dust in the wind | arthur morgan

chapter six

TOWN SALOON, TUMBLEWEED
11:53AM

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Estella's stitches were finally out and boy, was she hungry for some action. When she heard that John had found a lead on the Tumbleweed Sheriff, she was quick to join Arthur, John and Hosea on their mission.

Apparently, the Sheriff was buying a huge batch of cocaine and reselling them to some pretty needy buyers. There was a wagon coming through in the late afternoon but Hosea thought it best to arrive in the morning as they still needed to sniff out some details on the buyers.

The four all ordered a drink at the Tumbleweed Saloon, silently sipping on them as they grew accustomed to the worn, oak bar.

The saloon was like any other: essentially, run down and the air thick with the stuffy New Austin heat. A pungent smell of body odour and bile unalterably wafted throughout the building. The once palatial wallpaper was dingy and damp and hung from the walls, whilst the dark wood flooring was stained with drips of blood from the daily drunken fist fight.

As it were late morning, there weren't many people inside. An odd few who were burdened to the drink and a couple who were meeting for business or personal matters, so all was ordinary.

Estella stood to the right of Arthur, and to the right of her was Hosea and then John. No one had uttered a word since they had ordered a drink, most likely because everyone was stuck in their own thoughts. Hosea was probably conjuring a character to play that was both discreet and yet affable.

If they made their act too obvious, people would be wary and if the wrong person got the right idea, then they could say goodbye to getting their hands on the cocaine and watch hundreds of dollars wash down the drain, something they couldn't afford to watch happen.

Estella used the short-lived silence to think back on Abigail and Karen. After her debacle with Dutch, she had ignored his presence whenever possible, as did he with her. He didn't speak about the incident, and surprisingly, she found herself to be appreciative to the fact.

Despite her strong belief that the women should have the opportunity to protect themselves, she felt as if she didn't help her case. With the way she was arguing – especially about her insensitive comment on Annabelle – she figured she deserved the slap. But, she was too petty to apologise, so ignoring one another suited her just fine.

As far as she knew, Arthur held her wishes dear to his heart and Hosea didn't know a thing about the altercation.

Her newfound, immense trust in the lean man presumed to be a reliable and established one.

Meanwhile, Estella had convinced Hosea to try and teach Abigail to read and write in his spare time. She would've done it herself, but she was always out in comparison to Hosea, and he was more of an intellect in that department anyways.

Estella hated that she was making him deceive Dutch, but Hosea ultimately agreed. If Abigail had a chance at a better life, she should be able to have the opportunity to go down that road, or so, he said. Abigail was highly appreciative, and it was fair to say she was more excited to learn how to read than she was to shoot.

"You know the last time I was here was with Dutch," Hosea spoke up, his hoarse voice snapping the younger ones out of their thoughts. "He killed Paddy O'Driscoll, caused all that rivalry between us and the O'Driscolls."