𝔴𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔴𝔞𝔯𝔡 𝔰𝔲𝔫 ⟡ ʀɖʀ2

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 𝟸𝟻

~ Asher Sanders POV ~

       I woke  the next day a bit refreshed by everything. Arthur and Sadie had gone to get John out of that Sisika Penitentiary. I figured Nathan and I could go for the score we had been talking about to get more money so we could get the hell out of here while Dutch continues to fall more and more insane. It would be a death sentence for all of us. I spot the male sitting by a tree, puffing on a cigarette and reading a book.

"That ash falls onto that paper, it's gonna be set ablaze and you gonna end up havin' the entire camp on fire. Ya know that?"
"Shut up."
The male mutters with a chuckle passing his lips as he looks up at me. "What you doin', Asher? Walkin' 'round botherin' everyone?"
"No, I'm just here to ask you 'bout the score we wanted to do. Rob a homestead or we go for a carriage."
"Fuck--- Why not both?"
"Both? You crazy?"
"Not in the slightest, think we can do both. Carriage in the mornin'--- So now. Then go for the homestead at night?"

I had to think for a moment on if this was insane or if we could manage. I knew we could of course. There was no doubt about it. Him and I, last time we went for a homestead, we woke the owner and I lost my hat to it in Rhodes. Guess we do learn from our mistakes in time. Both nearly got shot to hell, least I remember we made off with a good amount of money.
"Then let's ride, Nate. Just might be one of last scores as members of this gang."
"Ya think so huh?"
"Might be, let me see how Sel is doing first."

I find the girl working alongside Abigail, doing the usual chopping of vegetables and getting them ready for Pearson to put within the stew. She still did some hunting, but Sadie really took over outta worry for the girl and being pregnant. Truly, Sadie was a saint to us.
I come up behind her and wrap my arms around her torso carefully.
"M'lady and Ms. Roberts. Smells good, reckon this stew is gonna be the best there is."
"Wow, your mood has really cheered up since last night, lover boy." She comments before turning to face me and give me a peck on the cheek.
"Just trying to keep myself entertained right now." I lean in to whisper in her ear. "Nate and I are headed out. Gonna try to do a couple scores for money."
She looks me up and down for a moment before she sighs deeply.
"You be careful now, Asher Sanders. I don't wanna hear you dead in a ditch or caught by the law."
"Least I know Sadie or Abigail would come for me."
"Ohhhh no, this time you'd be dealing with me."
"This time I'd be dealin' with my wife--- I mean girl, Selina."
Her face seems to turn a bit red and Abigail looks up with a smirk upon her features, "You called her your goddamn wife you silly man. You know ya mean it."
"Don't sit there and say nothin', Abigail--- She might as well be at this point." I grin at the girl who sits there and gently shoves me a bit. "Get outta here, lover boy. I'll see you when you come back."
"Now there's the girl who isn't tryin' to doubt me. Love ya." I mutter before placing a kiss to her neck and turning to leave and hop upon my horse where Nathan is already waiting upon his. You could say I was completely and utterly smitten by her. I really did love Selina. I truly did and I would do anything in my damn power to come back with good money for our future.

"You truly are sweet on that girl." Nathan comments before I shake my head.
"Wouldn't be havin' my baby if I wasn't sweet on her, Nate. You know it."
"No, I know. Wouldn't have been fuckin' her either if you wasn't... Ya know, I'm gonna get real transparent with you and I don't want you to mistake it for me goin' soft anytime soon... But I'm happy for you, brother. Super fuckin' happy. I always did think you deserved a girl who was gonna keep you down to earth. Selina, shit, she--- She seems perfect for you. I'm glad you met her, thank god for Arthur. Thank god."
I knew Arthur had told me not to tell anyone about his diagnosis, but every time someone was any sorts of happy about that man, it burned in my mind knowing about his tuberculosis.

"Nate... Can I tell ya something? Somethin' 'bout Arthur?"
"Yeah--- Don't tell me you guys had fucked too."
"Ew, what? No. I'm not in that way with anyone in the gang, and not male either."
"Except Sadie."
"Nathan, I'm being serious."
"Okay, okay. What's wrong with, Arthur? He's been coughin' so much, swear one of his lungs gonna come up."
"When I took Selina to the doctor's, he was there for that reason. There was so much blood everywhere."
"W-What? He's coughin' up blood? Isn't that a sign of tuber---"
"Tuberculosis. Yeah... He has it."
We both stop talking for the moment, knowing exactly what it means. "Said he might of gotten it from that Thomas Downes feller outside of Valentine."

Nathan just shakes his head as we stop right on the edge of the road, knowing a rich stagecoach usually comes through here during this time. He seems speechless and I knew he would be, just like me when I saw Arthur in the state he was.

"He's gonna pass here soon huh?"
I just nodded my head as I tried not to think of that thought, but it wasn't like it isn't true. This was a death sentence to anyone. That Thomas Downes man passed, Arthur was just another victim of this scary sickness.
"Think Selina and I are gonna name our boy after him... We know he ain't gonna make it to meet him, but--- He deserves to be remembered in the most proper way."
"I think that's perfect... Seriously... That boy will be named after the most brilliant man I think you and I have ever come across. Selina--- She's alright with givin' up the name you both chose?"
"She is, she knows how much Arthur means to me--- To us. He's the reason we're together, reason we met. Reason we havin' our son--- Our reason as to why we're happy, for the most part."
"That man taught you and I everything we know now. Shit--- Hard to believe--- Just the thought of losin' him... God."
I wasn't gonna cry about this, not now. I knew I had to be strong for myself and Nathan and Selina. Losing Arthur was going to be a lot. It truly was. Going to rip a tear between the gang too, just like how losing Hosea was. Though, we were doubting at this point that there would be a gang to rip apart. Dutch's plans were failing more and more, we were basically trapped at this point by the Pinkertons. There was just no way out. We weren't sure how to go about any of this.
"Look! There's that goddamn stagecoach now." Nathan speaks up finally, masks are over our mouths and we're on our way. Surely we would've gotten shot if they had better security, but today seemed to be a hell of a lot different.  Guess they didn't know about the big bad gang members in the woods.
The coach comes to a stop and we're quick to step off our horses.
"Alright, folks, this is a robbery. Get out of that coach, throw us some money, special belongings. Hey, go to the back and open that lockbox." Nathan commands of me as I'm headed to the back and crack open the lock with a shot of my pistol. Quick to dig through the money, looked to be about two hundred in total, Nathan managing to squeeze at least another hundred out of the people within the actual carriage.
"You all have ten seconds to get goin' and act like nothin' just happened to you... Ten... Nine..."
God I had never seen people run so fast and get their horses going, we would've most likely just threatened them with our guns till they did get going. "Three hundred and fifty dollars. Damn. Looks like we're on our way."
"Psh, still got that homestead tonight too."
"Seems like it's going to be a hell of a fun adventure. We'll try not to get our heads blown off again--- Or at least close to it again."
"Lost that damn hat that my granpappy gave me. Kind of sad, but it's alright, just sucks I gotta keep up with this hair for so long."
"Still looks good on ya though, brother. Still does."
"Thank you, partner. Well, let's head back to camp till nightfall. Try to sneak out without anyone seeing us."
Nathan gives me a nod and I place the money within my bag. Riding back to camp with thankfully, no trouble out of that robbery.