In your eyes

Chapter 3: Are you staying or not?

I wake up by different noises and for a second I forget where I am. But soon I realise what happened yesterday. I sit up with a groan because of the number of pain in my body. I feel so sore, more than I've ever been. But I haven't really been this injured before.
Suddenly I feel how hungry and thirsty I am. It's morning so I suppose I slept a whole day, because I got here in the middle of the day yesterday.
I stand up with a little help of the small desk beside me and take a step. My legs hurts as hell but I really need to drink and eat.
With a hand for cover from the sun, I look for someone I'm familiar with and find John sitting at a rock a few meters away, looking at his knife. I limp to him and he meets my gaze when he hears my uneven steps.
"Wow, Miss Collins. Stop there. Weren't you supposed to rest?" He asks and stand up to grab my arm for support.
"I've slept a whole day, Mr Marston. Ain't that enough rest?" I ask with my eyebrow raised. The man sighs and look over me for a second.
"Fine do what you want. But call me John please."
"Fine John. Call me Rachel then. But can I get some water? I'm so thirsty." I ask and look up at the quite tall man.
"Of course, wait here." He says and help me down on the rock he sat on. John goes after some water and I look around once again. My eyes falls on the knife John left beside the rock. I pick it up and study it. It's an ordinary knife, nothing special about it. A little unsharp maybe.
"Here you go." I hear a voice say and I look up. I drop the knife and take the cup of water John hands me and drink it fast. The water is cold and fresh. Absolutely lovely.
"Thank you." I say with a smile.
"No problem."
It goes silent for a few seconds before I speak again.
"So, who's tent did I sleep in?" I ask curiously. John looks at the tent a quick moment and sit down on the rock beside me.
"That tent would belong to Arthur Morgan." He replied.
"Do this Arthur Morgan accept me sleeping in his tent for a day?" I ask with my eyebrows knit.
"Morgan was out most of the time you slept, but he came back a few hours ago. I'm sure he didn't mind."
I nod and study his face for a moment. He has a short stubble along with long black hair that almost touches his shoulders. Quite handsome actually.
I let go of Johns face with my eyes and look at the camp. Everyone is busy doing their own thing. Some are sharpening their knives, or cleaning their tents. A few girls are reading or just walking around in the camp finding something to do maybe.
A little boy is sitting on the ground playing with something I can't figure out what it is.
"Is there kids here too?" I ask a little surprised.
"No just one. Jack is my son." John says and he sounds both proud and a little guilty. Why he would sound guilty is confusing but I don't ask about it. I just met this man.
"He's cute." I say with my gaze stuck in the little boy. John chuckles.
"That he is."

After some time John leaves and gets replaced by Tilly who wonders how I am. She also ask about wether I'm staying or not. I told her I don't know yet. It's a big thing joining a gang. But something tells me I should do it.
She also asks me to join for dinner in the evening.

I spend the time with Tilly all day. I really like her. A woman named Mary Beth and Karen joined too. They are really nice. And certainly likes to talk a lot. Which made my head spin. But it's nice to talk to people normally instead of just chasing them.
When the evening comes my leg feels a bit better. I can't really walk that much yet but limping goes well.
Everyone gathers around the campfire, sitting in different things with a bowl of stew in their hands. And so do I. And it's delicious.
"So, Miss Collins, what do you think?" Dutch asks suddenly making almost everyone turn their heads at me. But I'm not very shy.
"I really like your camp. You all seem like a big family." I answer with a smile.
"Yeah we are a big family." Dutch says with a little chuckle.
"And you are very welcome to join it." Tilly says and some are humming along.
I chuckle a little.
"I still have to think about it though. But it seems better than bounty hunting."
Dutch laughs.
"It's much better!"

I have a really nice time around the campfire. I have learned some new names and have heard some different stories. These people are very fun and very nice. Which make me think that maybe joining this gang isn't just that bad.
A few people have left from the dinner. But I choose to sit there longer along with Tilly and two other men I've learned as Hosea and Pearson.
Hosea are the right hand of Dutch. An elderly man who seems very nice and like a father figure.
Pearson are the man behind the food. He cooked this delicious stew.
Suddenly another man joins us around the campfire, and I'm pretty sure I didn't see him at the dinner.
"Sorry I missed dinner. Had a few things to deal with." He mutters with a husky and deep voice. The man is sandy-haired with a short stubble. He's tall and well built.
"It's okay Arthur, it isn't the first time." Hosea says. So this is the man who owns the tent I slept in.
He sits down a few meters besides me with a own bowl of stew in his hands.
"Hey, thank you for letting me sleep in your tent, Mr Morgan." I say with a smile.
Arthur turns his head and looks at me.
"No worries." He replies shortly and look into the fire again.
It doesn't take many seconds before he looks at me again.
"How did you end up here in the first place? I didn't really get a proper fill in." He says and I look at him for a moment and sighs.
"Well, it all started with a bounty I was chasing. But he had a whole lot of men I didn't know about. I got shot everywhere and then your men showed up, helping me shoot them down before they took me here." I explain.
Arthur hums a little and nods.
"It was the O'Driscolls right?" He asks with a serious face. I nod.
"Yes it was."
"You should be careful with them. Especially if you are going alone against them." He says and take a sip of the beer he took. I nod again.
"So, Mr Morgan, what business did you take care of before?" I ask with a small smile.
Arthur tilt his head with a confused smile.
"Well, I told you my story. Now you get to tell little about yourself." I say playfully and Hosea laughs. I don't know why but it feels like I could say everything and anything to Arthur.
"Well, I was about to ride to get supplies in a town a bit far away from here. Takes a few hours to ride when I first meet a woman who's horse had died on her leg. I rode her home. Then I spotted a hunter got stuck with his leg in an animal trap who I had to help. And the last thing, my partner I rode with got robbed." He says with a chuckle and I chuckle too.
"Seems like quite a day, Mr Morgan." I say and he laughs and sips his beer again.
"Oh you could tell. I didn't even get to that stupid town." He adds and I chuckle again.
"Well good luck next time then." I say with a wink.
I don't really know what convinced me but when I got to bed (not in Arthur's tent this time) I had decided that this would be my new family, my new life. Maybe it was the whole thing that convinced me, or just one person.
————————————————————————
Authors note:
So this is the third chapter of In your eyes. I hope you liked it! Please tell me what you think about it in the comments!
Xoxo