she murmured, tilting her head.
Micah stopped a moment before looking at her with a blank expression. He then shook his head and stared down at her second wrist.
"I should be the one asking that. That was careless what you did in Rhode. I told you it was different than Valentine" he said, a bit of anger in his voice as he finished bandaging her second wrist.
"But you came to rescue me, just like the prince charming you are" Elizabeth tried to lighten the atmosphere.
"I ain't joking here Elizabeth! There are really dangerous people out here! If something had happened to you, I..." he started, but got interrupted by two hands holding his face gently.
"But nothing happened. I'm fine, thanks to you" Elizabeth said gently to try to calm him.
Micah melted in her touch and her soft smile. They looked at each other with a lot of tenderness, the only noise coming from the burning fire.
"You should get some sleep, must be exhausted after all that" Micah finally said as he broke the eye contact and stood up.
"Yeah, I should" Elizabeth said quietly as she watched Micah walked away.
"Micah?" she called him.
"Mmh?" he looked at her.
"Thanks, my prince" she winked at him before turning her back to him and heading toward her bed.
Micah chuckled to himself, shaking his head a little. Yeah. Definitely, he was screwed.
Elizabeth lay down in her bedroll, a huge smile on her face, as she fell asleep thinking about a certain blonde outlaw.