Arthur's Redemption [Red Dead Redemption 2]

Chapter 13: Mr. Colm O'Driscoll

"You sure we are going the right way?" Sadie Adler yelled from the back.

They had been tracking the O'Driscolls for hours, and Arthur hoped they were gaining some ground. He kept the pace quick, seeing as tracking people was rather easy when he had a good idea of where they were headed. In his travels across West Elizabeth after he had been taken by Colm, Arthur had come across the abandoned, run down cabin with a cellar that still had stains of his blood. Glances at the ground confirmed that they were headed in the same direction now.

"I'm sure," Arthur said. They hadn't crossed the river yet. He vaguely remembered waking sprawled cross the back of a horse, the reflection from the water piercing his eyes.

Hosea rode up next to Arthur. "We'll find him, son," he said. But his voice shook, the reassurances falling empty.

This was taking too long. And on top of that, the memory of Dutch riding off was too fresh in Arthur's mind. Once upon a time, it was Arthur who had been left in the clutches of the O'Driscolls, with Dutch none the wiser.

Smoke rose through the trees in the distance. Arthur started to hope. They couldn't have been that far behind!

"Hold up," he said. Peering through the trees. A small group of people sat around a fire. Through binoculars, Arthur could see the dark coats, but he couldn't be sure from that far away. "Let's leave the horses, take a closer look."

They crawled to the edge of the hill, peering down at the camp. It was the O'Driscolls, alright. They stood around the campfire, and another man stood there as well. His greasy gray hair was under a black hat, the clothes he wore were expensive but worn and crumpled.

"Shit, Colm is here."

"Good," Sadie Adler said, pulling out her gun, Arthur lowering it with his hand.

"What did I say was the priority here?"

On the ground was another man. Arthur couldn't see well from his position, but he was sure he was covered in bruises. John.

"Hosea, look!"

"Is that John?"

"It has to be!"

"Alright, Arthur," Hosea said. "What's the plan?"

Besides intercepting the O'Driscolls before they got John to West Elizabeth, Arthur didn't really have a plan. His plan for these peace talks had been to either convince Dutch to not go through with it, which seemed unlikely, or to take out the men sent to kidnap him. He never expected Dutch to go to the meeting without him, or being out of camp when it happened.

"Colm might leave, then there won't be as many of them guarding John. We can take them out quick-"

"Wait, where's Mrs. Adler?"

Arthur looked around frantically, before spotting Sadie sneaking down towards the camp.

"Shit, she's going after Colm!" Right, Sadie wasn't as well-practiced as he remembered. Plus, given how she had reacted at Colm O'Driscoll's hanging, well, he should have seen this coming.

"Get ready," Arthur said, pulling out his own revolver.

"COLM! YOU KILLED MY HUSBAND!"

And Sadie was ducking around a rock, firing round after round into the O'Driscoll boys. Arthur moved up as well, standing and running to a thick tree for cover, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Hosea do the same. One look, he was aiming at the enemy. The second look, he noticed with horror that John wasn't laying on the ground anymore!

"Moving up, cover me!" he shouted at Hosea, and didn't wait for a reply. He heard a scream from Sadie, and he yelled her name but he didn't have time to look. John was no longer on the ground, he couldn't see Colm anymore!