“What happened? We saw Bill pass through here-.” Dutch spoke quickly, pointing over to the clearing. He was frantic in his approach, talking loud and sharply. Over his shoulder, Arthur spotted Karen Jones worse than he had ever seen her.
Arthur sighed, taking Dutch by the shoulder and walking him away from the ever-growing number of people who curiously watched them. “The boy got killed.”
Dutch began to talk again, but Abigail's frantic screams cut him off as she began to demand the whereabouts of her son. Her fists were balled, ready to punch someone if need be and Hosea followed behind as he calmly explained the situation amongst Abigail's screams to know of her son's whereabouts.
Dutch cursed as it all began unravelling, first Sean gets killed and now a child ends up kidnapped. “What happened?” Arthur asked Hosea.
“That Kieran said he saw two feller's that looked like Braithwaite's take the boy.”
“So they shouldn't be too far?”
Hosea shook his head. “No.” Dutch approached his closest associates once he persuaded Abigail to calm, ignoring her desperate pleas to rescue her child so he could talk with Hosea namely. “Let's ride out and get that boy.”
Nora watched from a distance with wide eyes, her cheeks stained red from tears as she tried to process the information she overheard. Charles walked by with horses in tow, talking to Dutch and before she knew it half of the gang rode out to Braithwaite manor. Kieran and Micah were left behind to guard the place, but Grimshaw and Sadie took over that role when Micah chose to disappear and the expressed distrust on Kieran persuaded him from it.
“You saw 'em take the boy?” Nora approached with caution, sitting next to him on the beach. They told him he wasn't wanted to protect the gang but he done so regardless, just out of the way from everyone. He raised his hands quickly to tell them that he didn't mean to let them go, “I didn't m-mean it, Hosea and Arthur had dealings with them f-families.. I thought it was under control.”
“I know it ain't your fault, Kieran. Don't exactly strike me as the sort to allow boys to get kidnapped.”
“I try not to be.” He answered.
She nodded slowly, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them she curled up into a ball. Her eyes focused on the waves crashing against the shore below, it helped calm her from the terrors of Rhodes before. “How are you feelin'?”
“Fine, why?”
“Must've been scary what you saw in Rhodes.. or what you saw. You and Sean were close.”
Nora nodded slowly. “Karen must be takin' it harder than I am. She knew him a lot better.”
He sat next to her, forgetting the reason he came this way in the first place. She leaned against him, her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes to focus on not crying again, having done that enough for today.
Kieran blushed heavily at the contact, lowering his hat more so it wasn't noticeable. Her breathing slowed while she remained by his side and since that moment she didn't feel dangerously close to the edge of another freakout. “Kieran.”
“Hm?”
“Can I ask you somethin'?”
“Sure?” He looked down at her, noticing the shadows on her face from the sun beginning to set down on them. “Why do you stick around this bunch?”
“It's a lot safer here than anywhere e-else.” He sighed.
“You ain't got nowhere to go?”
